An important note on this list: it’s based heavily on the PeakRankings Challenge Score criteria, of which top 9 mountains on this list received 10/10s. The #10 mountain received a 9/10. Other very strong contenders for the #10 slot included Taos, Alta, Red Mountain, Arapahoe Basin, and Big Sky (with Tram Access only). You can check out more info on the PeakRankings Challenge score here: www.peakrankings.com/content/mountain-score-thresholds#challenge Thanks for watching!
Good list. Glad you mentioned MRG and Silverton. The enormous Powder Mountain in Utah perhaps should also have a special mention, most reliable powder availability, days after Alta and the others are skied out.
Thank you I learned a whole new ski vocabulary. Straight lining, mandatory cliffs, freefall to name a few. Not my thing by a long shot but its great to see people out there testing their limits. Great video.
Growing up skiing Kirkwood I thought the double blacks were normal. As I started going to other resorts I realized how nuts the terrain really is. I met a guy at Heavenly and asked him at the top of a run how to approach it since I’d never done it before. He said “I wouldn’t do this. Where do you usually ride?” I told him Kirkwood and he said “oh you’ll be fine” 😂
I was just going to say that. I switch from skiing to boarding some 36 years ago at Kirkwood and never looked back. Still my favorite resort and go there more than any other.
LOL, that was me. I was staying at Heavenly with my wife and someone told me to try Kirkwood. I ended up fine but it was above my skill ...and I loved it.
I instantly recognized that chute as Kirkwood's at the beginning of the video. If it wasn't on this list I wouldn't have watched it at all. It's a tough mountain and hard to get to from the valley side due to the constant avalanche control on the highway in. Will always be on the top of my favorite places to ski.
0:59 10th Mad River Glen, VT 2:18 9th Crested Butte, CO 3:42 8th Revelstoke, BC 5:05 7th Kirkwood, CA 6:13 6th Whistler Blackcomb, BC 7:22 5th Palisades Tahoe, CA 9:24 4th Snowbird, UT 10:46 3rd Mt. Baker, WA 12:28 2nd Jackson Hole, WY 14:13 1st Kicking Horse, BC 15:46 Bonus: Silverton, CO
Backside of Killington Vt? You get to walkout through Shrewsbury. It’s a big no compass works bowl. Something about the rock formations renders magnetic location useless!
I've been skiing for around 30 years, and am pretty decent at most trails, but have been on a few double blacks at Whistler-Blackcomb that had me thinking that there was not way that what I was on was a trail. Only to have some kids fly by and humble me, like nothing else possible.
Kids at whistler are a different breed lol I can handle some of the double blacks there but you’ll see kids go flying down the glacier or double black couloirs up by glacier
@@tylerharaf5901I mean, that’s the evolution of any sport. I was a professional motorcycle racer, my manager used to ride and had retired long before I started racing. He would come out with me from time to time, almost crashing just trying to keep up. There was a big swamp off to the left after a quick hill to immediate right hander , you hit the hill (61mph) when your wheel touched back down you had to brake hard (23mph) within seconds and lean the bike all the way over, he knew he wasn’t going to make the right hander and just went straight into the swamp, $60,000 bike covered up to the handlebars in muck. He was pulling dirt and grass out of it for the following month. I can only imagine what kids will be doing, in any sport, 20 years from now with the next major advance in equipment and sports medicine.
The perception often depends on the ski conditions. I went 2 times to Kicking Horse and we were blessed with 30+cm of fresh powder. Every double diamond becomes a lot easier with the right snow. On the other hand I experienced Revelstoke on icy conditions. The run "Kill the banker" was the thoughest ski trail I ever did. It's not even that steep, but when covered by a thick layer of uneven ice, it's a nightmare.
Ditto for me kill the banker while it was icy was my worst run ever. What made it even worse was that we weren't expecting it. The top of the mountain had great conditions and the run looked nice but aperantly it was just low enough to thaw the day before and was a sheet of ice.
had a similar experience at Squaw Valley on a routine black nothing special but with it totally icy it was one of the diciest most difficult runs I can recall over the last few years...
Spent a year in JH. Spent a week in KH. My first thought of KH was it was a mirror of JH with a little more alpine/lower treeline. Said Just that to a guy that was on the patrol. Turns out, the ski patrols at JH and KH apparently do training exchange programs because the mountains are similar in so many ways- and demanding.
not any moor jh wy. has been chopping and blasting all the best stuff since the new ceo. came along it's being vailafied they just blasted all of the alta shoots and peppy's ridge is now a groomer wtf!
I grew up skiing telluride. Though it wasn’t on this list, i believe it should be. It has some areas that are mandatory drop and some very technical terrain, especially on the hike to terrain.
Sorry, I usually agree with your rankings, but leaving Big Sky off of the top here is egregious. I've skied every resort mentioned and Big Sky is the only one with actually terrifying terrain, like I would prefer to be roped in on, and falls would easily be fatal. KH, Silverton, and Baker are all super extreme but less "dangerous", IMO.
Agree 100%. You can kill yourself easily at big sky on dozens of different runs. I have skied many of these resorts and find big sky as the only one that has what feels like 1,000 acres i wont ski because of difficultly😂
About 12 years ago off the little 10 person tram my friend disappeared off a 50 foot cliff in the fog. After bouncing and tumbling on andocite rocks that was the end of skiing for him. 😢😢😢.
Kicking horse was the first thing I thought of when I saw this video. love that place, my can't even afford to go back, since it's been discovered. great Town 2
Agreed altho big sky and moonlight merged along time ago also the little coular and some of the headwaters are definitely more challenging then runs on this list
On that list I've skied Kirkwood, Whistler/Blackcomb, Squaw Valley, Snowbird, and Jackson Hole. But I've been to Big Sky AND Bridger Bowl most. Big Sky has some gnarly stuff.
You left out Taos NM, trees, cliffs, under rated blacks that many shud be double diamonds. Have skied three on ur list and they were deliciously bruising . . .
