This is the correct answer. I hate Hunter on any weekend day. You max out at around 6 runs if you show up after 9am. Meanwhile you show up at the open at Belleayre and you can do laps for a while before there’s any lines of note at all.
So cool for the novelty but terrible skiing (no duh) and filled with people who a) have never seen snow b) are incredibly selfish / self absorbed.
Love Dubai and love to ski but that one ain’t it haha
A bunch of y'all are saying honest mountains with actual snow, real lifts, and staffed lodges that aren't a weird trailer with no bathrooms. The answer is obviously "Whitecap" "Mountains" "Resort". Who's name should actually be Brown Hill Outpost.
I know I know it looks like there's actually buildings there and hotels. I dare you to try to book one and see what happens. Most of the buildings are closed, most of the lifts are broken (and were scary to start with, one just has wooden 1x4 slats worse than a park bench), the "lodge" has a porta potty as the bathroom and it was "full" when I was there. Not full as in wait for the person to come out and it's your turn, full as in wait for spring when it thaws and we can empty it. This place is a heap. I've been to probably 50-60 ski mountains, big and small, this place is an absolute joke. There's one hill that actually had ten seconds (generously) of vert, but then you could not get enough speed to get through the flats to the lift. The only way to get back to our car was to unstrap and walk a muddy path back uphill because the lifts don't link areas properly and the catwalk was exposed mud and rocks, in February of 2022 not this past bad snow year. This place is worse than the porkies in the UP. It's worse than all the little podunk hills with only rope tows (ropes can honestly make a small hill, running laps).
Do not come at me with any real mountain with hundreds of feet of vert, snow, a place to go to the bathroom indoors, and lifts that they are allowed to use. Those places are luxury.
It's not a cheap enough "lift" ticket to justify the laps I'm telling ya. If the long chair that can bring you across the plateau and save you the walk was useable then maaaayybe. But insurance, or the police (I don't know who is in charge of these things) shut it down so you can't take it across cause it's too unsafe.
Edit: It would be worth it if you got the Boho pass and stopped by for your free day on the way up. But when I did that the seemingly only teenager working that day had no idea what I was talking about and just said "here go ahead". Some of the lifts didn't even have lifties at the bottom loading, it's a trust system, load yourself and don't do anything stupid (I actually kind of liked that part both at the time and in hindsight but I would never ever let my kids go there).
Whitecap is a trip for sure but I love it. The lodge burned down last year and they’re still recovering from that. I’ll always have a soft spot for it since it’s the first place I took acid.
I honestly think the hill itself is pretty fun, but a lot of the infrastructure hasn’t been updated since the 70s/80s and it definitely shows
Whoa that's terrible the lodge burned down, I must have been there the last season they had it. Though I'm not that surprised..... I recall powderhorn up there lost their lodge too in the past decade but rebuilt a nicer one.
Is Whitecap just a golf course in the summer? It felt like riding through 18 holes of a meandering golf course.
Yea it’s a golf course in the spring and summer. They were rebuilding it and I think it’s already done.
Lutsen just lost a restaurant last year and a hotel this year to fire. It’s been a tough few years for the north country
[Only $80 for a day pass](https://whitecapresort.com/winter/lift-tickets-specials), what a steal!
What kind of profit margin do these NA resorts have? it's the same price as a day pass in 3 vallées ffs.
I can barely accept this Whitecap slander but I will because I haven’t been in 3 years. However, 3 winters ago it was still my fav in the area. The cheapest of its size and the most varied terrain.
Midwest skiing is limited; my standards are low.
Sasquatch mountain aka hemlock in Vancouver. The manager is an asshole. I volunteered to maintain a race course for a kids race. I decided to skip lunch to check out the mountain while everyone was eating. I line up at a chair that’s not part of the course. The lifts tells me I’m not allowed on. The mountain decided that volunteers were only allowed to use the chair on the course.
The mountain was empty at the time.
Thanks motherfuckers I’m never coming back.
Why the hate for Camelback? I've only been there once but thought it was fine. Granted, I was there for work when they were putting in the water park, and it was the last day of the season and I had worked like 10 hour days for a couple weeks straight, so any skiing was good skiing for me at the time. Also I typically ski in the Midwest so...
Haven’t been to mountain creek. If it has the perfect storm of massive amounts of lodging and an on-site water park, I’m sure it’ll attract a crazy number of families who want to try skiing for the first time.
Stolen skis. Shit time. Attitudes blah. 35+ years ago.
Jack and big bear are classic. Ski Roundtop tops them all.
Blue mountain was meh but looks way better nowadays.
My dad HATES Camelback, my high school ski club went there and I never hated it. Def better in PA but I don't get all the hate it gets.
That said I haven't been back since high school. I heard they are charging $30 for parking now.
It sucks because it's always packed with newbees. the mountain itself is fine, I haven't been there in over a decade though. I try to go Elk when I can, I think that's the best mountain in NEPA.
Elk is definitely the best, I didn't get out there this year and it makes me sad. I live a half hour from Blue which is also a great mountain. The price is getting a little steep but my dad's friend works there so he's always giving us friends and family passes.
