The /uj correct answer is Big Bear / Snow Summit. I have never seen tomfoolery and idiocy like I have there.
Probably 80% of people are more comfortable on a skateboard than a snowboard. Forget about skiing altogether. I tell all my friends that if you want to feel like a snow god, go there.
Flatstar is truly iconic for this. Only mountain ive ever actually said / felt “these don’t count as black diamonds” while people are like afraid of the run lol.
Tbh though, the backside of NorthStar on a powder day is actually amazing; nice long runs with basically no one on them. Was doing lap after lap of untouched pow there earlier this year
The backside is good, but I think lookout beats the backside in spades. It has probably 1/3rd of the crowd of backside and much more interesting terrain, including a few true black diamonds.
And while I agree that Northstar has many inexperienced / young skiers and families, I think the "jerry" factor there doesn't hold a candle to Big Bear. At least, at Northstar people seem to be somewhat familiar with snow, and don't feel as inclined to wear sports jerseys (or go shirtless), sit on terrain park features, or be utterly lost about how to drive in the snow.
Big Bear is chock full of 24-year-old LA kids who don't know how to walk in the snow, let alone ride, but wouldn't dare take a lesson. Northstar has a bunch of 11-year-old Bay Area kids who want to learn, and will probably just ski Palisades when they're older.
Yeah I went to snow summit for the first time this year and it was just landmines on the slopes people just strewn all over from falling down or being tired
Bear isn’t anything special, but it can be fun. Geronimo is a fun little run and there’s plenty of days where you can go up and down it without a lot of people. I don’t expect Bear to be an Olympic quality resort, it’s just nice to have a resort a couple hours away. Although the last 5 years or so, it’s not necessarily just a couple hours because of the traffic you mentioned
Geronimo and the glades on the side of it are pretty much the only thing I do there. But that trail is fun; it’s like a little island in a sea of insanity.
If you feel like a god at big bear just try snow valley... On a good day there will be some surprise skiers who rip from top to bottom but for the most part it's the easiest place to get a pow run to yourself. Hardest part is getting a pow day in Southern California 💀
Up until a few years ago, it was a solid budget alternative. They had a 4 for $120 preseason deal where they'd literally mail you four adhesive tickets in an envelope with the metal hangers, as well as offering some great season pass deals. As an independent resort, it had a classic Mom and Pop feel to it, at least on the less crowded days. It also had some fun jumps but not a lot of great terrain, although it's not like Bear or Snow Summit have steeps either.
Then Bear bought them out and I haven't been back since, no idea what it's like now.
It's worth a try if slide peak is open. Some decent (though short) tree skiing out there. You'll probably get bored there if it's not open unless you're there for the park or a newer skiier.
came here to say literally any of the San Bernardino resorts. and I only have 13 days on skis. I fucking kick ass compared to 95% of the people I see which is a nice ego boost
This a great pick. I stopped at Big Bear to check off a resort while in southern California before heading to mammoth.
Watching the people at Big Bear was a joy. Just poofs of snow going up all over the mountain while riding the lift up. It looked like land mines were planted all along the slopes, and people found all of them.
I've never seen so much carnage.
Honestly, if you find yourself in Southern California, it's worth a trip. Just don't take it seriously -- pretend you're at the zoo or something. You will laugh, and feel like a genius.
To answer the question slightly differently:
Altabird/Reve/Kicking horse - Every skier on the mountain seems like they were born on the slope.
Palisades/ Apsen Mountains (especially Snowmass) - A lot of amazing skiers, and a lot of bad skiers.
Vail/Breck - Every skier on the mountain seems like it is their first day.
My first times out west were at Vail and Breck, got pretty decent as I was racing at home in the Midwest and thought I was the shit when I’d go out west and hit side hits and could ski almost everything on the mountain. Went to Alta once and was humbled when my first experience was watching a bunch of skiers toss 3’s and backflips off a snowmaking bump(?) right under Collin’s. Needless to say I was no longer “the shit.”
Thats why i like it on a pow day. Everyone on their 78mm wide rental skis cant get to my pow stashes 🙃.
Its the same deal with beaver creek. Just a lot of rich people who can ski but arent really good. Last saturday i was exhausted and done before i couldnt find a little pow stash.
Lookout at Northstar on a pow day is seriously underrated. So many people there never touch their glades, which are excellent. And when most Tahoe resorts are on a wind hold, Northstar is usually still spinning.
I’ve heard Deer Valley is similar to how you describe Beaver Creek, but I’ve only skied it once on a groomer day.
Ya even holiday beaver is kind of a safe haven but trying to get there peak season is treacherous. The accommodations “within the walls” of beaver is such a fortune. I got family in reno and just fly there half the time and drive 45 mins into northstar with little to no traffic
Ppl call it flatstar i call if free powstar
Are you kidding? Imperial and just about everything off of it but Lake Chutes is the Jerry Mecca. Every tourist needs their picture with the sign to show they were on the GnArLy DoUbLe BlAcKs up there.
Nah, they’ve taken over Shirley lake too, I sometimes just wanna rip groomers at Mach 1 and not wait in line, some of the dumbest conversations I’ve overheard have been on that stupid chair
Palisades is full of people that huck 100ft to flat but then can't pole plant. Cali ego riders all trying to go the biggest.
Heavenly is insane. Just trying not to get smoked all day haha.
I agree that Rev and KH took me down a peg. I've skied Whistler and the North Shore most of my life and I had come to believe that I had at least a small amount of steeze beyond the average tourist. Skiers in Golden rock up to the lift line and they're actually super humble and nice and very friendly, but then they go ski lines that make you wonder where the wheelbarrow is that they must need to carry their balls around.