Yup… Big Sky was my home mountain for about a decade (but this was also about 2 decades ago)…. All the access off the tram, big couloir, the entire back of the mountain (especially after Moonlight allowed access to their side of the mountain), A-Z’s, challenger, and the hit list can keep going. My best day of snowboarding in my life was a Feb Tuesday after a 3’ overnight storm, big couloir had about twice that amount of snow in it from it blowing over the top. It was just myself and 2-3 buddies that got to lap big and whatever else we wanted all day pretty much just to our selves
@@Ikuni17 OK, its a good list. The channel said that 9 of 10 of these mountains were rated 10 of 10 by some measure, so yeah, everything after that is subjective. To be fair, and not taking anything away from Big Sky (which is definitely one of the best, most difficult places to ski on earth), without the Can, (the Presidents and Alphabets and whatnot) Big Sky isn't as much as you can ski from lifts a number of places (Jackson, Taos after the K peak chair, Alyeska, a few places in BC come to mind.) And if you are willing to walk a some steps, there are so many places where you can get into some real back country shit. (think Bridger)
I don't know which one I would slide off this list, but Big Sky, Bridger Bowl, Telluride, Solitude, Alyeska, A Basin, Taos, and Highlands all have some seriously messed up terrain. Having skied about half this list, and had the courage to drop a Palisade, the most scared I have ever been of any terrain is at Big Sky.
I'd add A-Basin, Red Mtn, Sunshine Village to your list. Big Sky is the "obvious" miss, especially with its big shiny new tram accessing a lot of the most insane terrain. The steepest parts of Moonlight are even harder, and the backside around Shedhorn has some real challenges. But Bridger Bowl is the biggest miss for me. It almost skis like 2 separate mountains, with a few lower and mid mountain lifts mostly serving greens and blues. But from the mid mountain up, it gets truly nutty. The single black runs are still fun for experts, the normal double blacks are as hard as any mountain you'd fly to for an experts trip. But then... there are 2 giant terrain zones of what I think is the best expert terrain in NA. There are multiple 200'+ straightline chutes, giant cliffs, cliff bands on top of other cliffs, and it's all just at the right angles to be skiable. There are a few chutes that rival Corbet's, and a few larger highlight reel runs that only get skied a few times a decade. The snow is usually pretty reliable and fills in the upper mountain well. But it just has never gained the reputation it should given the terrain. Maybe it's the very necessary requirement of having beacons to access the toughest stuff, including the best lift on the mountain.
I feel like hardest and most dangerous (used in the title) are two different things. There are resorts that allow very casual access into innocent looking but very avalanche prone terrain and then there are Northwest ski areas that have treewells everywhere. As an example, nobody would call 9990 at park city a hard chair by this list's standards, but it did rack up a very high bodycount before the gates were closed.
@@RD1R I've heard that from a couple people who ski Montana frequently. I have yet to make it out there or up to Revelstoke and Kicking Horse, been to just about everywhere else other than Kirkwood & SIlverton that is mentioned. Snowbird has some great terrain, between learning to ski there and Crystal Mt I've never been anywhere I found particularly challenging unless you are just going for big drops which depend hugely on snow conditions for how tough they are other than the fear factor.
BERTHOUD PASS,this must be ALOT of new school extremist because I'm 48 and did second US Xtreme at crested butte and many other comps before I blew my knee on back of Loveland. I have to say in my day BERTHOUD PASS was king of traditional lift Xtreme ski resorts before it closed in mid 1990's and still has hike Xtreme comps there, it's insane. I've done Corbet in style, but cliffs don't scare me vs nasty rugged rocks, icy moguls, weeds, etc. Honorable mention should be also Arapahoe Basin hike pavecini, even snomass has some serious narly shit, but it's a pretty tame resort if you avoid snow mass doubles. Hahaha even Ski Cooper, the world easiest and shortest resort has a sick extra that is snowplow guided only. Backside of Loveland pass has a road that circles up for car rides up and has some serious sick shit but avalanche danger is insane high. I did first South American extreme skiing championship in Argentina and that was pure suicide, day 1 was a must 40ft cliff huck to start first run to land on ice, well that knocked out half the competitors. Either they chickened out, or got injured, or blew their binding like I did landing on ice. I was able to continue to day 2 but had to use rentals cause my soloman 957 bindings were fucked and from day , I got eliminated day 2. I try to find any video from that insane competition, but can't.
I mean they arguably have the best Woodward leave park, have massive jumps on its bear mountain side, has a half pipe, has 12 parks, and usually has them open from week 1 or 2 to may. Plus many of their features were extremely creative, and the whole setup just felt different.
Thanks for the #1 Ranking for my home town resort, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. You nailed it just right! We like to say :Either the Horse bucks you or you buck the Horse, there's no in between", especially when you are doing 4,000 foot vertical per lap. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I live near-ish to kicking horse and I’m not gonna be going on those double blacks I’m not good enough for that but the beauty is the best part of kicking horse and for some reason you always make a friend while your there (Probably cause you are sometimes forced to be with people in the gondola) the people who go there are so nice!
Was there last February. Not a lot of snow, as you know. The locals we met on the lifts were incredibly friendly and willing to share tips on where to ski. Thank you all for the hospitality.
Mount Baker definitely deserves to be on this list, but it seems tame compared to it’s fellow Washington ski area Alpental. Alpental is definitely a special place that deserves to be at the top of this list.
Wow, I'm really surprised A-basin didn't make the list. I feel like pavalincini alone would be worth the list, add in steep gullies, the east wall, and the access to tough Backcountry... Really think it should have been on here!
Going BCountry or side country , a la Mile-Long Couloir at JH, make it tops. SOO much beyond the ropes.. the inventors of NAmerican BCountry, baby- Swft/Silnt/Deep!!
Skied Baker, Revy and KH among others on an extended trip last year, totally agree that these should be on the list. Great resorts and lucked into great conditions as well.Will be doing them again in '24. Peace Out.
