Week 10 Top 30

Maine is the place to ski this week as we saw some major jumps in the rankings along with a handful of mountains reaching 100% open! For those who are new or forgot how these rankings work, think of it like the NCAA Top 25. Mountains move up the list based on snowfall, opening terrain, how well they hold onto terrain after major weather events and overall reputation among other factors. They can move down after closing terrain, other mountains getting more snow, and major lift malfunctions among other factors.

1.       Sugarloaf (+12)

2.       Smugglers Notch (+13)

3.       Saddleback (+2)

4.       Killington (-1)

5.       Jay Peak (-4)

Sugarloaf saw over 50 trails open over the weekend including the Brackett Basin area which is one of the more unique places to ski in the region. Smugglers Notch had nearly all of their terrain open throughout last week and with fewer crowds than Stowe, it takes the second spot. Saddleback is also closing in on 100% open and with the Kennebago trails open, it is one of the better places to ski this week. Killington jumps ahead of Jay after opening almost all of their terrain this week including all condo/house access trails which make the vacationers happy.

6.       Stowe (+1)

7.       Mad River Glen (-5)

8.       Sugarbush (-2)

9.       Bretton Woods (-5)

10.  Cannon (+1)

Although it was very brief, Stowe reached 100% open this week. Mad River Glen stays ahead of Sugarbush which saw Slide Brook open this week while MRG had all of their terrain open. Bretton Woods has the entire Stickney system open along with all of West Mountain and combined with the views of Mount Washington, make it a very good option this week. Cannon has most of the main mountain trails open, a variety of glades, and the Valar T Bar running on the Mittersill side.

11.  Sunday River (-1)

12.  Waterville Valley (-3)

13.  Loon (-5)

14.  Bolton Valley (-2)

15.  Burke (+14)

Sunday River still has over 110 trails open but not a ton of their glades while Waterville Valley opened up Lower Bobby’s Run after the FIS competition last weekend. Loon opened up another glade in Upper Walking Boss Woods while Bolton Valley continued to add terrain on Timberline Peak. Burke reached 100% open this week.

16.  Black Mountain NH (=)

17.  Gunstock (+2)

18.  Okemo (-4)

19.  Magic Mountain (-2)

20.  Attitash (-2)

Black Mountain stays at 16 after opening up Big Dipper and having some of the best groomers in the region while Gunstock jumps up after having nearly all of their terrain open along with great views of Winnipesaukee. Okemo drops a little but they added a lot of challenging trails on Jackson Gore while Magic Mountain reopened the west side including Slide of Hans. Attitash saw Illusion and Moat open this week.

21.  Mount Snow (=)

22.  Pico (+3)

23.  Stratton (-1)

24.  Bromley (=)

25.  Pleasant Mountain (-5)

Mount Snow stays ahead of Pico since they also offer a really good terrain park along with some steeps. Stratton drops one after getting Upper Standard open and Bromley stays at 24 after opening The Plunge. Pleasant drops a little but they still opened Haggett’s which gives you a good view of Mount Washington on a clear day.

26.  Sunapee (-3)

27.  Ragged (=)

28.  Jiminy Peak (-2)

29.  Big Moose (NR)

30.  Mount Abram (NR)

Sunapee drops behind Pleasant since Pleasant offers better views. Ragged opened a few glades after the snowfall while Jiminy Peak is 100% open. Big Moose and Mount Abram both opened a ton of terrain this week and Big Moose is pretty close to having 100% of their terrain open.

Biggest Jump: Burke (29 to 15)

Biggest Drop: Mad River Glen (2 to 7), Bretton Woods (4 to 9), Loon (8 to 13), Pleasant Mountain (20 to 25)

New To Rankings: Big Moose, Mount Abram

Dropped From Rankings: Wildcat, Pats Peak

Ownership Breakdown:

Independent Mountains: 15

Vail Resorts: 5

Boyne Resorts: 4

Alterra Resorts: 2

Pacific Group Resorts: 1

Fairbanks Group: 2

Omni Resorts: 1

State By State Breakdown:

Vermont: 14

New Hampshire: 9

Maine: 6

Massachusetts: 1