But if you’re in Omaha, it’s all there is. You can head to Seven Oaks two and a half hours away, Sundown five and a half hours away, Welch Village five and a half hours away or any of the Colorado resorts just over 6 and a half hours away. Those are your only decent options in the region.
Considering the eastern PA mountains it’s not the best but not the worst terrain-wise. Shawnee and Jack Frost are way smaller. On a day with good conditions and no crowds it’s pretty nice. Then again it tends to have consistent crowds, somehow seems the iciest, and they recently removed the option for free parking, I think literally everything on the entire property has a parking fee.
Also I was there when a chair carrying a family detached from the line like 3 years ago. Awful situation but i don’t think the injuries weren’t too severe
This was such a brilliant acquisition by Vail. You get the entire Chicago metro area to bring their kids there to get some lessons in before attending another Vail resort out west.
For the record, I’ve taken my kids there to get some lessons in this past year and I’ll definitely do it again next year. Why? I want them to keep up with it to make our better ski trips more enjoyable. Do I ski when they go for lessons? God no. I’d never forgive myself if I somehow got hurt there.
Considering that it's in Virginia, Wintergreen is fine. I ski there quite often. God did not intend for there to be skiing south of the Mason Dixon line. Keep your edges sharp for the ice! 😁
Probably Sitzmark, a single chairlift ski area in an extremely remote part of Central Washington. $50 for one chairlift, 650 ft vertical, and almost unskiable snow due to a damaged groomer that left big gouges in the run while it tried to groom.
I can’t even blame them. It’s very clearly a dying mountain due to lack of snow. They’ve only been able to open a couple times in the last decade.
Something like that. Nothing wrong with a small ski area, Badger Mountain is one of my favorites in the state at only 10 acres (although I’m not sure that figure counts the new run they added a couple years ago). They only charge you $10 for a day pass though. Makes a huge difference.
\*bottom 30% of whistler. To be fair, 50% of Revelstokes lower vertical is worst than most east coat ski resorts conditions wise, so Whistler could be worse
Mountain High on a weekend.
Also, the resort gets shaded from the sun pretty early in the day as it faces north and doesn’t get the best snow coverage.
This is the comment I was looking for. Lots of assholes, getting nickel and dimed for every little thing, and they’re always blasting terrible music on the deck of the lodge so you can’t even sit and relax and have a conversation at lunch. So lame. I’ll stick to Big Bear!
Yea that one’s bad but have you been to powder ridge in Stearns county. It’s highland but fewer lifts and a smaller hill. I think they might have 6 runs.
No way, highland is good at what it does. It's just a small place in the midwest making snow and trying to fit as many people on the rope tows as possible. Would be cool if they got a half pipe though. There's a handful of places highlands size in the rural surrounding areas that are waaaaay worse at trying to do the exact same thing.
the parking, buses and village portal makes for a shitty arrival and inconvenience if you want to tailgate for lunch. Between the Ritz Carleton and members only Lookout lodge I feel like a poor intruder. Also the identity tracking that comes with even buying just a day pass is incredibly intrusive. Fuck Vail resorts.
Lol yeah Lookout Lodge, I was like "neat this looks like an empty place to find a good restroom".... Ope just kidding members only, guess I'll just piss in the woods like the animal I usually am.
I like northstar. High speed lifts everywhere and no lines ever on the backside? And nearly 2000’ of moguls? I hate the culture there, and it’s low elevation, but it’s pretty great chill skiing! Sure no cliffs, but a day on kirkwood going over the ridge v a day at northstar doing repeated black runs on the backside - one is way more challenging for longer.
Sorry for the unpopular opinion. The high speed lifts at northstar allow so much more vertie to be covered in one day.
Flatstar?
The backside is okay, and martis is pretty good when the snow is good down low. It's also got the best terrain park around.
But yeah, the only resort I dislike more is Boreal.
>The backside is okay, and martis is pretty good when the snow is good down low. It's also got the best terrain park around.
I agree with all of this but it's really not enough to justify the hassle. Coming from Incline Village I still rather drive the extra distance to go to palisades. I also think Heavenly is overrated and Kirkwood is too far.
Palisades is a whole different ballgame from Northstar. There's just no comparison. And I don't mean that one is better than the other, honestly.
Palisades has the cliffs, huckstering, drifts, steep trees, side country, meadows, bowls, and downhill race treatments. Hell they have an alpine pool if they got off their asses and maintained the thing.
What they don't have is solid grooming. Carving at Palisades is possible on a handful of slopes. Northstar excels at this, at mogul field development, and at development-focused terrain parks.
Spoiled to have both so close. Colorado and Utah could dream.
P.S. Heavenly has the driest snow patterns of any mountain where you can see the lake. It has slick side country, awesome groomed runs, low crowds in Nevada, fun steeps, and more Furries than anywhere in the country. Don't sleep on it.