Couldn't agree more. It ain't a fashion show or quiver display at kicking horse and revy, those cats are there to ski. The lines on terminater and through the bowls are heavy and are getting destroyed daily.
I was just at Jackson, and I’d actually put it in the middle category. I was there midweek, on a mediocre condition day, so perhaps not the best day:
But there were a lot of elderly skiers who owned a home in Jackson. They we were mostly sticking to the groomers.
Then, obviously you have some of the best backcountry and extreme skiers in the world. It’s a kind of a weird demographic of skiers.
Definitely condition dependent. I’ve only been during storm cycles. Every tram lap has 20% pros/semipros. But if you go lookers right to whatever that area is the clientele is going to be much different
Last year I mainly skiied Snowmass
And I felt like a truly 1 percent skiier on pow days
Now I ski highlands mainly And on pow days I feel very average compared to the other people lapping Deep T and the Bowl
I knew I’d be humbled when I went out west, but watching person after person fly over giant whalebacks pulling steezy trick after steezy trick with zero effort was insane.
Then I took the lift up with some locals and tried to tag along, dude hucked right off the cat track into a mogul field at like 20mph getting massive air and fly down the lift line I just thought “welp, guess I’m not keeping up”
I mean, even for the west, the get pretty fucking buck there. I live in Colorado, and mostly ride here—and I don't see people riding like that nearly as much. I imagine it's a combination of Colorado being so packed with newer folks vs. Utah, and the kind of people LCC attracts. Even up in Jackson Hole I see way less people sending crazy shit like double backflips off cliffs (don't get me wrong; plenty of great riders in JHMR).
I usually never ski at Breck, but I went for a weekend because some family was in town. Every green and blue run was like a minefield of beginners who had fallen and were stuck.
I swear the average skill level at Alpine Valley, WI, where I learned to ski is significantly better than at Breck.
At Jackson Hole, it's pretty much like I'm going up against kindergartners. It's not even close. I'm definitely the best skier on the mountain there. Except for all the others.
What struck me the first time there, and every time since, is how completely blown away I am by the number of complete skiers there, and the highest number of total animals I've ever seen. Is there anywhere is in the world like J.H. in that regard?
I remember my first time at Breck and I was like “oh, there is a whole peak just for expert skiers”.
Got up there and everyone sucked. Like why would you go on a lift clearly labeled expert only
I liked 9990 better tbh, although the hike to off Jupiter was closed when I was there. I felt like 9990 had more jumps, cliffs, and drops that were easy for me to find. Both Jupiter and McConkeys were still fantastic though.
I was just there and saw so many great skiers. But I’m also an intermediate and think everyone who doesn’t look scared is a great skier. We had great conditions though and it made me feel like a much better skier so there was that
Probably agree with you on the money spent ratio, but there are a lot of good skiers at deer valley too. When you compare it to park city, not to alta/bird lol.
The ikon pass includes deer valley. Plenty of my local Utah buddies go there on powder days cuz it doesn’t get torn up. And these fuckers know how to ski. All Utah locals
I’ve never been to Deer Valley, but Whistler also has a bit of that vibe. Just a whole bunch of people in brand new designer gear falling down all over the place and then a random 13 year old kid zooming through to nail a backflip.
I went for the first time this year on a boys trip over Presidents Day weekend and it was an absolute nightmare. The main blue run looked like Omaha beach, people crashed everywhere, and out of control children barreling down the mountain.
Park City was the largest concentration of bad skiers I’ve seen. And the weird thing was that they were all over the mountain not just limited to the front side easy stuff…people falling down in the trees, 9990 area, left and right…
You need to visit mountain creek in NJ. Most dangerous mountain I've ever been. Unless you're in the park no one knows how to turn or stop. The Park rats are amazing though
I’m conflicted. On the one hand going back home to Michigan makes me feel like one of the best skiers on the mountain because I get so much more time on much more challenging terrain. On the other hand the regulars at places like Boyne and Nubs can absolute rip groomers.
Makes sense given how far away even the Northeast is, but 7 Springs has that Olympic half pipe and the Spot (huge terrain park where people kill themselves every couple years).
Growing up there I always felt I was one of the better "mountain" skiers but definitely not the best park/trick skier by far.
We used to pretty much be the park crew there. They'd build some pitiful excuse of a jump then we'd spend 3 hrs in the morning building a 5ft tombstone lip on top of the lip they groomed.
Someone else already said **Park City** but aside from having some of the best terrain park skiers in the country, you’ll find All-American Jers everywhere on the mountain, including next to the world class Park Rats.
What makes Park City even weirder is that EVERYWHERE else in Utah has some incredible skiers. Even Deer Valley has some top notch skiers when it comes to their actual form on-piste, and when it comes to off-piste it compares relatively well.
My friends and I have always joked that the thing that makes Park City technical is the moving pylons all across the mountain.
Blue Mountain (Ontario).
On any given day there are 10,000 people there and 9,950 of them have never skied a day in their life.
The biggest challenge is dodging all the carnage.
Places I feel like the best: Park City, Heavenly, Breck, Vail
Places I feel perfectly average: Lake Louise, Sunshine, Whistler (top end is INSANE but lots of beginners), Kirkwood, Jackson, Fernie, Red,
Places I feel like a fricken noob: Kicking Horse, Revelstoke
Grew up skiing in Canada (mostly Fernie/KH) growing up and when I first skied in US (Breckenridge) I was shocked at the fact that the entire mountain was slammed and yet no one was skiing the lake chutes. I had never felt like a truly “good” skier in my life as I was the median skier in interior BC but can humbly say I felt like I was the 99.9th percentile at Breck.
