Week 9 Top 30

Jay Peak is back on top this week as we saw another ice storm pass through the region followed by some snow. 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.       Jay Peak (+2)

2.       Mad River Glen (+4)

3.       Killington (-2)

4.       Bretton Woods (+1)

5.       Saddleback (+12)

Jay Peak is almost 100% open with just trails off Vermonter closed and received 8-10” today making it the top place to visit this week. Mad River Glen also saw all of their terrain open aside from the practice slope trails while Killington continues to offer over 100 trails but closed the South Ridge area today. Bretton Woods saw a lot of glades open up throughout the week and still have most of their trails open as Saddleback shoots up in the rankings after opening up most of their glades.

6.       Sugarbush (-2)

7.       Stowe (-5)

8.       Loon (=)

9.       Waterville Valley (+4)

10.  Sunday River (-1)

Sugarbush had a good week with all of their terrain being open but other mountains just had better weeks while Stowe has a similar story except, they lost a lot of the Forerunner trails. Loon stays ahead of Waterville in a tight match as they added Ripsaw to their trail count. Sunday River continues to open and close glades but sits around 90-100 trails open consistently.

11.  Cannon (+4)

12.  Bolton Valley (-2)

13.  Sugarloaf (-6)

14.  Okemo (-3)

15.  Smugglers Notch (-1)

Cannon opened up almost all of the Front 5 trails today including Banshee, Avalanche, and Paulie’s Folly which put them ahead of Bolton who opened up some terrain on Timberline Peak. Sugarloaf lost the Superquad for the time being so they drop a little as Okemo lost some terrain in Jackson Gore. Smugglers Notch is a tough one to rank as when everything is open, it is easily a top five mountain but now there is too many icing weather systems moving through that disrupt operations.

16.  Black Mountain NH (+7)

17.  Magic Mountain (+12)

18.  Attitash (+3)

19.  Gunstock (=)

20.  Pleasant Mountain (-4)

Black Mountain opened another core trail in Jackson Standard and stays just ahead of Magic Mountain as they had a really good week by seeing the glades and west side trails open. Attitash continues to offer solid skiing each week and Gunstock has been closing some trails midweek for a snowmaking refresh. Pleasant Mountain drops a little but its more the fact that other mountains have had better weeks.

21.  Mount Snow (-3)

22.  Stratton (-2)

23.  Sunapee (+1)

24.  Bromley (-2)

25.  Pico (-13)

Mount Snow lost a bit of their more challenging terrain on the North Face side but stay ahead of Stratton as they offer more for southern Vermont skiers and riders. Sunapee jumps Bromley after seeing Hansen-Chase and Cataract open as Pico falls due to losing a lot of trails before gaining some back.

26.  Jiminy Peak (=)

27.  Ragged (+1)

28.  Wildcat (NR)

29.  Burke (-4)

30.  Pats Peak (NR)

Jiminy stays as the top ski area in southern New England as Ragged opened up some glades before the storm to move up a spot. Wildcat opened their beginner lift for the first time in two years and saw Upper Polecat open to connect the long green trail to the summit. Burke didn’t lose many trails or gain a ton this week and Pats Peak reached 100% open.

Biggest Jump: Magic Mountain (29 to 17), Saddleback (17 to 5)

Biggest Drop: Pico (12 to 25)

New To Rankings: Wildcat, Pats Peak

Dropped From Rankings: Cranmore, Berkshire East

Ownership Breakdown:

Independent Mountains: 14

Vail Resorts: 6

Boyne Resorts: 4

Alterra Resorts: 2

Pacific Group Resorts: 1

Fairbanks Group: 2

Omni Resorts: 1

State By State Breakdown:

Vermont: 14

New Hampshire: 11

Maine: 4

Massachusetts: 1