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Who am I to be giving rankings and opinions for ski resorts anyway?
My name is Mark and I have been skiing for
about 28 years, snowboarding for about 21 years. I grew up near Philadelphia across the river from Trenton, NJ.
I became a ski and snowboard instructor at Belle Mtn. Ski Area in high school and worked there until I left for college.
I attended medical school for 3 years before I decided to pursure the love of my life, stocks and financial planning. My wife
& 2 sons and I live near Bolton, VT and will be ski mainly at Bolton Valley. I am currently a Wealth Management
Officer for Chittenden Bank in northern Vermont. 2003-4 ski season was the first season I did no skiing in 25 years,
ie, why no updates to the website. I tore my ACL (and a couple others while playing soccer) and was out of action for about
9 months. I don't like the rankings that are published in Skiing or Ski Magazine because they rank the things
that are not important to me when I go skiing.
What type of skier am I?
I think it's important to know about the person ranking the resorts because a beginner is probably
not going to like the same resorts that I am. It is tough to answer this question because either way I answer it, I'll
sound bad or like a narcissist.  I am an expert/advanced/level 9 etc. type skier. The steeper the better. I have never turned down a trail,
although I still would like to make it out to Jackson Hole. Bumps are my "so-called" favorite, so I'm always searching
for the bump runs at ski resorts. I have many pictures of me and my friends skiing at my Personal Skiing Pictures Page
What do I find important at ski resorts (i.e., how did I rank the resorts)?
Ahh, the most important question. Over half the categories in Ski
magazine I do not find important at all in picking a ski resort destination. The categories in which I do not care about
include service, weather, accessibility, lodging, dining, and apres-ski. The lodging, dining, and apres-ski are categories
that have absolutely nothing to do with the skiing itself, hence they are not important to me. While weather is somewhat
important, magazines rank weather the opposite of what they should be ranking it! Their higher rank is on sunny and
warm, I'd rather have it snowy and cold, keeps the crowds away.  Here is a list of the categories I ranked (1-10 scale with 10 being the best) the ski resorts by and what they consist
of:
Most Important Categories:
Terrain: Does the resort have enough diversity for a day trip;
how about spending a week there? Are there enough diamonds to keep me happy? 
Challenge: Are their diamonds going to make me pull out my snowboard
or keep me on my skis.
Bumps: 10=More bumps than New England back roads. 1=Smooth
as a baby's butt.
Value: Is the lift ticket price worth what the mountain offers?
Belle Mtn. was the cheapest, but is still isn't worth the $24. Vail charges nearly $70, but does the mountain warrant
that kind of price?
Important Categories:
Elbow Room: Once I get off the lifts and start skiing, do I still
feel like I am in a NYC subway or do I have room to roam the slopes without worrying about getting hit by a runaway skier/snowboarder?
Lift Lines: Am I going to spending half the day in lift lines?
True Vertical: The true vertical of the mountain including lifts.
Killington states over a 3000' vertical, but I consider the true vertical around 1500'. Snowbird has a true 3000' vertical
with the tram.
Not Really Important except for Snowboarders and End of the Day Ski Runs:
Grooming: Does the resort groom only 1/2 runs from each lift (Alta,
A-Basin, Snowbird) or do they only leave 1/2 runs not groomed on the entire mountain (Okemo, Big Boulder).
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