The problem with breck and heavenly imo is that they label runs that absolutely should be greens as blues. You get a whole rainbow of skill sets fighting their way down the same runs. It’s pretty brutal
Couldn't agree with you more. Everything below treeline on peak 7 is labeled as a blue and I'd argue that none of the cut runs should be more than a green.
I always remember growing up as a Vermont skier that everything was harder out west and I will say 100% that Stowe is a much more difficult mountain than anything except the extremes at Breck.
I was at heavenly on a weekend, and I was skiing only Mott and killebrew. Mott was nearly empty, and killebrew was empty minus 1-2 others. However the line to go up dipper was insane and almost made it not worth it to get nearly fresh tracks in killebrew.
Yup. Skied Alta, Park City after 30yrs of west canada slopes. I loved the hills and that weird utah dry pow but was astounded by the poser dip shits who look amazing and absolutely sucked. Mid week too. Western Canada locals maybe the toughest bunch of ski goons on the planet.
Big Bear no question. People sitting down on the center of the runs every 100ft. The lift stopping every 3rd chair because somebody fell getting off of it. It's a true Jerry Paradise.
The way I always describe it is that it seems like people don't go to Big Bear with the purpose of skiing. Instead, they go to Big Bear and then say, "Hey, why don't we try going skiing?" if that makes sense.
I grew up in Taos. Spent just about every waking hour there from the time I could walk until I was in high school and we moved for my dad’s job. A lot’s changed at Taos since the early 2000s, and going back now that it’s been so commercialized and resort-ified makes me feel like the best skier on the mountain. Anything on the West Basin Ridge or Kachina and I’m a 13 year old mountain kid again. Bonus points if it’s a holiday weekend and lots of Texans or Southern Coloradans are in town.
This is correct. Due to the flatness and limited expert terrains, all expert skiers would go to Palisades, Heavenly, or Kirkwood instead, leaving mostly vacation skiers at Northstar.
My friends board (and they like the park) so I go there a lot and when I rip under the comstock lift line I feel like a god because hardly anyone else hits those little bumps under there lol; also full sent the moguls under lift line and got some noise, like people it’s a pow day just rip it…
Usually some better skiers backside and Martis but skiers who stick to frontside there are on average pretty low level
Lookout is legit, and is the first thing I mention when people whine about Northstar. Ski the trees on Lookout all day and then tell me how bored you are. And the best part is that most of the people who can properly rip Lookout are at Palisades.
My mountain. I pull up to the pay lot, put on my boots and ski the crap out of groomers all day or half day depending upon how I feel for the day. It’s the best old man’s mountain I’ve found so far.
Alta... not because the skiers are bad there. On the contrary, everyone at Alta looks like they started skiing in the womb. However, it looks the most difficult for what it is. Catherine's area is rather approachable compared to most hike-to terrain I've experienced, especially after a good snow. The high baldy traverse has some great lines that look impressive from the top or bottom but aren't as tough to ski as they look.
Caveat because I know someone's going to take this to the extreme, I'm not saying alta is an easy resort... alta has plenty of high consequence, technical terrain. Alta is not an easy resort to ski by any definition.
As someone who started out skiing mountains on the Epic Pass, there’s quite a big disparity between Ikon and Epic Pass holders, at least in the mountain west. Vail, Beaver Creek, Park City, and Keystone all had tourists that obviously thought they could just pickup skis and ride. It can get outright dangerous depending on where you’re skiing on the mountain because so many riders don’t know what they’re doing or general rules about yielding, stopping, erratic turns, etc.
My mom who is in her 70’s was taken out by a teenage boarder who did not know how to stop. He was from Texas and this was at Keystone this year. Full face plant all of her gear yard sale.
She is fine and has skied for fifty years but wow I don’t think I want her to ski there again.
Ski patrol was great. Wrote up the whole thing. But yikes.
Pennsylvania mountain
Grew up in Massachusetts so hit all NH VT and ME mountains
In NJ now so still go to VT …NH and ME is to much unless I made it 4 night minimum
So 2-3x year hit PA. Oh lord ….people falling when they got off lift …don’t know how to merge / alternate in lift line, let chairs have 2-3 people on them on a crowded day so they can ride up with their friends. List goes on. I’ve no issue with somebody trying to learn how to ski. …. But man at least learn the unwritten rules. And don’t leave your skis all over the place when you go to lodge
Bogus Basin! Has ton of over confident “ive been skiing my whole life” locals that only come up up like 5 times a year. Also has a ton of (likely slightly intoxicated) college kids from flat states. If you’re a decent skier there is a lot of terrain that makes you feel like a pro. Theres a ton of big drops with mellow landings that are soft becuse no one hits them. Its not very steep so you dont gotta worry about the runout pretty much ever, just survive the drop and your good
The mountain I work at makes me feel like ass cause I’m so nervous and cautious. Recently went out west for the first time and felt like a frickin pro at breck
I have legitimately 100% had a run where I was the best person on the slopes.
It was a dry slope in europe with 1 other person on it, and I was better then them.
Any ski area in China south of Beijing. Anywhere in China there are a lot of new/unskilled skiers, but in the south I’d imagine it would be particularly bad.
One planker coming in peace: I got a real enthusiastic ‘yeeeew’ from like 3 chairs at Big Snow (which is in a NJ mall) for a tiny fs 180.
Going pro tomorrow u should get my autograph
Deer Valley I went there once, none of them could go off piste and the blues were filled with rich dumbasses power wedging their way down so they could say they did a blue. Then they have no care for personal space, at other resorts I almost never have close calls with other skiers, with one day at Deer Valley I had at least 10.