Ok the little coular, tits up, Never, And some uper A-z chutes along w jack creek and castros. North summit is not nessisarly to hard but is very high risk as you are over cliffs the entire time. I’m just wondering if you have ever skied at big sky and actually whent on some of these runs
Glad you guys were able to capture how steep those runs were with the go pro. Def made my bum pucker a bit from my office chair ;) Will you guys release a video review of Baker soon?
My two cents: Years ago, I skied S&S on old style slalom skis, ha, but there are runs at Palisades I wouldn't touch. And the snow at Palisades can be truly nasty, making it extra dangerous.
I've skied a number of these - JH, Snowbird, Crested Butte, Revelstoke, Whistler and Silverton and several of the other suggestions (Red Mountain, Taos, A-Basin, Alta and Telluride). My first thought is that I would rank Whistler way ahead of Revelstoke and JH and Crested Butte as comparable to Snowbird - particularly when one considers that many of the CB classics have much longer no fall zones than anything at Snowbird. I probably wouldn't put Red Mountain, A-Basin, Alta or Telluride necessarily on the list ahead of what is already on it. (If I was going to drop anything, it would probably be Revelstoke which I didn't find particularly intimidating). The one that I would definitely add would be Taos which is easily in the same league as Snowbird or Crested Butte for spicy terrain.
Having been to all of these, I'd say your list is really pretty accurate. Abasin also gets an honorable mention due to the side country. Good that you warn people who are not really comfortable/strong skiers to stay off the double blacks! Good stuff!
I've lived at Mammoth for 61 years and have had a free season pass almost every year of my life, but I still go b/c over ten times for every day riding the lifts. Watching this just reminded me of how little I like skiing on snow that someone has already skied on. Much of the difficulty in this video is due to ruts, traverses, moguls, etc.
@@jimmoore8951 Never skied the U-Notch or V-Notch, but my last run last season was the N face and couloir of Thunderbolt. climbed V-Notch to Polemonium Peak In October of '19 with my son. Climbed Mt. Sill two weeks after skiing Thunderbolt and wished I had my skis for the descent. Bloody can be tricky at times, but even in good conditions, Parachute and Red Slate are pretty intimidating. I spent four days at Red Slate last spring and skied it twice.
@@midi510 Thunderbolt is a classic 14er but gotta watch the bergschund at the bottom. Sad that the Palisades is now synonymous with a Gucci ski resort instead of the ski mountaineers proving ground that it is
@@jimmoore8951 What makes you think it's synonymous with a Gucci ski resort? I've lived in Mammoth for over 60 years and have been skiing the Eastern Sierra backcountry for over 50. The Palisades is one of my favorite places to get away from the tourists. Sounds like you think I'm a tourist, which is so ridiculous, it's not even funny.
Happy to see Mt Baker mentioned- there are a couple other mountains with exceptional out of bounds skiing that really make them more than they otherwise are like Crystal Mt, Snowbird, and Solitude.
shoutout to Sunshine Village, though you need avy equipment to access the freeride zones, there is some downright crazy runs you can do within Delirium Dive and Wild West. Not to mention unofficial runs like Rocket Pocket.
As others have stated - Taos, Big Sky, Bridger, A-Basin, Aspen Highlands, Telluride could be strong contenders to replace this somewhat accurate list. I’ll go further and recommend Snowmass to the list. Have a day at Snowmass and do Burn cliffs, Gowdy’s, Rayburns, Possible, Roberto’s Double, and all of cirque/hanging valley and tell me it’s not a sleeper mountain for experts!
Honestly I would say crystal mountain is more challenging than mount baker and also it’s way bigger but a lot of people don’t know it if they don’t go with someone it’s almost a secret to access some of the lifts and areas.
Loved video/skiing portion! Skied since age 3, raced 8 thru high school in Cascades, Sierras. Also Skied Wasatch, Rockies, U.S. & Canada; some of the ones you show. Y'all cover some terrain!
Not disputing the difficulty of any of these but Alta and A Basin rank up there with any of these. A Basin is often open well into June or at least it was before global warming.
9:24 I do so many double blacks at snowbird every ski season! It’s so fun, and sometimes it snows so hard you can’t see which is sketchy, but I recommend 😊
Awesome to see two of my local Tahoe resorts on the list! The Wood is amazing because of the cornice drop ins right off the chairs and of course the pretty big variety and difficulty of chutes all over the face. Makes for easier laps and more fun at the top!
I have skied a lot of these areas and I have always enjoyed myself. I have not been to Kicking Horse but my friends who are very good skiers nicknamed it Kicking Ass. I need to get there. Nice list
Coming from skiing down under, I don’t even know how it would compare. I can find places for large drops of ~8-20ft, especially the Hollywood drops under the Kosciusko Express chair, but Thredbo would not make the top 30 list. Guess I’ll have to find out next time I go overseas!
@@PeakRankings Don’t have to deal with those too often, but I still have a Wombat for a coach, giant sheets of bullet proof ice and mouguls and even the occasional magpie
Appreciated the video and fun to watch and dream about skiing these places. But iwas surprised that Big Sky wasn’t on the list. Tons of gnarly terrain allover.
Clicked on this vid thinking "I bet Kicking Horse is #1". Yup. That resort is on a whole other level as soon as you step off the gondola. Leave the beginners at home if you want to climb into that saddle. I've been bucked off more than a few times.
Honestly, I’d think Alyeska should of made the list, they are packed with fun! Alyeska had about 8-12 double black expert runs ALSO INCLUDING the longest double black chute in America, Christmas chute! Also, there is a wide variety of blacks to pick from! So I think it should have made the list saying they ALSO have hedwall which you have to hike to and can be up to a 55 to 60° drop+ avalanche risk! That’s why it should have made it.
Agreed. Ive had to help 3 people through the choke point in Christmas chute when they shit their pants. And when high traverse opens over to Max’s it’s no joke. Theres a reason the north face was closed terrain for many many years. And the head wall where they hold the extreme qualifiers is do or die. All this on top of seasons that approach 1,000 inches of snow at the top. But i’m glad it’s our little secret. Ive taken trips to Crystal, Blackcomb and Jackson and j always look forward to getting back to Girdwood.