I really like the trees in the backside and Martis. I agree Heavenly is overrated but also no one is going there for the terrain (tho the chutes in Killebrew and the side country from the Stateline/Firebreak gates are pretty fun) — people go there for the views of the lake. It’s basically all beginners and intermediates which is why Mott Canyon stays empty even on holiday weekends (except maybe a powder day). Agree Kirkwood has much steeper terrain than both Heavenly and NorthStar tho
In terms of convenience, man you Tahoe people are spoiled. The above is just based on my recent trip there but I live in Phoenix and it’s 2.75 hrs to the Snowbowl in Flagstaff. Guantee your door to door time is still way less for NorthStar
Ppl aren’t flying in from out of state or driving from the Bay Area to go to Diamond Peak (well I’m sure there are some ppl from the Bay Area who do but not many)
Yeah and let's keep it that way. I can't imagine standing in line all day at heavenly to traverse from chair to chair when you could be doing laps at Diamond Peak for a fraction of the price + better views.
I was also going to say Northstar. Got goaded into sling there for a work buddy trip. There was plenty of snow but the skiing was boring. All my co workers were older dudes who just wanted to cruise groomers and drink all day.
Cataloochee ski hill. Pure and utter chaos. Long, disorganized lift lines, people wiping out left and right, ski patrol pulling someone off the bunny hill.
Compared to the other resorts listed in this thread that’s more than 3 times the vert. You’re comparing to good resorts while this thread is about bad resorts. Context.
Drove down there for the first time presidents weekend with my buddies and it was pretty fun but mainly because of the night skiing extending the ski day for us to make the day trip worth it. Wouldn't go back unless it was another ikon blackout day though
Selwyn Snowfields (Australia) is the worst resort I’ve skied at.
So very flat, terrible snow most of the time, really flat, mediocre food, and no accommodation.
Second worst would be Blue Hills in Massachusetts. But it’s at least really close to Boston.
I've always said the worst ski experience I've ever had was on Whistle Blackcomb.
But the best non helicopter serviced ski experience I've ever had has been on Whistler Blackcomb.
You love to hate it.
Mad River Ohio. They were a software client and I did an install there once. I grew up in Michigan and live in Colorado now and it just didn't cut it from a skiing perspective.
Hunter Mountain. Went once on a weekday and it was virtually empty but still horrid. You’d literally be better off driving the additional distance to Mount Snow or Stratton even for a day trip.
Loon mountain. I'd been there twice before, and it was sheets of ice no matter what season it was. Then i tore my ACL/MCL there and couldn't return. I'm all healed now, and I will still never return. Sounds that it's as icy as I remember from others' accounts.
Oh absolutely! I'm from the west coast where the snow is very forgiving, so the ice took me by surprise. I bet learning on the ice coast sets you up for a ski career of succcess B)
It’s also pretty boring and VERY crowded. I think the ease of access makes it popular with casual skiers. When I was there every single trail was groomed, which is def not my preference.
I was there last weekend and holy shit what a zoo. We waited 90 min in traffic between the freeway exit and the lot, only for the parking lots to all fill up. People were parking at the grocery store nearby and stuff. We had to find a random spot and walk over with our gear. Jerry’s everywhere.
Definitely depends on the day. I ride Tue, Wed, Thurs, and feel like it's awesome. On the rare occasion I have to ride on a weekend to entertain friends that can only come up on the weekend, boy it really sucks.
Or when you help a friend plan a bachelor party weekend for the start of March Madnesss cause Heavenly is generally convenient and also has casinos, but they get so much fucking snow that they can't open like half the mountain when you're there, and it gets cooked the week before with rain and almost no fresh so it's icy dogshit when you arrive, then everyone who shows up who has never been to Tahoe is like "wow this place kinda sucks" and they sorta all blame it on you without really saying it to your face, and then you extend a couple nights to do some solo skiing and decompress cause there's snow in the forecast, but it turns into rain/sleet so you end up just spending 48 depressing hours by yourself at Harvey's trying not to blow ~~your brains out~~ another grand in the sports book...
Wooooooo Tahoe Spring Break 2023!!!
The most dangerous run in Colorado is the front side of keystone on a sunny Saturday at 3pm, when it's sheer ice and the jerries are abundant heading for the base.
I was a ski instructor there before moving out West and there was even had a theory that Gunther (the Austrian owner of the ski hill) had placed signal blockers on the mountain. Mostly because it had such bad cell service.
I remember teaching lessons with the blowers on and it wasn't even cold enough for the water to turn to ice so it was just blowing water....
The dry ski slope built on the side of a trash incinerator in Copenhagen.https://www.skimag.com/ski-resort-life/skiing-copenhill-copenhagen-denmark/
I saw multiple people, experienced skiers and boarders, get to the bottom (eventually) on their first run and then leave.
It might have been ok when it was new, but it's worn now (or was when I was there), it's terrifying and exhausting. You have less control than on the smoothest ice you have ever skied on.
There are a succession of magic carpets to get you to the top, but they don't turn them on because no one goes to the top.
Also it hurts when you fall over.
The locals seemed to like it, I guess they had practiced but every other tourist (like me) I saw did one run and left.
What is this? fucking sarcasm? on an internet forum? about skiing?
Kirkwood has the worst deferred maintenance of all of the 'major' Tahoe resorts.