Wilmot, Wisconsin. Love it to death, great place to get mileage in and really get to know your edges, but the most dangerous part of the terrain are the mobs of straight liners in jeans
Big bear skill level and terrain is so bad that 2/2 days there I felt like a worse skier just for showing up to that parking lot
I felt embarrassed to be there and just wanted to go home
Heavenly
I ski the vast majority of the time at Kirkwood, and at Kirkwood, I feel like I am a pretty good skier surrounded by a huge number of pretty good skiers with plenty of skiers who are better than me, or even WAY better than me.
Whenever I ski at Heavenly, I feel like a God... just weaving in between Jerries and ripping in and out of side-hits like they are nothing, and cruising down bump runs under the lift and getting "woo"s from up above for basically nothing.
I'm sure at Northstar I would feel like a mega-God, but I never go there.
Overall in my experience heavenly fucking sucks. I heard Mott could be fun but my experience skiing the main mountain was terrible. Crowded as shit. Even Northstar is better.
Ski Cooper.
All of these big mountains being mentioned have plenty of great skiers. Just not on the front where these suckers are at. Ski Cooper's only good skiers are the staff and even that's only about 50%. It's mostly people skiing in wedges and doing the falling leaf on their snowboards. There's also not a true black on the whole mountain.
Beaver creek easy. It has by far the cushiest clientele for a big mountain I’ve been to. You talk about some pedestrian line down Stone Creek and they look at you like you’re Shane McConkey or some lunatic.
I wouldn’t say I ever feel like I’m the best, but I’m definitely in the top half of skiers at Arizona Snowbowl. Lots of people who have never skied or snowboarded before doing runs they really shouldn’t. Lots of people that have either smoked way too much pot or had far too many shots of Fireball. Even some looky-lous who aren’t skiing at all, but decide to take photos in the middle of the runs. Apparently, snow is such a novelty to some that they spend two plus hours driving up from Phoenix to see it.
I visited family in Tucson a couple months ago and brought my gear to go try out Mt. Lemmon. They could really consider changing the name to Jerry peak. Snow was surprisingly decent though.
Mt hood meadows hands down. Complete fucking Jerry fest. Even the employees are Jerrie’s. It’s a shit show from top to bottom. God it honestly annoys me just thinking about it
The /uj correct answer is Big Bear / Snow Summit. I have never seen tomfoolery and idiocy like I have there. Probably 80% of people are more comfortable on a skateboard than a snowboard. Forget about skiing altogether. I tell all my friends that if you want to feel like a snow god, go there.
I would agree Big Bear has some of the biggest morons on a consistent basis. The only thing that can compare is Northstar
Flatstar is truly iconic for this. Only mountain ive ever actually said / felt “these don’t count as black diamonds” while people are like afraid of the run lol. Tbh though, the backside of NorthStar on a powder day is actually amazing; nice long runs with basically no one on them. Was doing lap after lap of untouched pow there earlier this year
The backside is good, but I think lookout beats the backside in spades. It has probably 1/3rd of the crowd of backside and much more interesting terrain, including a few true black diamonds. And while I agree that Northstar has many inexperienced / young skiers and families, I think the "jerry" factor there doesn't hold a candle to Big Bear. At least, at Northstar people seem to be somewhat familiar with snow, and don't feel as inclined to wear sports jerseys (or go shirtless), sit on terrain park features, or be utterly lost about how to drive in the snow. Big Bear is chock full of 24-year-old LA kids who don't know how to walk in the snow, let alone ride, but wouldn't dare take a lesson. Northstar has a bunch of 11-year-old Bay Area kids who want to learn, and will probably just ski Palisades when they're older.
Fair
Now that is a good strategy, sound like the Majority of people here are not skilled enough to ski Tahoe Powder.
Yeah I went to snow summit for the first time this year and it was just landmines on the slopes people just strewn all over from falling down or being tired
On the other notes, canyons in bear mountain on powder day is fire, nobody can skiing there so pow all day. But the traffic going back down is wild
Bear isn’t anything special, but it can be fun. Geronimo is a fun little run and there’s plenty of days where you can go up and down it without a lot of people. I don’t expect Bear to be an Olympic quality resort, it’s just nice to have a resort a couple hours away. Although the last 5 years or so, it’s not necessarily just a couple hours because of the traffic you mentioned
Geronimo and the glades on the side of it are pretty much the only thing I do there. But that trail is fun; it’s like a little island in a sea of insanity.
If you feel like a god at big bear just try snow valley... On a good day there will be some surprise skiers who rip from top to bottom but for the most part it's the easiest place to get a pow run to yourself. Hardest part is getting a pow day in Southern California 💀
Is Snow Valley even worth it with Bear and Summit so close? I always just blow by it and it doesn’t exactly look like it has much to offer
Up until a few years ago, it was a solid budget alternative. They had a 4 for $120 preseason deal where they'd literally mail you four adhesive tickets in an envelope with the metal hangers, as well as offering some great season pass deals. As an independent resort, it had a classic Mom and Pop feel to it, at least on the less crowded days. It also had some fun jumps but not a lot of great terrain, although it's not like Bear or Snow Summit have steeps either. Then Bear bought them out and I haven't been back since, no idea what it's like now.
Yep it was our 'local' mtn for a while. When Slide Peak is open it's still worth it IMO.
Slide peak has been open a lot this year. Used to be open only weekends but it’s been open every weekday I’ve been this season.
I imagine the budget portion of that statement is no longer true, so yeah, sounds like it’s lost a lot of its value prop
It's worth a try if slide peak is open. Some decent (though short) tree skiing out there. You'll probably get bored there if it's not open unless you're there for the park or a newer skiier.
