SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Oct. 31, 2024—Snowbasin, Utah, earned the top spot in the West and Mad River Glen, Vt., repeated as the best in the East in the 2025 SKI Reader Survey Awards. There were a few big movers in the rankings, both up and down, as well as a continued affinity for independent resorts.

Rankings are based on responses from SKI’s annual reader survey, which is conducted every spring and asks respondents to rank each ski area in 18 different categories, including grooming, family-friendliness, value, dining, and access. It produces the top 20 resorts in the East and top 30 in the West, along with the top 10 in several specific categories.

The results can reveal trends in consumer preferences and speak to the perceived success or failure of changes ski areas made during that season. Powder Mountain in Utah, for example, was chided by skiers and riders for changing its season pass structure and its plans to commit portions of the resort as private terrain for homeowners only. While these changes don’t start until the upcoming 2024-25 season, the news hit last winter and had a big impact on visitor psychology. Despite adding three new public lifts over the summer, Powder went from the top resort in the West to out of the top 30 entirely.

Other independent resorts fared much better, including Saddleback, Maine, which jumped to the No. 2 spot in the East after not being ranked in 2024. Jay Peak, Vt.—still considered by most as an independent area despite being one of six owned and/or operated resorts in the PGRI portfolio—moved up six spots to No. 3 in the East, while Smugglers’ Notch, Vt., dropped from No. 2 to No. 5. No. 4 Bretton Woods, N.H., rounded out the all-independent top 5. 

Similarly, nine of the top 10 in the West are independently owned, including Banff Sunshine in Alberta and Grand Targhee, Wyo., neither of which were ranked in 2024 but came in at No. 3 and No. 6 this year, respectively. Bucking the trend is Alterra-owned Solitude in Utah, which went from unranked to No. 8. 

Plenty of conglomerate-owned resorts still made the lists, though. Eighteen of the top 30 in the West and half of the top 20 in the East are owned by Vail Resorts, Alterra, Boyne Resorts, or Powdr. Crested Butte, Colo., had the biggest positive jump for VR, moving up nine spots to No. 11. Conversely, Okemo, Vt., went from No. 10 to No. 19 in the East, and Park City Mountain, Utah, dropped from No. 15 to No. 29. Alterra’s Mammoth Mountain, Calif., also dropped 14 spots to No. 20.

While one might assume that major capital improvements would lead to a higher ranking, some resorts saw the opposite. Big Sky, Mont., which debuted the new Lone Peak Tram last season among other recent lift upgrades, nonetheless dropped 14 spots to No. 24. Further, it ranked No. 30 of 30 in “likelihood to return”—with guests commenting on bigger crowds, higher prices, and poor lift-line management. Steamboat, Colo., just completed a multi-year, $250 million transformation, but lost six notches in the rankings year-over-year. 

The various fluctuations in the rankings year-over-year—or lack thereof—are a testament to the subjective nature of the survey. As SKI wrote in introducing the results, “After all, what works for one group of skiers isn’t necessarily of interest to the next.” Still, feedback is valuable, and ski area operators are wise to take heed of the feedback provided in the SKI rankings—positive or negative. 

Top 30 Ski Resorts in the West:

1. Snowbasin, Utah
2. Aspen Snowmass, Colo.
3. Banff Sunshine, Alberta
4. Taos Ski Valley, N.M.
5. Alta Ski Area, Utah
6. Grand Targhee, Wyo.
7. Telluride Ski Resort, Colo.
8. Solitude Mountain Resort, Utah
9. Sun Valley, Idaho
10. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyo.
11. Crested Butte, Colo.
12. Snowbird, Utah
13. Arapahoe Basin, Colo.
14. Deer Valley, Utah
15. Lake Louise, Alberta
16. Beaver Creek, Colo.
17. Copper Mountain, Colo.
18. Winter Park, Colo.
19. Whitefish Mountain Resort, Mont.
20. Mammoth Mountain, Calif.
21. Vail Mountain, Colo.
22. Steamboat Resort, Colo.
23. Breckenridge Resort, Colo.
24. Big Sky Resort, Mont.
25. Brighton, Utah
26. Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia
27. Heavenly, Calif.
28. Palisades Tahoe, Calif.
29. Park City Resort, Utah
30. Keystone, Colo.

Top 20 Ski Resorts in the East

1. Mad River Glen, Vt.
2. Saddleback, Maine
3. Jay Peak, Vt.
4. Bretton Woods, N.H.
5. Smugglers’ Notch, Vt.
6. Sugarloaf, Maine
7. Sunday River, Maine
8. Gore Mountain, N.Y.
9. Killington Resort, Vt.
10. Waterville Valley, N.H.
11. Holiday Valley, N.Y.
12. Cannon, N.H.
13. Stowe Mountain Resort, Vt.
14. Sugarbush, Vt.
15. Wachusett, Mass.
16. Mont Tremblant, Quebec
17. Stratton Mountain, Vt.
18. Loon Mountain, N.H.
19. Okemo, Vt.
20. Mount Snow, Vt.

Go HERE for the breakdown of each resort in the rankings, as well as the top 10 lists for the various individual categories.