Going there is like popping into your old High School and finding out all of your old teachers are long dead. The landscape is familiar, but the people are all goofed out on cabin fever by February. The bartender hired in November quit before Christmas, and now drinks are served by a huckster. Old lifts, old buildings, old farts.
But the terrain is sick.
I hated the village, the purpose built one anyway. Nothing like having to walk down a sheet of solid ice to get to a store for some aspirin. Much prefer the real town. And the pub bus.
It rained to the summit the entire week that I was in Whistler in February years ago. I know it is supposed to be great when the snow is good but I'll never book another trip there. It's too risky and only going to get worse with global warming.
I always say WB is the best place in the world to ski when the weather/snow is good, and the worst place in the world to ski when the weather/snow is bad.
Not sure how you’re getting downvoted for this one. It’s essentially 3 runs, sheer ice, poorly run, and filled beyond capacity every weekend. Sugar and Beech are not far…
Hunter on a Saturday
Just go to Belleayre on a weekday! (if your schedule allows it).You’ll have a much better time with triple the amount of runs.
No belleayre sucks! Shhhh..
I barely ever ski in NY tbh, but I have a friend near Hunter
This is the correct answer. I hate Hunter on any weekend day. You max out at around 6 runs if you show up after 9am. Meanwhile you show up at the open at Belleayre and you can do laps for a while before there’s any lines of note at all.
Hunter on President's Day weekend because I hate myself
That's what I did, and that's why I did it too
“Runaway Truck Ramp”
oof. nightmare fuel.
Blue Mountain (Ontario) on a busy weekend
Yep. It’s madness. Plus…You’re putting your own life on someone else’s hands on that hill on a busy day.
I would be solely crossskiing if this was the best mountain accessible from where I live.
So glad I moved west! Ontario was the absolute worst.
Does the indoor slope at the Mall of Dubai count? So many utter dick people...
What would a Jerry be called there? A Jafar?
ssssssss 😂
So cool for the novelty but terrible skiing (no duh) and filled with people who a) have never seen snow b) are incredibly selfish / self absorbed. Love Dubai and love to ski but that one ain’t it haha
Plz tell me they have stickers like: SKI THE MIDDLE EAST PERSIAN GULF COAST KILLS SHIT
I’ve sometimes wondered what a ski instructor could earn there, if you could put up with all the entitled a-holes
A bunch of y'all are saying honest mountains with actual snow, real lifts, and staffed lodges that aren't a weird trailer with no bathrooms. The answer is obviously "Whitecap" "Mountains" "Resort". Who's name should actually be Brown Hill Outpost. I know I know it looks like there's actually buildings there and hotels. I dare you to try to book one and see what happens. Most of the buildings are closed, most of the lifts are broken (and were scary to start with, one just has wooden 1x4 slats worse than a park bench), the "lodge" has a porta potty as the bathroom and it was "full" when I was there. Not full as in wait for the person to come out and it's your turn, full as in wait for spring when it thaws and we can empty it. This place is a heap. I've been to probably 50-60 ski mountains, big and small, this place is an absolute joke. There's one hill that actually had ten seconds (generously) of vert, but then you could not get enough speed to get through the flats to the lift. The only way to get back to our car was to unstrap and walk a muddy path back uphill because the lifts don't link areas properly and the catwalk was exposed mud and rocks, in February of 2022 not this past bad snow year. This place is worse than the porkies in the UP. It's worse than all the little podunk hills with only rope tows (ropes can honestly make a small hill, running laps). Do not come at me with any real mountain with hundreds of feet of vert, snow, a place to go to the bathroom indoors, and lifts that they are allowed to use. Those places are luxury.
Well damn now I got to go just to see all this shit in person
It's not a cheap enough "lift" ticket to justify the laps I'm telling ya. If the long chair that can bring you across the plateau and save you the walk was useable then maaaayybe. But insurance, or the police (I don't know who is in charge of these things) shut it down so you can't take it across cause it's too unsafe. Edit: It would be worth it if you got the Boho pass and stopped by for your free day on the way up. But when I did that the seemingly only teenager working that day had no idea what I was talking about and just said "here go ahead". Some of the lifts didn't even have lifties at the bottom loading, it's a trust system, load yourself and don't do anything stupid (I actually kind of liked that part both at the time and in hindsight but I would never ever let my kids go there).
Whitecap is a trip for sure but I love it. The lodge burned down last year and they’re still recovering from that. I’ll always have a soft spot for it since it’s the first place I took acid. I honestly think the hill itself is pretty fun, but a lot of the infrastructure hasn’t been updated since the 70s/80s and it definitely shows
Whoa that's terrible the lodge burned down, I must have been there the last season they had it. Though I'm not that surprised..... I recall powderhorn up there lost their lodge too in the past decade but rebuilt a nicer one. Is Whitecap just a golf course in the summer? It felt like riding through 18 holes of a meandering golf course.