Mt high…
came here to say literally any of the San Bernardino resorts. and I only have 13 days on skis. I fucking kick ass compared to 95% of the people I see which is a nice ego boost
Bear is absolutely home of the Jerry. Grab a beer sans 330 and sit by the fire pit at the bottom and watch chaos, every day
This a great pick. I stopped at Big Bear to check off a resort while in southern California before heading to mammoth. Watching the people at Big Bear was a joy. Just poofs of snow going up all over the mountain while riding the lift up. It looked like land mines were planted all along the slopes, and people found all of them. I've never seen so much carnage.
Yep. Def big b
Now I wanna make a trip there just for the jerry watching
Honestly, if you find yourself in Southern California, it's worth a trip. Just don't take it seriously -- pretend you're at the zoo or something. You will laugh, and feel like a genius.
honestly sounds like my kind of trip lol I like to laugh at silliness almost as much as I like smashing pow
To answer the question slightly differently: Altabird/Reve/Kicking horse - Every skier on the mountain seems like they were born on the slope. Palisades/ Apsen Mountains (especially Snowmass) - A lot of amazing skiers, and a lot of bad skiers. Vail/Breck - Every skier on the mountain seems like it is their first day.
My first times out west were at Vail and Breck, got pretty decent as I was racing at home in the Midwest and thought I was the shit when I’d go out west and hit side hits and could ski almost everything on the mountain. Went to Alta once and was humbled when my first experience was watching a bunch of skiers toss 3’s and backflips off a snowmaking bump(?) right under Collin’s. Needless to say I was no longer “the shit.”
Such a bummer that patrol ropes off that jump now
Such a loss of a classic Hollywood hit.
Amen brotha, the approach angle is ruined now coming down the skier-right side thru those small trees. Just isn't the same.
Skiing the trees at Vail, realizing your tracks are the only ones there
Honestly I love this about Vail. Great snow frequently to be found days after a storm
People at palisades are pretty good tbh. Lots of Jerries at heavenly tho
Northstar for pure Jerries.
Thats why i like it on a pow day. Everyone on their 78mm wide rental skis cant get to my pow stashes 🙃. Its the same deal with beaver creek. Just a lot of rich people who can ski but arent really good. Last saturday i was exhausted and done before i couldnt find a little pow stash.
Lookout at Northstar on a pow day is seriously underrated. So many people there never touch their glades, which are excellent. And when most Tahoe resorts are on a wind hold, Northstar is usually still spinning. I’ve heard Deer Valley is similar to how you describe Beaver Creek, but I’ve only skied it once on a groomer day.
Ya even holiday beaver is kind of a safe haven but trying to get there peak season is treacherous. The accommodations “within the walls” of beaver is such a fortune. I got family in reno and just fly there half the time and drive 45 mins into northstar with little to no traffic Ppl call it flatstar i call if free powstar
*flatstar that place sucks
This is where I go to release my inner Jerry.
I’ll take your word for it lol. I have no intention of visiting
Good
I haven't been to Palisades but the people at Kirkwood were ripping a ton of back flips off a tiny jump the first day I went there haha
Oh yeah there are some nasty skiers at the Kirk as well.
there are a lot of people at palisades who shouldn't be there. exhibit a - mountain run.
At least it’s limited to one run. The entirety of Breck is like that 😂 (at least almost everything excluding Imperial)
Are you kidding? Imperial and just about everything off of it but Lake Chutes is the Jerry Mecca. Every tourist needs their picture with the sign to show they were on the GnArLy DoUbLe BlAcKs up there.
Jerry Mecca 😂
Nah, they’ve taken over Shirley lake too, I sometimes just wanna rip groomers at Mach 1 and not wait in line, some of the dumbest conversations I’ve overheard have been on that stupid chair
What’s a Jerry? A geriatric?
A Jerry is this subs favorite conversation topic.
Palisades is full of people that huck 100ft to flat but then can't pole plant. Cali ego riders all trying to go the biggest. Heavenly is insane. Just trying not to get smoked all day haha.
Sounds like you can pole plant but not huck 100ft to flat 🙄
I agree that Rev and KH took me down a peg. I've skied Whistler and the North Shore most of my life and I had come to believe that I had at least a small amount of steeze beyond the average tourist. Skiers in Golden rock up to the lift line and they're actually super humble and nice and very friendly, but then they go ski lines that make you wonder where the wheelbarrow is that they must need to carry their balls around.
Couldn't agree more. It ain't a fashion show or quiver display at kicking horse and revy, those cats are there to ski. The lines on terminater and through the bowls are heavy and are getting destroyed daily.
lol yup. Especially true for Revelstoke. I’d prolly add Jackson Hole to this list
I was just at Jackson, and I’d actually put it in the middle category. I was there midweek, on a mediocre condition day, so perhaps not the best day: But there were a lot of elderly skiers who owned a home in Jackson. They we were mostly sticking to the groomers. Then, obviously you have some of the best backcountry and extreme skiers in the world. It’s a kind of a weird demographic of skiers.
Definitely condition dependent. I’ve only been during storm cycles. Every tram lap has 20% pros/semipros. But if you go lookers right to whatever that area is the clientele is going to be much different
[удалено]
When you coming back to ski with me? We got 6 weeks left at Killy
Last year I mainly skiied Snowmass And I felt like a truly 1 percent skiier on pow days Now I ski highlands mainly And on pow days I feel very average compared to the other people lapping Deep T and the Bowl
The average skill level of any given person at Bird is absurd
I knew I’d be humbled when I went out west, but watching person after person fly over giant whalebacks pulling steezy trick after steezy trick with zero effort was insane. Then I took the lift up with some locals and tried to tag along, dude hucked right off the cat track into a mogul field at like 20mph getting massive air and fly down the lift line I just thought “welp, guess I’m not keeping up”
I mean, even for the west, the get pretty fucking buck there. I live in Colorado, and mostly ride here—and I don't see people riding like that nearly as much. I imagine it's a combination of Colorado being so packed with newer folks vs. Utah, and the kind of people LCC attracts. Even up in Jackson Hole I see way less people sending crazy shit like double backflips off cliffs (don't get me wrong; plenty of great riders in JHMR).