I love mad river and ski there daily, the terrain is honestly harder than any of the hike to stuff at breckenridge, however, although I haven't skied there, no way it beats out A-basin
The hike up terrain on the East coast isn't half bad if you're looking for challenge. Just a really limited season if you want sufficient good snow for it. In my late 40's I'm looking at all of this stuff and thinking no anyway.
I go to kicking horse multiple times every year and its a great hill when it gets snow(It didnt get great snow this year but it can get tons of powder if you go in the right year)
Good list! Skied them all except Mt Bachelor. Big Sky off the tram and either side of the ridge hike above Headwaters, must be included. Alta and Snowbasin need consideration. In the East, Stowe is a better mountain, as difficult and with more variety than Mad River...
Great list. Been to Jackson a few times and it's my favorite. The difficult runs are usually shortish and there are nearly always ways to take a breather before the next challenging bit. Getting down Rendezvous Bowl off the top when the wind is blowing up the hill is like skiing with your eyes closed. Tried KH last year but the snow was not there. Visibility on that mountain ranges from bad to none but the one day we had perfect visibility (for about an hour) it felt like you could see forever and the view was unparalleled. Between the two Jackson is easier to get to and there are things to do at the end of the ski day, like more than two restaurants/bars.
I worked at Jackson hole as a lift operator for a winter and we weren't supposed to drop corbets coular, or we would be fired. lol unfortunately that year we didnt get much snow so I never even considered dropping it... but my east coast ice skiing experience came in handy that year! Not much powder though. Same thing happened when I skied snowbird. warm conditions, no snow on the cliffs! BC we got some powder though, 6ft!
You mentioned Mad River Glen, but not Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire. I would think that trails like DJ's Tramline and Avalanche might exceed the difficulty of Mad River Glen. However, the overall mountain experience might be less demanding than skiing out West. And what about Bridger Bowl in Montana? Big Sky?
MRG far exceeds Cannon IMHO but is not in the same league as the west coast. I agree with all the Big Sky ppl. Way hairier than Kirkwood. Revelstoke only has the one run under the gondola to brag about though the steep glades are pretty crazy. So maybe put Big Sky in for one of these?
I skied all over the hardest off trail places Mt Baker in the 80s and one chute in this video I would sometimes spend a day running and never see another person.There were some amazingly competent off-piste competition skiers that I knew there. Back then I would stay in a lodge right by a ski lift. I loved Jackson Hole - great steep ice runs when I was there, but coldest place I've ever been.
I learned to snowboard in 2008 or 2009 in Jackson Hole, working as a lift operator, during one of the snowiest seasons to date. I rode every single day for three months. I feel blessed
I learned to ski at Jackson Hole. Corbetts Couloir, the Hobacks, great snow, no grooming on Rendevous. I have skied Colorado, Utah, Korea, Europe, nothing compares to Jackson Hole.
BTW, lost my wife for a while at Whistler. We got off at the top and we were going to take the green run around the backside after which we would split and I would go down the front and she would green it to the bottom. 1 minute in we hit a complete white out (no vision with hand in front of face), which forced me to stop after 100Ms and inch my way round for 10 minutes but she went off a ledge, fell 100 feet in to s snaow bank, and took 20 minutes to punch her way back up and out. All ended well but it took us an hour or so of panic to find each other at the bottom of the mountain to figure out what happended (pre cell phones). These places are serious, even for the easy runs.
Just skied Snowbird, Solitude, and Brighton this recent March. Snowbird was easily my favorite. Half the blue trails there would be double blacks at 90% of of ski mountains back home in the east. The Peruvian Cirque is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen not requiring a hike
I've been to Tahoe's Northstar and Heavenly, and Colorado's Aspen Snowmass and Vail. They had some gnarly steep slopes, I remember one I took a picture of that looked like50 degree slope at Heavenly
You guy really need to get upto Red Mountain this season, when it starts popping. Its one of the oldest in north America with raising some of the most influential men and women to come out of snow sports.
Dougie Coombs did a gopher run, in front of my former friends, into Corbetts, back in the early 80s. When I heard, I laughed: they'd accumulated about 7-8ft of windblown light powder; Dougie launched, buried, and skied under the surface 😂 "All we saw was this wicked 'gopher tunnel' of snow collapsing behind him! His head popped up after about seven turns!"
Was skiing in Yellowstone and a friend of mine said next day he was gonna ski in “the gullies” in big sky. I didnt know what that was. I got there and was like man no way im going down this. Truly scary stuff
Just a helpful tip those who don't know - make sure you adjust ski binders according to your weight and type of terrain you are going to ski. This is VERY important. That adjustment will allow binders to pop open if you fall and ski will come off so you won't injure legs. Ski safe 🎿
hardly anyone would think it, but Mt. Baldy (yes, a teeny resort just outside of Los Angeles) has some very difficult terrain, esp. on the face. If you don't heed the warnings and don't know where you're going... can end up in a pickle. When there's snow at Baldy, there's no other place like it.
Some things don't show well in video, steepness of the terrain is one of them, on that slope, you really have to be on skis to appreciate the steepness of the drops.
Great video!! I’ve been to a few resorts on the list! Absolutely love Revy, Whistler and KH!! Great times and awesome days with friends at all 3 mountains!! Would love to go to Jackson Hole one day 🤩
I'm only 25 but watching these skiers absolutely crush these expert runs make me feel old and out of shape 😅 I wish I could be in better shape but my job requires a lot of physical labor already, so working out just feels like torture. I can still do a lot of difficult black diamonds and even a few double blacks, but it takes me a while to get down lol. I have to stop and take a breather sometimes.
Good video. Not sure if it would change the rankings, but you overlooked the runs in the Silverado area at Palisades. Many awesome couloirs and chutes and some mandatory cliff jumps. It’s easy to miss as it usually doesn’t open until March. And some say the hardest run at the whole resort is the Keyhole at Alpine.