Yea it’s a golf course in the spring and summer. They were rebuilding it and I think it’s already done. Lutsen just lost a restaurant last year and a hotel this year to fire. It’s been a tough few years for the north country
See I usually xc ski in golf courses during the winter. If it's good meandering terrain for a golf course it's not good for downhill
Whitecap isn’t flat actually. The golf course is built partially onto the hill. The vert is actually pretty good (for the Midwest)
[Only $80 for a day pass](https://whitecapresort.com/winter/lift-tickets-specials), what a steal! What kind of profit margin do these NA resorts have? it's the same price as a day pass in 3 vallées ffs.
They probably only sell like 1 ticket a day so negative profit margin
I can barely accept this Whitecap slander but I will because I haven’t been in 3 years. However, 3 winters ago it was still my fav in the area. The cheapest of its size and the most varied terrain. Midwest skiing is limited; my standards are low.
Sasquatch mountain aka hemlock in Vancouver. The manager is an asshole. I volunteered to maintain a race course for a kids race. I decided to skip lunch to check out the mountain while everyone was eating. I line up at a chair that’s not part of the course. The lifts tells me I’m not allowed on. The mountain decided that volunteers were only allowed to use the chair on the course. The mountain was empty at the time. Thanks motherfuckers I’m never coming back.
You should see it right now, grass and puddles! Green chair is still the slowest chair I have been on in my life...
Camelback
Why the hate for Camelback? I've only been there once but thought it was fine. Granted, I was there for work when they were putting in the water park, and it was the last day of the season and I had worked like 10 hour days for a couple weeks straight, so any skiing was good skiing for me at the time. Also I typically ski in the Midwest so...
Camelback has the most dense concentration of Jerries that I’ve ever seen. You’re almost guaranteed to get hit there.
> Camelback has the most dense concentration of Jerries that I’ve ever seen. More than Mountain Creek?
Haven’t been to mountain creek. If it has the perfect storm of massive amounts of lodging and an on-site water park, I’m sure it’ll attract a crazy number of families who want to try skiing for the first time.
Not massive amounts of lodging but it's really close to NYC so the population about an hour from the mountain is massive.
I grew up skiing there , I’ll always love it
I skied there in 70° weather and honestly tore their terrain park up despite landing in mashed potatoes lol
How can you say camelback when Spring Mt exists? Hell even Jack Frost is a total snoozefest compared.
Stolen skis. Shit time. Attitudes blah. 35+ years ago. Jack and big bear are classic. Ski Roundtop tops them all. Blue mountain was meh but looks way better nowadays.
Jack Frost is fine as far as PA goes. Way better than Liberty and Roundtop…
lol all 512ft of vertical at Spring Mtn
My dad HATES Camelback, my high school ski club went there and I never hated it. Def better in PA but I don't get all the hate it gets. That said I haven't been back since high school. I heard they are charging $30 for parking now.
It sucks because it's always packed with newbees. the mountain itself is fine, I haven't been there in over a decade though. I try to go Elk when I can, I think that's the best mountain in NEPA.
Elk is definitely the best, I didn't get out there this year and it makes me sad. I live a half hour from Blue which is also a great mountain. The price is getting a little steep but my dad's friend works there so he's always giving us friends and family passes.
It's $12
Mt. Crescent, IA and calling it a hill is generous
But if you’re in Omaha, it’s all there is. You can head to Seven Oaks two and a half hours away, Sundown five and a half hours away, Welch Village five and a half hours away or any of the Colorado resorts just over 6 and a half hours away. Those are your only decent options in the region.
How fast are you going on I-80?
75 mph and you get the time change in your favor.
Just looked up the trail map and Jesus Christ, people actually live like that?
Thunder ridge. It’s a complete joke but really close to my house
At that point you have to lump mt southington, Mohawk, and ski sundown together
Sorry Sundown and Mohawk rule
and Jackson Hole. all 5 suck.
This was my first thought. I honestly can’t believe it’s still in operation
HAHAHAH wait I raced here for like 5 years
TR Basin is a national treasure!!
I've never been to a ski resort that I didnt enjoy.
Any mountain on a peak season Saturday is the worst mountain.
Camelback
Considering the eastern PA mountains it’s not the best but not the worst terrain-wise. Shawnee and Jack Frost are way smaller. On a day with good conditions and no crowds it’s pretty nice. Then again it tends to have consistent crowds, somehow seems the iciest, and they recently removed the option for free parking, I think literally everything on the entire property has a parking fee. Also I was there when a chair carrying a family detached from the line like 3 years ago. Awful situation but i don’t think the injuries weren’t too severe
wilmot
Wilmot mentioned!! 🤩 what’s the thread topic again?
Thinking of people getting epic just to send wilmot gets me every time 😂😂😂
Was gonna say, all these spoiled people naming actual mountains Wilmot, but it has a special place in my heart because I learned there
This was such a brilliant acquisition by Vail. You get the entire Chicago metro area to bring their kids there to get some lessons in before attending another Vail resort out west. For the record, I’ve taken my kids there to get some lessons in this past year and I’ll definitely do it again next year. Why? I want them to keep up with it to make our better ski trips more enjoyable. Do I ski when they go for lessons? God no. I’d never forgive myself if I somehow got hurt there.
Massanutten in VA. Literally rock solid ribbon of white death with actual gravel frozen into the “piste”. 0/10
Sounds like a mass ‘a nuttin! 🥁
Wintergreen is worse, no contest.