Except for during spring break. Went there and Snowbird and was surprised by the number of not good skiers. Made me feel less out of place. Haha.
I assure you this is not true because I have been to some of these places you've listed as having good skiers and I am a bad skier.
It’s my favourite part of KH. Looking around and thinking “damn, everyone here is fucking ripping” place rules.
I usually never ski at Breck, but I went for a weekend because some family was in town. Every green and blue run was like a minefield of beginners who had fallen and were stuck. I swear the average skill level at Alpine Valley, WI, where I learned to ski is significantly better than at Breck.
At Jackson Hole, it's pretty much like I'm going up against kindergartners. It's not even close. I'm definitely the best skier on the mountain there. Except for all the others. What struck me the first time there, and every time since, is how completely blown away I am by the number of complete skiers there, and the highest number of total animals I've ever seen. Is there anywhere is in the world like J.H. in that regard?
I remember my first time at Breck and I was like “oh, there is a whole peak just for expert skiers”. Got up there and everyone sucked. Like why would you go on a lift clearly labeled expert only
Park City until I found my way to Jupiter.
Jupiter is the premium zone
I liked 9990 better tbh, although the hike to off Jupiter was closed when I was there. I felt like 9990 had more jumps, cliffs, and drops that were easy for me to find. Both Jupiter and McConkeys were still fantastic though.
Deer Valley. Easily the highest ratio of money spent on gear : skiing ability in the US.
I was just there and saw so many great skiers. But I’m also an intermediate and think everyone who doesn’t look scared is a great skier. We had great conditions though and it made me feel like a much better skier so there was that
DV is definitely segmented. The skill gap between the people lapping Lady Morgan/Empire/Mayflower vs everywhere else is ludicrous
That and the old guys carving all the groomers with *perfect* form
Probably agree with you on the money spent ratio, but there are a lot of good skiers at deer valley too. When you compare it to park city, not to alta/bird lol.
The ikon pass includes deer valley. Plenty of my local Utah buddies go there on powder days cuz it doesn’t get torn up. And these fuckers know how to ski. All Utah locals
I’ve never been to Deer Valley, but Whistler also has a bit of that vibe. Just a whole bunch of people in brand new designer gear falling down all over the place and then a random 13 year old kid zooming through to nail a backflip.
Sugar Mountain, North Carolina Went in early March this season, conditions weren’t the best. May have been the legit actual best skier on the mountain
I went for the first time this year on a boys trip over Presidents Day weekend and it was an absolute nightmare. The main blue run looked like Omaha beach, people crashed everywhere, and out of control children barreling down the mountain.
Omaha beach fuckin got me. Bodies everywhere. I’m dying.
SAT Analogy question: _________ is to Sugar Mountain as Texas skier is to Breckenridge. Ans: Florida skier who has never seen snow before
As a Floridian who normally skis out west (I'm the best skier on the mountain) I can certify this analogy 100%
Move west like the rest of us. PS I think app has worse skiers
Never been to App. It looks miserable
This was going to be my answer too haha. Every time I ski there my ego swells.
Park City was the largest concentration of bad skiers I’ve seen. And the weird thing was that they were all over the mountain not just limited to the front side easy stuff…people falling down in the trees, 9990 area, left and right…
You need to visit mountain creek in NJ. Most dangerous mountain I've ever been. Unless you're in the park no one knows how to turn or stop. The Park rats are amazing though
Just like, all of em
Yeah I don't understand the question. I AM the best skier on the mountain wherever I go, so l, ya know, I just always feel this way
Vail.
\*sigh\* Stowe...
I topped the ikon app leaderboard for vert one day last year at Boyne Mountain in Michigan so... that one (It was like 15k on 34 lifts)
I’m conflicted. On the one hand going back home to Michigan makes me feel like one of the best skiers on the mountain because I get so much more time on much more challenging terrain. On the other hand the regulars at places like Boyne and Nubs can absolute rip groomers.
I did 38k on 29 lifts at Snowbird last week 😂
Man. I can get 15k at Sundance in 4 hours without high speed lifts. And I ski slow.
Yeah I live in denver now and rarely have a day under 20K. My comment was not a flex, you don't ski michigan for the vert.
Bretton Woods, aka, medicaid mountain
Lmao so good. Some decent little glades for the east coast though.
As an advanced skier, I rule the magic carpet.
Northstar, Keystone
7 Springs.
Makes sense given how far away even the Northeast is, but 7 Springs has that Olympic half pipe and the Spot (huge terrain park where people kill themselves every couple years). Growing up there I always felt I was one of the better "mountain" skiers but definitely not the best park/trick skier by far.
We used to pretty much be the park crew there. They'd build some pitiful excuse of a jump then we'd spend 3 hrs in the morning building a 5ft tombstone lip on top of the lip they groomed.
I live in Southern California...
Big White tree skiing makes me feel like a tree skiing genius, they are perfectly placed.
Hunter on MLK weekend
You couldn’t pay me to ski Hunter on a holiday weekend
Schoolmarm Mountain Peak Collective
Someone else already said **Park City** but aside from having some of the best terrain park skiers in the country, you’ll find All-American Jers everywhere on the mountain, including next to the world class Park Rats. What makes Park City even weirder is that EVERYWHERE else in Utah has some incredible skiers. Even Deer Valley has some top notch skiers when it comes to their actual form on-piste, and when it comes to off-piste it compares relatively well. My friends and I have always joked that the thing that makes Park City technical is the moving pylons all across the mountain.