As someone who grew up in Alberta, I'd definitely put Golden's Kicking Horse and Revelstoke near the top along with Sunshine Village in Alberta with its Delirium Dive and Goat's Eye Mountain terrain... I feared it as a kid and I do as an adult...
Another one to look at is the Chutes at Mt Rose in Nevada. The only problem is they don't open them all the time. 55 degree terrain and sketchy ski conditions at times. Although they usually close the chutes if the snow is suspect.
An important note on this list: it’s based heavily on the PeakRankings Challenge Score criteria, of which top 9 mountains on this list received 10/10s. The #10 mountain received a 9/10.
Other very strong contenders for the #10 slot included Taos, Alta, Red Mountain, Arapahoe Basin, and Big Sky (with Tram Access only).
You can check out more info on the PeakRankings Challenge score here: www.peakrankings.com/content/mountain-score-thresholds#challenge
Thanks for watching!
Taos.
It is time to rank the 10 most dangerous resorts in the Alps
You should take a look at some local tiny ski resorts, and make a video ranking some of the smallest ski resorts in America. :)
Good list. Glad you mentioned MRG and Silverton. The enormous Powder Mountain in Utah perhaps should also have a special mention, most reliable powder availability, days after Alta and the others are skied out.
Taos should be on this list. You gave Taos a 9 for challenge, but is 100% a 10. And IMO it should probably be about #4 or 5 on this list.
Thank you I learned a whole new ski vocabulary. Straight lining, mandatory cliffs, freefall to name a few. Not my thing by a long shot but its great to see people out there testing their limits. Great video.
add "pow, fall line, stomped it, and butter" and you'll be pro ; )
Growing up skiing Kirkwood I thought the double blacks were normal. As I started going to other resorts I realized how nuts the terrain really is. I met a guy at Heavenly and asked him at the top of a run how to approach it since I’d never done it before. He said “I wouldn’t do this. Where do you usually ride?” I told him Kirkwood and he said “oh you’ll be fine” 😂
Sounds about right 🤣
I was just going to say that. I switch from skiing to boarding some 36 years ago at Kirkwood and never looked back. Still my favorite resort and go there more than any other.
Kirkwood is a big boy mountain by all standards.
LOL, that was me. I was staying at Heavenly with my wife and someone told me to try Kirkwood. I ended up fine but it was above my skill ...and I loved it.
I instantly recognized that chute as Kirkwood's at the beginning of the video. If it wasn't on this list I wouldn't have watched it at all. It's a tough mountain and hard to get to from the valley side due to the constant avalanche control on the highway in. Will always be on the top of my favorite places to ski.
0:59 10th Mad River Glen, VT 2:18 9th Crested Butte, CO 3:42 8th Revelstoke, BC
5:05 7th Kirkwood, CA 6:13 6th Whistler Blackcomb, BC 7:22 5th Palisades Tahoe, CA
9:24 4th Snowbird, UT 10:46 3rd Mt. Baker, WA 12:28 2nd Jackson Hole, WY
14:13 1st Kicking Horse, BC 15:46 Bonus: Silverton, CO
Thank you
Taos? Total disrespect.
Backside of Killington Vt? You get to walkout through Shrewsbury. It’s a big no compass works bowl. Something about the rock formations renders magnetic location useless!
Big sky should be on here
None of these spots are tough, at all, what is this trash list
I've been skiing for around 30 years, and am pretty decent at most trails, but have been on a few double blacks at Whistler-Blackcomb that had me thinking that there was not way that what I was on was a trail. Only to have some kids fly by and humble me, like nothing else possible.
Kids at whistler are a different breed lol I can handle some of the double blacks there but you’ll see kids go flying down the glacier or double black couloirs up by glacier
@@tylerharaf5901I mean, that’s the evolution of any sport. I was a professional motorcycle racer, my manager used to ride and had retired long before I started racing. He would come out with me from time to time, almost crashing just trying to keep up.
There was a big swamp off to the left after a quick hill to immediate right hander , you hit the hill (61mph) when your wheel touched back down you had to brake hard (23mph) within seconds and lean the bike all the way over, he knew he wasn’t going to make the right hander and just went straight into the swamp, $60,000 bike covered up to the handlebars in muck. He was pulling dirt and grass out of it for the following month.
I can only imagine what kids will be doing, in any sport, 20 years from now with the next major advance in equipment and sports medicine.
You went through each one and I kept saying “kicking horse is much harder” then BOOM it’s #1. Well done.
The perception often depends on the ski conditions. I went 2 times to Kicking Horse and we were blessed with 30+cm of fresh powder. Every double diamond becomes a lot easier with the right snow. On the other hand I experienced Revelstoke on icy conditions. The run "Kill the banker" was the thoughest ski trail I ever did. It's not even that steep, but when covered by a thick layer of uneven ice, it's a nightmare.
I was at Revy on an icy day with frozen death cookies. I've skied at a lot of places but I thought "Kill the banker" was going to kill me.
Ditto for me kill the banker while it was icy was my worst run ever.
What made it even worse was that we weren't expecting it. The top of the mountain had great conditions and the run looked nice but aperantly it was just low enough to thaw the day before and was a sheet of ice.
had a similar experience at Squaw Valley on a routine black nothing special but with it totally icy it was one of the diciest most difficult runs I can recall over the last few years...
Omg yes!! 100% agree! Icy kill the banker really sucks but on a deep powder day it’s so crazy good
I live in the north east, I’m consistently riding on ice. I can’t wait to rip up fresh pow, I’m new so I haven’t seen a mountain with fresh snow yet
Spent a year in JH. Spent a week in KH. My first thought of KH was it was a mirror of JH with a little more alpine/lower treeline. Said Just that to a guy that was on the patrol. Turns out, the ski patrols at JH and KH apparently do training exchange programs because the mountains are similar in so many ways- and demanding.
not any moor jh wy. has been chopping and blasting all the best stuff since the new ceo. came along it's being vailafied they just blasted all of the alta shoots and peppy's ridge is now a groomer wtf!