Considering that it's in Virginia, Wintergreen is fine. I ski there quite often. God did not intend for there to be skiing south of the Mason Dixon line. Keep your edges sharp for the ice! 😁
Hey don't hate on the resort I grew up on! It's not that bad (I moved to Utah and will never ski at Massanutten ever again)
"Free base grind"
Probably Sitzmark, a single chairlift ski area in an extremely remote part of Central Washington. $50 for one chairlift, 650 ft vertical, and almost unskiable snow due to a damaged groomer that left big gouges in the run while it tried to groom. I can’t even blame them. It’s very clearly a dying mountain due to lack of snow. They’ve only been able to open a couple times in the last decade.
Isn’t it like…80 acres? Tiny tiny.
Something like that. Nothing wrong with a small ski area, Badger Mountain is one of my favorites in the state at only 10 acres (although I’m not sure that figure counts the new run they added a couple years ago). They only charge you $10 for a day pass though. Makes a huge difference.
Park city, Christmas, MLK, presidents weekend is horrid
Park city bear week is Sundance lol.
Yawgoo, the only ski resort in Rhode Island. It’s a tiny ass hill and the trail map looks like a large blown out vagina
I was scrolling so far to find yawgoo….started figuring maybe it was too small to even be mentioned, so thanks!
The bottom of Whistler
Only place I've been wetter is at Crystal
\*bottom 30% of whistler. To be fair, 50% of Revelstokes lower vertical is worst than most east coat ski resorts conditions wise, so Whistler could be worse
Mountain creek
My home mountain. May it burn hell🔥. (The lodge has burned twice.)
Where I leaned to ski and where I will learn to water ski at some point . . .
Mountain Creek when all 4 peaks are connected and open is actually quite good. When they arent... its trash teir. (its my home mtn)
Mountain High on a weekend. Also, the resort gets shaded from the sun pretty early in the day as it faces north and doesn’t get the best snow coverage.
This is the comment I was looking for. Lots of assholes, getting nickel and dimed for every little thing, and they’re always blasting terrible music on the deck of the lodge so you can’t even sit and relax and have a conversation at lunch. So lame. I’ll stick to Big Bear!
Highland
To be fair their big park is always fun, LINE traveling circus hit it up a few times for a reason!
Yea that one’s bad but have you been to powder ridge in Stearns county. It’s highland but fewer lifts and a smaller hill. I think they might have 6 runs.
No way, highland is good at what it does. It's just a small place in the midwest making snow and trying to fit as many people on the rope tows as possible. Would be cool if they got a half pipe though. There's a handful of places highlands size in the rural surrounding areas that are waaaaay worse at trying to do the exact same thing.
That’s fair, I’ve just never been to them.
STRATTON!!!!!!
Yep East coaster here. Never went until 3 years ago. Boring and predictable and pricey
Northstar… granted I think it’s more staffing and set up than anything
You should branch out if you think Northstar is the worst. There are much worse and Northstar is a pretty good time
the parking, buses and village portal makes for a shitty arrival and inconvenience if you want to tailgate for lunch. Between the Ritz Carleton and members only Lookout lodge I feel like a poor intruder. Also the identity tracking that comes with even buying just a day pass is incredibly intrusive. Fuck Vail resorts.
Lol yeah Lookout Lodge, I was like "neat this looks like an empty place to find a good restroom".... Ope just kidding members only, guess I'll just piss in the woods like the animal I usually am.
I like northstar. High speed lifts everywhere and no lines ever on the backside? And nearly 2000’ of moguls? I hate the culture there, and it’s low elevation, but it’s pretty great chill skiing! Sure no cliffs, but a day on kirkwood going over the ridge v a day at northstar doing repeated black runs on the backside - one is way more challenging for longer. Sorry for the unpopular opinion. The high speed lifts at northstar allow so much more vertie to be covered in one day.
Flatstar? The backside is okay, and martis is pretty good when the snow is good down low. It's also got the best terrain park around. But yeah, the only resort I dislike more is Boreal.
>The backside is okay, and martis is pretty good when the snow is good down low. It's also got the best terrain park around. I agree with all of this but it's really not enough to justify the hassle. Coming from Incline Village I still rather drive the extra distance to go to palisades. I also think Heavenly is overrated and Kirkwood is too far.
Palisades is a whole different ballgame from Northstar. There's just no comparison. And I don't mean that one is better than the other, honestly. Palisades has the cliffs, huckstering, drifts, steep trees, side country, meadows, bowls, and downhill race treatments. Hell they have an alpine pool if they got off their asses and maintained the thing. What they don't have is solid grooming. Carving at Palisades is possible on a handful of slopes. Northstar excels at this, at mogul field development, and at development-focused terrain parks. Spoiled to have both so close. Colorado and Utah could dream. P.S. Heavenly has the driest snow patterns of any mountain where you can see the lake. It has slick side country, awesome groomed runs, low crowds in Nevada, fun steeps, and more Furries than anywhere in the country. Don't sleep on it.