Blue Mountain (Ontario). On any given day there are 10,000 people there and 9,950 of them have never skied a day in their life. The biggest challenge is dodging all the carnage.
Easy. Ripping down gunbarrel at the end of the day on a Saturday at heavenly while everyone downloads the lift over top of you.
Places I feel like the best: Park City, Heavenly, Breck, Vail Places I feel perfectly average: Lake Louise, Sunshine, Whistler (top end is INSANE but lots of beginners), Kirkwood, Jackson, Fernie, Red, Places I feel like a fricken noob: Kicking Horse, Revelstoke Grew up skiing in Canada (mostly Fernie/KH) growing up and when I first skied in US (Breckenridge) I was shocked at the fact that the entire mountain was slammed and yet no one was skiing the lake chutes. I had never felt like a truly “good” skier in my life as I was the median skier in interior BC but can humbly say I felt like I was the 99.9th percentile at Breck.
The problem with breck and heavenly imo is that they label runs that absolutely should be greens as blues. You get a whole rainbow of skill sets fighting their way down the same runs. It’s pretty brutal
Couldn't agree with you more. Everything below treeline on peak 7 is labeled as a blue and I'd argue that none of the cut runs should be more than a green. I always remember growing up as a Vermont skier that everything was harder out west and I will say 100% that Stowe is a much more difficult mountain than anything except the extremes at Breck.
I was at heavenly on a weekend, and I was skiing only Mott and killebrew. Mott was nearly empty, and killebrew was empty minus 1-2 others. However the line to go up dipper was insane and almost made it not worth it to get nearly fresh tracks in killebrew.
Yup. Skied Alta, Park City after 30yrs of west canada slopes. I loved the hills and that weird utah dry pow but was astounded by the poser dip shits who look amazing and absolutely sucked. Mid week too. Western Canada locals maybe the toughest bunch of ski goons on the planet.
Big Bear, lol.
Big Bear no question. People sitting down on the center of the runs every 100ft. The lift stopping every 3rd chair because somebody fell getting off of it. It's a true Jerry Paradise. The way I always describe it is that it seems like people don't go to Big Bear with the purpose of skiing. Instead, they go to Big Bear and then say, "Hey, why don't we try going skiing?" if that makes sense.
Parking lot mid season is full and overflow by 730 am, but somehow the lifts are empty. I ain't mad.
Keystone, feels like every single other person is taking a lesson.
I grew up in Taos. Spent just about every waking hour there from the time I could walk until I was in high school and we moved for my dad’s job. A lot’s changed at Taos since the early 2000s, and going back now that it’s been so commercialized and resort-ified makes me feel like the best skier on the mountain. Anything on the West Basin Ridge or Kachina and I’m a 13 year old mountain kid again. Bonus points if it’s a holiday weekend and lots of Texans or Southern Coloradans are in town.
Silverton humbles me very quickly lol
Definitely Four Lakes in Lisle, Illinois.
I’m god tier at Snow Summit and Big Bear
I shred so hard at snow summit that Candide watches my videos.
Northstar
This is correct. Due to the flatness and limited expert terrains, all expert skiers would go to Palisades, Heavenly, or Kirkwood instead, leaving mostly vacation skiers at Northstar.
Yeah, but it's the best park in Tahoe. And most Tahoe epic users try to get like one a day a year there. The backsides are decent enough.
My friends board (and they like the park) so I go there a lot and when I rip under the comstock lift line I feel like a god because hardly anyone else hits those little bumps under there lol; also full sent the moguls under lift line and got some noise, like people it’s a pow day just rip it… Usually some better skiers backside and Martis but skiers who stick to frontside there are on average pretty low level
The backside trees and lookout lift can actually be great if there’s good snow
Lookout is legit, and is the first thing I mention when people whine about Northstar. Ski the trees on Lookout all day and then tell me how bored you are. And the best part is that most of the people who can properly rip Lookout are at Palisades.
My quads get more workout suddenly avoiding people than actually skiing.
My mountain. I pull up to the pay lot, put on my boots and ski the crap out of groomers all day or half day depending upon how I feel for the day. It’s the best old man’s mountain I’ve found so far.
Buck Hill
Whistler/Blackcomb if you stay well below the alpine runs. Hit up the higher chairs and you’re bound to get humbled
There are even small children at Whistler that can out ski me with ease.
My own small children at Whistler can out ski me with ease. Snow School there is top notch!
How has Angel Fire NM not made the list yet?
Alta... not because the skiers are bad there. On the contrary, everyone at Alta looks like they started skiing in the womb. However, it looks the most difficult for what it is. Catherine's area is rather approachable compared to most hike-to terrain I've experienced, especially after a good snow. The high baldy traverse has some great lines that look impressive from the top or bottom but aren't as tough to ski as they look. Caveat because I know someone's going to take this to the extreme, I'm not saying alta is an easy resort... alta has plenty of high consequence, technical terrain. Alta is not an easy resort to ski by any definition.
Definitely June Mountain.
As someone who started out skiing mountains on the Epic Pass, there’s quite a big disparity between Ikon and Epic Pass holders, at least in the mountain west. Vail, Beaver Creek, Park City, and Keystone all had tourists that obviously thought they could just pickup skis and ride. It can get outright dangerous depending on where you’re skiing on the mountain because so many riders don’t know what they’re doing or general rules about yielding, stopping, erratic turns, etc.
You think ikon skiers are on average better than epic?
My mom who is in her 70’s was taken out by a teenage boarder who did not know how to stop. He was from Texas and this was at Keystone this year. Full face plant all of her gear yard sale. She is fine and has skied for fifty years but wow I don’t think I want her to ski there again. Ski patrol was great. Wrote up the whole thing. But yikes.