I’ve grown up on big sky and when I went to Jackson, I was surprised by the ease of the runs. The steeps off the tram at big sky just don’t compete
I grew up skiing telluride. Though it wasn’t on this list, i believe it should be. It has some areas that are mandatory drop and some very technical terrain, especially on the hike to terrain.
Sorry, I usually agree with your rankings, but leaving Big Sky off of the top here is egregious. I've skied every resort mentioned and Big Sky is the only one with actually terrifying terrain, like I would prefer to be roped in on, and falls would easily be fatal. KH, Silverton, and Baker are all super extreme but less "dangerous", IMO.
100
Agree 100%. You can kill yourself easily at big sky on dozens of different runs. I have skied many of these resorts and find big sky as the only one that has what feels like 1,000 acres i wont ski because of difficultly😂
agreed big sky on top
About 12 years ago off the little 10 person tram my friend disappeared off a 50 foot cliff in the fog. After bouncing and tumbling on andocite rocks that was the end of skiing for him. 😢😢😢.
Define egregious in your own words without using Google... bet ya cant
Kicking horse was the first thing I thought of when I saw this video. love that place, my can't even afford to go back, since it's been discovered. great Town 2
Big Sky/Moonlight deserves a ranking within these you show. Consider Big Couloir, Headwaters, A-Z Chutes, Dictators, Castro…,
Agreed altho big sky and moonlight merged along time ago also the little coular and some of the headwaters are definitely more challenging then runs on this list
On that list I've skied Kirkwood, Whistler/Blackcomb, Squaw Valley, Snowbird, and Jackson Hole. But I've been to Big Sky AND Bridger Bowl most. Big Sky has some gnarly stuff.
You left out Taos NM, trees, cliffs, under rated blacks that many shud be double diamonds. Have skied three on ur list and they were deliciously bruising . . .
Your falls made me chuckle glad you included them
not putting Big Sky on here is absolutely insane
Big Sky is awesome, I'd put it ahead even of Jackson. Bridger Bowl in MT isn't as big, but man does it have terrain.
Yup… Big Sky was my home mountain for about a decade (but this was also about 2 decades ago)…. All the access off the tram, big couloir, the entire back of the mountain (especially after Moonlight allowed access to their side of the mountain), A-Z’s, challenger, and the hit list can keep going.
My best day of snowboarding in my life was a Feb Tuesday after a 3’ overnight storm, big couloir had about twice that amount of snow in it from it blowing over the top. It was just myself and 2-3 buddies that got to lap big and whatever else we wanted all day pretty much just to our selves
Can't even take this list serious without Big Sky on it.
@@Ikuni17 OK, its a good list. The channel said that 9 of 10 of these mountains were rated 10 of 10 by some measure, so yeah, everything after that is subjective. To be fair, and not taking anything away from Big Sky (which is definitely one of the best, most difficult places to ski on earth), without the Can, (the Presidents and Alphabets and whatnot) Big Sky isn't as much as you can ski from lifts a number of places (Jackson, Taos after the K peak chair, Alyeska, a few places in BC come to mind.) And if you are willing to walk a some steps, there are so many places where you can get into some real back country shit. (think Bridger)
thats exactly what i said.. to put mad river glenn on and no big sky is criminal.
Love the "honorable mention" to East Coast mountains WF and Jay!
The chutes under the tram at Jay are a different level.
I don't know which one I would slide off this list, but Big Sky, Bridger Bowl, Telluride, Solitude, Alyeska, A Basin, Taos, and Highlands all have some seriously messed up terrain.
Having skied about half this list, and had the courage to drop a Palisade, the most scared I have ever been of any terrain is at Big Sky.
I'd add A-Basin, Red Mtn, Sunshine Village to your list.
Big Sky is the "obvious" miss, especially with its big shiny new tram accessing a lot of the most insane terrain. The steepest parts of Moonlight are even harder, and the backside around Shedhorn has some real challenges.
But Bridger Bowl is the biggest miss for me. It almost skis like 2 separate mountains, with a few lower and mid mountain lifts mostly serving greens and blues. But from the mid mountain up, it gets truly nutty. The single black runs are still fun for experts, the normal double blacks are as hard as any mountain you'd fly to for an experts trip. But then... there are 2 giant terrain zones of what I think is the best expert terrain in NA. There are multiple 200'+ straightline chutes, giant cliffs, cliff bands on top of other cliffs, and it's all just at the right angles to be skiable. There are a few chutes that rival Corbet's, and a few larger highlight reel runs that only get skied a few times a decade. The snow is usually pretty reliable and fills in the upper mountain well.
But it just has never gained the reputation it should given the terrain. Maybe it's the very necessary requirement of having beacons to access the toughest stuff, including the best lift on the mountain.
I feel like hardest and most dangerous (used in the title) are two different things. There are resorts that allow very casual access into innocent looking but very avalanche prone terrain and then there are Northwest ski areas that have treewells everywhere.
As an example, nobody would call 9990 at park city a hard chair by this list's standards, but it did rack up a very high bodycount before the gates were closed.
@@RD1R I've heard that from a couple people who ski Montana frequently. I have yet to make it out there or up to Revelstoke and Kicking Horse, been to just about everywhere else other than Kirkwood & SIlverton that is mentioned.
Snowbird has some great terrain, between learning to ski there and Crystal Mt I've never been anywhere I found particularly challenging unless you are just going for big drops which depend hugely on snow conditions for how tough they are other than the fear factor.