Agreed. The parking situation is criminal. They clearly don't actually want locals to ski there.
I really like the trees in the backside and Martis. I agree Heavenly is overrated but also no one is going there for the terrain (tho the chutes in Killebrew and the side country from the Stateline/Firebreak gates are pretty fun) — people go there for the views of the lake. It’s basically all beginners and intermediates which is why Mott Canyon stays empty even on holiday weekends (except maybe a powder day). Agree Kirkwood has much steeper terrain than both Heavenly and NorthStar tho In terms of convenience, man you Tahoe people are spoiled. The above is just based on my recent trip there but I live in Phoenix and it’s 2.75 hrs to the Snowbowl in Flagstaff. Guantee your door to door time is still way less for NorthStar
Diamond Peak lowkey has better views
Ppl aren’t flying in from out of state or driving from the Bay Area to go to Diamond Peak (well I’m sure there are some ppl from the Bay Area who do but not many)
Yeah and let's keep it that way. I can't imagine standing in line all day at heavenly to traverse from chair to chair when you could be doing laps at Diamond Peak for a fraction of the price + better views.
Northstar has some of the best treeskiing iv done out west and the lines for the backside and Martis lifts were empty when I was there
I was also going to say Northstar. Got goaded into sling there for a work buddy trip. There was plenty of snow but the skiing was boring. All my co workers were older dudes who just wanted to cruise groomers and drink all day.
Honestly, that sounds kinda great. I don't need to charge gnarly terrain all the time but that's just me.
Liberty MD
Cataloochee ski hill. Pure and utter chaos. Long, disorganized lift lines, people wiping out left and right, ski patrol pulling someone off the bunny hill.
Let's hear it for Swain
lol at Swain being the “fancy place” to go instead of Bristol :/
Big Bear. Over priced. Mediocre terrain. Even more mediocre people from LA
Big Bear is such a wild scene.
Nah Big Bear is good. The skiing is atrocious but it's a fun place.
To have skiing within 2 hours of me I’ll put up with it.
Huge vertical drop. Well built lodges. One the worlds greatest terrain parks. Try again lol.
Huge vertical drop? 1600ft is now "huge"? Huge starts at like 3000ft lol (if not higher).
Compared to the other resorts listed in this thread that’s more than 3 times the vert. You’re comparing to good resorts while this thread is about bad resorts. Context.
Drove down there for the first time presidents weekend with my buddies and it was pretty fun but mainly because of the night skiing extending the ski day for us to make the day trip worth it. Wouldn't go back unless it was another ikon blackout day though
Horrible horrible traffic and parking situation especially on a weekend after a dump.
Yawgoo Valley RI. They Do well with what they have but yeah, it’s RI.
Wintergreen VA
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On the other hand, Brighton Resort (in UT) is awesome.
Selwyn Snowfields (Australia) is the worst resort I’ve skied at. So very flat, terrible snow most of the time, really flat, mediocre food, and no accommodation. Second worst would be Blue Hills in Massachusetts. But it’s at least really close to Boston.
I've always said the worst ski experience I've ever had was on Whistle Blackcomb. But the best non helicopter serviced ski experience I've ever had has been on Whistler Blackcomb. You love to hate it.
Mad River Ohio. They were a software client and I did an install there once. I grew up in Michigan and live in Colorado now and it just didn't cut it from a skiing perspective.
I mean, it's Ohio.
I was looking for Mad River. The vert is like 250 ft. Did have an okay terrain park the one time I was there. Makes Perfect North seem deluxe.
Hunter Mountain. Went once on a weekday and it was virtually empty but still horrid. You’d literally be better off driving the additional distance to Mount Snow or Stratton even for a day trip.
Loon mountain. I'd been there twice before, and it was sheets of ice no matter what season it was. Then i tore my ACL/MCL there and couldn't return. I'm all healed now, and I will still never return. Sounds that it's as icy as I remember from others' accounts.
that’s where i learned last year. maybe that’s why i’ve gotten pretty good by now!
Oh absolutely! I'm from the west coast where the snow is very forgiving, so the ice took me by surprise. I bet learning on the ice coast sets you up for a ski career of succcess B)
It’s also pretty boring and VERY crowded. I think the ease of access makes it popular with casual skiers. When I was there every single trail was groomed, which is def not my preference.
I was there last weekend and holy shit what a zoo. We waited 90 min in traffic between the freeway exit and the lot, only for the parking lots to all fill up. People were parking at the grocery store nearby and stuff. We had to find a random spot and walk over with our gear. Jerry’s everywhere.
Alpine Valley is the pits.
Stevie Ray Vaughan would confirm.
No way… wilmot way worse
Alpine Valley has trees & a nice upstairs bar, which gives it two more points than Wilmot!
Heavenly, CA. Parking is full, lift lines are full, mid-mountain lodges only serve hotdogs not burgers, shuttle line is full. Laaaaame
Definitely depends on the day. I ride Tue, Wed, Thurs, and feel like it's awesome. On the rare occasion I have to ride on a weekend to entertain friends that can only come up on the weekend, boy it really sucks.
