Favorite ski towns in the world! & Most Overrated!

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Grew up in Europe and all the big well known places are absolutely run over. Austria, Slovenia, Poland are a lot better.

North America has so much more space and the Rockies are every bit as majestic as the Alps, and I'd argue more so. The top of Blackcomb is my favorite. For a fantastic mountain but fewer people, Fernie BC is hard to beat. Copper Mountain is great for families (Breck too for those with older kids).

I've never been skiing to South America. Argentina is on my bucket list.


Which places do you recommend in those countries?
Anonymous
For skiing - Big Sky or Alta. For a town - Telluride or Sun Valley/Ketchum.

Have yet to find a place that has both. Maybe that is kind of the point - hard to have great skiing straight out of a town and visa versa.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:What's the best Utah resort for families- young kids 5-7. 2 adult skiers but one is, er, not amazing.

We have enjoyed W. VA, VT and NY areas but looking to visit family out west next year or 2 for a week. Love apres ski scenes, but has to be family friendly (ie- not super cool probably!)
THANKS!


Saint Regis
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:For skiing - Big Sky or Alta. For a town - Telluride or Sun Valley/Ketchum.

Have yet to find a place that has both. Maybe that is kind of the point - hard to have great skiing straight out of a town and visa versa.


We went to Lake Tahoe and stayed on the lake then drove to the resorts. That was incredible to me.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What's the best Utah resort for families- young kids 5-7. 2 adult skiers but one is, er, not amazing.

We have enjoyed W. VA, VT and NY areas but looking to visit family out west next year or 2 for a week. Love apres ski scenes, but has to be family friendly (ie- not super cool probably!)
THANKS!


Saint Regis

Kid friendly? I thought those tend.toward cool/luxury/ couples places
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What's the best Utah resort for families- young kids 5-7. 2 adult skiers but one is, er, not amazing.

We have enjoyed W. VA, VT and NY areas but looking to visit family out west next year or 2 for a week. Love apres ski scenes, but has to be family friendly (ie- not super cool probably!)
THANKS!


Saint Regis

Kid friendly? I thought those tend.toward cool/luxury/ couples places


Not in ski or beach towns.
Anonymous
Just wanted to say that if you can't afford the Saint Regis or don't want to spend the $$$, you can still enjoy great ski towns. I skied at Deer Valley with my son and we had a great time -- it is a great family mountain (for the PP who asked) and stayed at a basic hotel outside of town. We still had a great time (it is easy to check your skis and gear overnight at DV so there is nothing to schlep everyday). I also stayed at a Best Western at Sun Valley - had a great time and enjoyed a yummy skiers breakfast. Alas, it is hard to make skiing a cheap sport - but it doesn't have to be crazy expensive.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What's the best Utah resort for families- young kids 5-7. 2 adult skiers but one is, er, not amazing.

We have enjoyed W. VA, VT and NY areas but looking to visit family out west next year or 2 for a week. Love apres ski scenes, but has to be family friendly (ie- not super cool probably!)
THANKS!


Saint Regis

Kid friendly? I thought those tend.toward cool/luxury/ couples places


Not in ski or beach towns.


Saint Regis is nice, but you need to know where on the mountain in Deer Valley you want to stay. The best resorts/hotels at each level are:

Base (easy greens/worst terrain): Saint Regis
Mid-Mountain (family friendly, easy to get to base, and MUCH better terrain and options): Stein Eriksen (fun for families, European flair)
Empire (furthest up the mountain): Montage (fantastic amenities, a tad isolated (harder to get into downtown Park City for a night out), and challenging terrain (that I love!), but will not be suitable for a young family, also very difficult to get to Ski School area)

Source: someone who is an avid skier that has been to DV 8 times. Stein Eriksen is my reccomendation!
Anonymous
Whistler, hands down is the best. We stopped going to ski resorts in the states because Whistler blew us away with the skiing, mountains, snow, atmosphere...beauty....it’s an incredible place.