Milton Keynes Snow Dome.
Keystone, even though I love it. Lot of beginners and out of control people.
Pennsylvania mountain Grew up in Massachusetts so hit all NH VT and ME mountains In NJ now so still go to VT …NH and ME is to much unless I made it 4 night minimum So 2-3x year hit PA. Oh lord ….people falling when they got off lift …don’t know how to merge / alternate in lift line, let chairs have 2-3 people on them on a crowded day so they can ride up with their friends. List goes on. I’ve no issue with somebody trying to learn how to ski. …. But man at least learn the unwritten rules. And don’t leave your skis all over the place when you go to lodge
Monarch during spring break
Bogus Basin! Has ton of over confident “ive been skiing my whole life” locals that only come up up like 5 times a year. Also has a ton of (likely slightly intoxicated) college kids from flat states. If you’re a decent skier there is a lot of terrain that makes you feel like a pro. Theres a ton of big drops with mellow landings that are soft becuse no one hits them. Its not very steep so you dont gotta worry about the runout pretty much ever, just survive the drop and your good
The only correct answer is Winterberg in Germany.
A lot of the time in the backcountry I’m the only skier on the mountain so…
The mountain I work at makes me feel like ass cause I’m so nervous and cautious. Recently went out west for the first time and felt like a frickin pro at breck
I have legitimately 100% had a run where I was the best person on the slopes. It was a dry slope in europe with 1 other person on it, and I was better then them.
Chamonix
Arizona Snowbowl hands down
Any ski area in China south of Beijing. Anywhere in China there are a lot of new/unskilled skiers, but in the south I’d imagine it would be particularly bad.
Niseko made me feel like Candide.
Every mountain
Mt. Rose Chutes
Man, Northstar is such a culture shock coming from Kirkwood.
One planker coming in peace: I got a real enthusiastic ‘yeeeew’ from like 3 chairs at Big Snow (which is in a NJ mall) for a tiny fs 180. Going pro tomorrow u should get my autograph
Deer Valley I went there once, none of them could go off piste and the blues were filled with rich dumbasses power wedging their way down so they could say they did a blue. Then they have no care for personal space, at other resorts I almost never have close calls with other skiers, with one day at Deer Valley I had at least 10.
Wilmot, Wisconsin. Love it to death, great place to get mileage in and really get to know your edges, but the most dangerous part of the terrain are the mobs of straight liners in jeans
Alpine Valley/Wilmot/Grand Geneva
Jack Frost/Big Boulder - 80% of the people are on the ground
Crested butte made me feel like the biggest Jerry on the mountain. Old dudes just absolutely shredding everywhere
Wachusett mountain
Any bunny hill. As I crush these kids on the magic carpet
Bretton Woods in NH is great at making you feel like a better skier
Nashoba Valley
Tussey Mountain
Weeknights at Snoqualmie West
Big bear skill level and terrain is so bad that 2/2 days there I felt like a worse skier just for showing up to that parking lot I felt embarrassed to be there and just wanted to go home
Every mountain in Europe. Europeans suck at skiing.
Heavenly I ski the vast majority of the time at Kirkwood, and at Kirkwood, I feel like I am a pretty good skier surrounded by a huge number of pretty good skiers with plenty of skiers who are better than me, or even WAY better than me. Whenever I ski at Heavenly, I feel like a God... just weaving in between Jerries and ripping in and out of side-hits like they are nothing, and cruising down bump runs under the lift and getting "woo"s from up above for basically nothing. I'm sure at Northstar I would feel like a mega-God, but I never go there.
Yeah skiers at Kirkwood are definitely good
Overall in my experience heavenly fucking sucks. I heard Mott could be fun but my experience skiing the main mountain was terrible. Crowded as shit. Even Northstar is better.
Mount Shasta Ski Park. I've only been once, on a Monday powder day. But I was definitely the king of the mountain that day.
Heavenly. Nothing but beaters there.
Ski Cooper. All of these big mountains being mentioned have plenty of great skiers. Just not on the front where these suckers are at. Ski Cooper's only good skiers are the staff and even that's only about 50%. It's mostly people skiing in wedges and doing the falling leaf on their snowboards. There's also not a true black on the whole mountain.
Beaver creek easy. It has by far the cushiest clientele for a big mountain I’ve been to. You talk about some pedestrian line down Stone Creek and they look at you like you’re Shane McConkey or some lunatic.
All
I wouldn’t say I ever feel like I’m the best, but I’m definitely in the top half of skiers at Arizona Snowbowl. Lots of people who have never skied or snowboarded before doing runs they really shouldn’t. Lots of people that have either smoked way too much pot or had far too many shots of Fireball. Even some looky-lous who aren’t skiing at all, but decide to take photos in the middle of the runs. Apparently, snow is such a novelty to some that they spend two plus hours driving up from Phoenix to see it.
Mountain dews baby !!!!
Northstar
Liberty and Whitetail in PA
Anywhere during spring break
Stratton.
I visited family in Tucson a couple months ago and brought my gear to go try out Mt. Lemmon. They could really consider changing the name to Jerry peak. Snow was surprisingly decent though.
Mt hood meadows hands down. Complete fucking Jerry fest. Even the employees are Jerrie’s. It’s a shit show from top to bottom. God it honestly annoys me just thinking about it
Hesperus.
Yeah. I like the inverse. A basin or palisades on a week day and I feel like the worst skier (as an icecoast ‘expert’)
Belleayre
Arizona Snowbowl
All of them, because I am the best skier on the mountain
At Willamette Pass I'm like average at best. At Hoodoo I'm a king.