Agree
BERTHOUD PASS,this must be ALOT of new school extremist because I'm 48 and did second US Xtreme at crested butte and many other comps before I blew my knee on back of Loveland. I have to say in my day BERTHOUD PASS was king of traditional lift Xtreme ski resorts before it closed in mid 1990's and still has hike Xtreme comps there, it's insane. I've done Corbet in style, but cliffs don't scare me vs nasty rugged rocks, icy moguls, weeds, etc. Honorable mention should be also Arapahoe Basin hike pavecini, even snomass has some serious narly shit, but it's a pretty tame resort if you avoid snow mass doubles. Hahaha even Ski Cooper, the world easiest and shortest resort has a sick extra that is snowplow guided only. Backside of Loveland pass has a road that circles up for car rides up and has some serious sick shit but avalanche danger is insane high. I did first South American extreme skiing championship in Argentina and that was pure suicide, day 1 was a must 40ft cliff huck to start first run to land on ice, well that knocked out half the competitors. Either they chickened out, or got injured, or blew their binding like I did landing on ice. I was able to continue to day 2 but had to use rentals cause my soloman 957 bindings were fucked and from day , I got eliminated day 2. I try to find any video from that insane competition, but can't.
A quality list. I was rooting for the ‘Horse….sweet. Taos is gnarly too.
Taos is a four letter word for steep.
you guys should make a "The best resort for park skiing" next
Great suggestion! That list pretty much changes every year though 😂
Might be the thing that killington can clinch the #1 spot
Why? @nathankovach killington? Hahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
I mean they arguably have the best Woodward leave park, have massive jumps on its bear mountain side, has a half pipe, has 12 parks, and usually has them open from week 1 or 2 to may. Plus many of their features were extremely creative, and the whole setup just felt different.
@@nathankovach7414 try 3 sometimes 4 halfpipes at mammoth lol
Thanks for the #1 Ranking for my home town resort, Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. You nailed it just right! We like to say :Either the Horse bucks you or you buck the Horse, there's no in between", especially when you are doing 4,000 foot vertical per lap. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Kicking Horse is awesome
My Whistler friends hated it. I love it. You are so lucky. Swoosh that pow for me, please.
I live near-ish to kicking horse and I’m not gonna be going on those double blacks I’m not good enough for that but the beauty is the best part of kicking horse and for some reason you always make a friend while your there (Probably cause you are sometimes forced to be with people in the gondola) the people who go there are so nice!
Was there last February. Not a lot of snow, as you know. The locals we met on the lifts were incredibly friendly and willing to share tips on where to ski. Thank you all for the hospitality.
Mount Baker definitely deserves to be on this list, but it seems tame compared to it’s fellow Washington ski area Alpental. Alpental is definitely a special place that deserves to be at the top of this list.
hell nah
Wow, I'm really surprised A-basin didn't make the list. I feel like pavalincini alone would be worth the list, add in steep gullies, the east wall, and the access to tough Backcountry... Really think it should have been on here!
Yep A Basin and Taos should get an honorable mention
A basin and BERTHOUD PASS
@@dwg1235 Berthoud Pass is closed bro
Going BCountry or side country , a la Mile-Long Couloir at JH, make it tops. SOO much beyond the ropes.. the inventors of NAmerican BCountry, baby- Swft/Silnt/Deep!!
You had me at Mad River Glen! Only place I’ve gotten a ski stuck in a tree!
Skied Baker, Revy and KH among others on an extended trip last year, totally agree that these should be on the list. Great resorts and lucked into great conditions as well.Will be doing them again in '24. Peace Out.
You should try Castle Mountain Resort
Big sky snub is wild, you cant tell me a-z chutes, big couloir, and north summit snowfields is wild
Ok the little coular, tits up, Never, And some uper A-z chutes along w jack creek and castros. North summit is not nessisarly to hard but is very high risk as you are over cliffs the entire time. I’m just wondering if you have ever skied at big sky and actually whent on some of these runs
Glad you guys were able to capture how steep those runs were with the go pro. Def made my bum pucker a bit from my office chair ;) Will you guys release a video review of Baker soon?
Don't forget it is always even steeper than what the camera captures.
My two cents: Years ago, I skied S&S on old style slalom skis, ha, but there are runs at Palisades I wouldn't touch. And the snow at Palisades can be truly nasty, making it extra dangerous.
Skiing is a weird way to describe free falling lol
Ha yeah, but you need good body position while dropping, turn 90 degrees in the air, then you better know how to turn after you land.
Outstanding coverage as always! I love that you couldn't even take your team into some areas of Mt Baker!!
I've skied a number of these - JH, Snowbird, Crested Butte, Revelstoke, Whistler and Silverton and several of the other suggestions (Red Mountain, Taos, A-Basin, Alta and Telluride). My first thought is that I would rank Whistler way ahead of Revelstoke and JH and Crested Butte as comparable to Snowbird - particularly when one considers that many of the CB classics have much longer no fall zones than anything at Snowbird. I probably wouldn't put Red Mountain, A-Basin, Alta or Telluride necessarily on the list ahead of what is already on it. (If I was going to drop anything, it would probably be Revelstoke which I didn't find particularly intimidating). The one that I would definitely add would be Taos which is easily in the same league as Snowbird or Crested Butte for spicy terrain.
Having been to all of these, I'd say your list is really pretty accurate. Abasin also gets an honorable mention due to the side country. Good that you warn people who are not really comfortable/strong skiers to stay off the double blacks! Good stuff!
I've lived at Mammoth for 61 years and have had a free season pass almost every year of my life, but I still go b/c over ten times for every day riding the lifts. Watching this just reminded me of how little I like skiing on snow that someone has already skied on. Much of the difficulty in this video is due to ruts, traverses, moguls, etc.
Yeah. This should be titled as worst condition slopes in us 😅
If it has bumps on it the run can't be that hard... unlike bloody couloir in low snow or the U-Notch and V-Notch couloirs
@@jimmoore8951
Never skied the U-Notch or V-Notch, but my last run last season was the N face and couloir of Thunderbolt. climbed V-Notch to Polemonium Peak In October of '19 with my son. Climbed Mt. Sill two weeks after skiing Thunderbolt and wished I had my skis for the descent.
Bloody can be tricky at times, but even in good conditions, Parachute and Red Slate are pretty intimidating. I spent four days at Red Slate last spring and skied it twice.