Most overrated is Vail...like a luxury stuck up truck stop with the wrong attitude. And Park City. Snow is great, but the place has no charm.
Anonymous
Stayed in Park City a couple of years ago and skied there, Deer Valley, and Snowbasin. Deer Valley is not really my scene and I generally liked Park City. I LOVED Snowbasin- the snow/hills and the vibe. People that like Snowbasin, where else do you like to go?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Stayed in Park City a couple of years ago and skied there, Deer Valley, and Snowbasin. Deer Valley is not really my scene and I generally liked Park City. I LOVED Snowbasin- the snow/hills and the vibe. People that like Snowbasin, where else do you like to go?


I've always wanted to go to Snowbasin!!! It sounds amazing.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Stayed in Park City a couple of years ago and skied there, Deer Valley, and Snowbasin. Deer Valley is not really my scene and I generally liked Park City. I LOVED Snowbasin- the snow/hills and the vibe. People that like Snowbasin, where else do you like to go?


I've always wanted to go to Snowbasin!!! It sounds amazing.


There’s no lodging or development around, which I think makes it really low key. I got the impression there was a decent number of locals. The skiing there is great!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to say that if you can't afford the Saint Regis or don't want to spend the $$$, you can still enjoy great ski towns. I skied at Deer Valley with my son and we had a great time -- it is a great family mountain (for the PP who asked) and stayed at a basic hotel outside of town. We still had a great time (it is easy to check your skis and gear overnight at DV so there is nothing to schlep everyday). I also stayed at a Best Western at Sun Valley - had a great time and enjoyed a yummy skiers breakfast. Alas, it is hard to make skiing a cheap sport - but it doesn't have to be crazy expensive.


Thanks, I was the PP who asked. It is the most expensive type of vacation IMO for sure. And it kind of always has been but has gotten disproportionately so over the last decades. We are fortunate to be able to do it. I grew up going to a small local mountain where you could get a season pass for like $150 as a student. I wish my kids were able to do that- just go for like a Saturday morning and not have to make it a major event or resort. We do that with Liberty sometimes now, but its still a full day and you need to plan around 70 degree days in February!

My DH and his friends used to go to ski hostels in their teens and early 20s- wasn't into it then, but it kind of sounded amazing for young people.

We have family just south of Salt Lake, so we've been meaning to get out there.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What's the best Utah resort for families- young kids 5-7. 2 adult skiers but one is, er, not amazing.

We have enjoyed W. VA, VT and NY areas but looking to visit family out west next year or 2 for a week. Love apres ski scenes, but has to be family friendly (ie- not super cool probably!)
THANKS!


Saint Regis

Kid friendly? I thought those tend.toward cool/luxury/ couples places


Not in ski or beach towns.


Saint Regis is nice, but you need to know where on the mountain in Deer Valley you want to stay. The best resorts/hotels at each level are:

Base (easy greens/worst terrain): Saint Regis
Mid-Mountain (family friendly, easy to get to base, and MUCH better terrain and options): Stein Eriksen (fun for families, European flair)
Empire (furthest up the mountain): Montage (fantastic amenities, a tad isolated (harder to get into downtown Park City for a night out), and challenging terrain (that I love!), but will not be suitable for a young family, also very difficult to get to Ski School area)

Source: someone who is an avid skier that has been to DV 8 times. Stein Eriksen is my reccomendation!


Saving this!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What's the best Utah resort for families- young kids 5-7. 2 adult skiers but one is, er, not amazing.

We have enjoyed W. VA, VT and NY areas but looking to visit family out west next year or 2 for a week. Love apres ski scenes, but has to be family friendly (ie- not super cool probably!)
THANKS!


We just went to Utah for the first times with kids, 18, 14 and 6. We stayed at solitude in a condo and drove to Brighton every day. All ofnusbLOVED Brighton. None of us loved solitude and it was not as kid friendly as Brighton. My 6 yr old did ski school for two days and had a blast and it was very reasonable. The teachers were awesome with the kids. If you book your lift tickets In advance you can get them super cheap. Solitude I felt was much more advanced and was miserable for those of us that were not really experienced. We loved the condo and ‘resort’ Amenities. No town or nightlife but we weren’t there for that. We ate dinner at home every night and then went to the hot tub.


Both I and my daughter learned to ski at Solitude - I starting at at 40, her starting at 5. Solitude is a lot smaller than moth of the other Utah mountains, and while there is beginner terrain, there's not as much of it. Eight years later, I'm a decent intermediate skier, and she's a maniac who can go down pretty much anything.
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