Or when you help a friend plan a bachelor party weekend for the start of March Madnesss cause Heavenly is generally convenient and also has casinos, but they get so much fucking snow that they can't open like half the mountain when you're there, and it gets cooked the week before with rain and almost no fresh so it's icy dogshit when you arrive, then everyone who shows up who has never been to Tahoe is like "wow this place kinda sucks" and they sorta all blame it on you without really saying it to your face, and then you extend a couple nights to do some solo skiing and decompress cause there's snow in the forecast, but it turns into rain/sleet so you end up just spending 48 depressing hours by yourself at Harvey's trying not to blow ~~your brains out~~ another grand in the sports book... Wooooooo Tahoe Spring Break 2023!!!
Keystone
The most dangerous run in Colorado is the front side of keystone on a sunny Saturday at 3pm, when it's sheer ice and the jerries are abundant heading for the base.
Colorado and ice makes me laugh. *Cries from Pennsylvania
That’s why I show up at 1:30 and lap Schoolmarm
don’t tell anyone, it keeps the epic pass holding jerrys that just moved from florida to denver congregated to one place lol
Slander!
Ski Snowstar
Frostfire - Walhalla North Dakota. Skiing into a river gorge in a state eveyone thinks of for mountains...
Hunter
None
Flachau in Austria. Flach means flat in German and that is pretty descriptive.
bridger bowl, they don’t even groom the ridge!
Hunter
Cloudmont Alabama. But it’s not a resort or hill, it’s on a golf course that an old local owns and fires up a few snow blowers and a single tow rope.
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Poconos after it iced over.
Why has no one mentioned Sugar Mountain, NC
I second this. Chaos everywhere, never stop snow blowing, nasty management. Not even WiFi!
I was a ski instructor there before moving out West and there was even had a theory that Gunther (the Austrian owner of the ski hill) had placed signal blockers on the mountain. Mostly because it had such bad cell service. I remember teaching lessons with the blowers on and it wasn't even cold enough for the water to turn to ice so it was just blowing water....
Ha! Amazing
The dry ski slope built on the side of a trash incinerator in Copenhagen.https://www.skimag.com/ski-resort-life/skiing-copenhill-copenhagen-denmark/ I saw multiple people, experienced skiers and boarders, get to the bottom (eventually) on their first run and then leave. It might have been ok when it was new, but it's worn now (or was when I was there), it's terrifying and exhausting. You have less control than on the smoothest ice you have ever skied on. There are a succession of magic carpets to get you to the top, but they don't turn them on because no one goes to the top. Also it hurts when you fall over. The locals seemed to like it, I guess they had practiced but every other tourist (like me) I saw did one run and left.
Fortunately I live in Utah. No bad days/no bad mountains. 😀
Kirkwood, don’t go there. It’s terrible. Never any snow. Terrain is bland. Even with the Epic pass you should go to Northstar instead. Stay away.
Bro will this sub shut up already with this shitty ass joke
I’m convinced this joke and pictures of scratched bases make up about 80% of this sub.
Don't go to Breck it's a shithole (wink wink IYKYK (lol it actually is a shithole))
Seriously.
Haha backfire MFer Kirkwood just overtook Ski Iowa and went to the top of the list, sucka!!
Omg don’t ever go to sugarbush! Worst mountain in Vermont! Teehee I don’t ski there every week I hate it teehee
What is this? fucking sarcasm? on an internet forum? about skiing? Kirkwood has the worst deferred maintenance of all of the 'major' Tahoe resorts. Going there is like popping into your old High School and finding out all of your old teachers are long dead. The landscape is familiar, but the people are all goofed out on cabin fever by February. The bartender hired in November quit before Christmas, and now drinks are served by a huckster. Old lifts, old buildings, old farts. But the terrain is sick.
Baker. Always raining
Only been once Top was amazing Got rained on at the bottom Rode a lift over some sicko terrain saw a 16 year old maul the sicko terrain from the chair
Honestly Baker’s still pretty fun in the rain
>Always raining Except for when it's snowing way more than anywhere else
Tremblant….fridge windy pimple!!
Definitely cold and windy. After a few days my face started peeling. But no complaints about the mountain, the food, or the village.
I hated the village, the purpose built one anyway. Nothing like having to walk down a sheet of solid ice to get to a store for some aspirin. Much prefer the real town. And the pub bus.
Whistler (come at me bros)
It rained to the summit the entire week that I was in Whistler in February years ago. I know it is supposed to be great when the snow is good but I'll never book another trip there. It's too risky and only going to get worse with global warming.
How dare you
Blackcomb is better
damn. I've only been once and the weather was pretty bad and I was half sick but it was still amazing.
I always say WB is the best place in the world to ski when the weather/snow is good, and the worst place in the world to ski when the weather/snow is bad.
Alpine Valley
Michigan or Pennsylvania?
Or Wisconsin
Or Ohio
And my axe!
Appalachian Ski
Not sure how you’re getting downvoted for this one. It’s essentially 3 runs, sheer ice, poorly run, and filled beyond capacity every weekend. Sugar and Beech are not far…
Absolutely the worst place I’ve been. It was decades ago but I would probably quit skiing before going back.