@@midi510 Thunderbolt is a classic 14er but gotta watch the bergschund at the bottom. Sad that the Palisades is now synonymous with a Gucci ski resort instead of the ski mountaineers proving ground that it is
@@jimmoore8951
What makes you think it's synonymous with a Gucci ski resort? I've lived in Mammoth for over 60 years and have been skiing the Eastern Sierra backcountry for over 50. The Palisades is one of my favorite places to get away from the tourists. Sounds like you think I'm a tourist, which is so ridiculous, it's not even funny.
Happy to see Mt Baker mentioned- there are a couple other mountains with exceptional out of bounds skiing that really make them more than they otherwise are like Crystal Mt, Snowbird, and Solitude.
I'm a beginner skier and snowboarder. I like the easy slopes with no trees or cliffs.
shoutout to Sunshine Village, though you need avy equipment to access the freeride zones, there is some downright crazy runs you can do within Delirium Dive and Wild West. Not to mention unofficial runs like Rocket Pocket.
@@Arthorism Delirium is right up their with the best in North America. Problem is, few have ever seen it due to the short access walk.
As others have stated - Taos, Big Sky, Bridger, A-Basin, Aspen Highlands, Telluride could be strong contenders to replace this somewhat accurate list.
I’ll go further and recommend Snowmass to the list. Have a day at Snowmass and do
Burn cliffs, Gowdy’s, Rayburns, Possible, Roberto’s Double, and all of cirque/hanging valley and tell me it’s not a sleeper mountain for experts!
Honestly I would say crystal mountain is more challenging than mount baker and also it’s way bigger but a lot of people don’t know it if they don’t go with someone it’s almost a secret to access some of the lifts and areas.
Loved video/skiing portion! Skied since age 3, raced 8 thru high school in Cascades, Sierras.
Also Skied Wasatch, Rockies, U.S. & Canada; some of the ones you show. Y'all cover some terrain!
The fact that I’m in crested butte right now is crazy and the runs are soooooo good powdery not icy.
Not disputing the difficulty of any of these but Alta and A Basin rank up there with any of these. A Basin is often open well into June or at least it was before global warming.
Is breaking your skis on exposed rocks worth it?
9:24 I do so many double blacks at snowbird every ski season! It’s so fun, and sometimes it snows so hard you can’t see which is sketchy, but I recommend 😊
Awesome to see two of my local Tahoe resorts on the list! The Wood is amazing because of the cornice drop ins right off the chairs and of course the pretty big variety and difficulty of chutes all over the face. Makes for easier laps and more fun at the top!
I have skied a lot of these areas and I have always enjoyed myself. I have not been to Kicking Horse but my friends who are very good skiers nicknamed it Kicking Ass. I need to get there. Nice list
Never been but I’ve heard some stories about Big Sky. Seems harder than anything on the east coast
Skied there last year, never saw as much super challenging terrain in my life. Truly in a league of its own.
Peakrankings isn’t good enough to ski the hardest runs at Big Sky so they couldn’t rank it.
@@skiingkms2010 😂
I’m 1 hour away, and I’m still hesitant about going on the big couloir
The Big is the Coolest run I've ever done
Surprised Big Sky didn’t make the list. Their triple blacks are gnarly and you have to pay additional to take the lift, to access that terrain…
Coming from skiing down under, I don’t even know how it would compare. I can find places for large drops of ~8-20ft, especially the Hollywood drops under the Kosciusko Express chair, but Thredbo would not make the top 30 list. Guess I’ll have to find out next time I go overseas!
Well, what about all the kangaroos you guys have to dodge on the slopes down there?
@@PeakRankings Don’t have to deal with those too often, but I still have a Wombat for a coach, giant sheets of bullet proof ice and mouguls and even the occasional magpie
Appreciated the video and fun to watch and dream about skiing these places. But iwas surprised that Big Sky wasn’t on the list. Tons of gnarly terrain allover.
Bridger Bowl also has some pretty insane terrain, on the ridge at least
Clicked on this vid thinking "I bet Kicking Horse is #1". Yup. That resort is on a whole other level as soon as you step off the gondola. Leave the beginners at home if you want to climb into that saddle. I've been bucked off more than a few times.
Surprised about Taos not included.
It is a four letter word for steep.
@@joshnelson4704highline and west basin ridge is some of the scariest stuff In the country
No doubt it does
Honestly, I’d think Alyeska should of made the list, they are packed with fun! Alyeska had about 8-12 double black expert runs ALSO INCLUDING the longest double black chute in America, Christmas chute! Also, there is a wide variety of blacks to pick from! So I think it should have made the list saying they ALSO have hedwall which you have to hike to and can be up to a 55 to 60° drop+ avalanche risk! That’s why it should have made it.
Agreed. Ive had to help 3 people through the choke point in Christmas chute when they shit their pants. And when high traverse opens over to Max’s it’s no joke. Theres a reason the north face was closed terrain for many many years. And the head wall where they hold the extreme qualifiers is do or die. All this on top of seasons that approach 1,000 inches of snow at the top. But i’m glad it’s our little secret. Ive taken trips to Crystal, Blackcomb and Jackson and j always look forward to getting back to Girdwood.
I had to watch to the end to make sure kicking horse was #1. I’ve skied all over and that place is hands down the craziest place I’ve ever seen
Surprised not to see Telluride here, esp given the terrain on Palmyra.
Maybe the lack of consistent snow.
Hey just curious whats your opinion on steven's pass?
I love mad river and ski there daily, the terrain is honestly harder than any of the hike to stuff at breckenridge, however, although I haven't skied there, no way it beats out A-basin
The hike up terrain on the East coast isn't half bad if you're looking for challenge. Just a really limited season if you want sufficient good snow for it. In my late 40's I'm looking at all of this stuff and thinking no anyway.
Taos definitely belongs near number 1.
I have skied most of these areas and Taos has some truly dangerous runs!!
What is the purpose of the ski pole tap before dropping into a chute?
I go to kicking horse multiple times every year and its a great hill when it gets snow(It didnt get great snow this year but it can get tons of powder if you go in the right year)
Good list! Skied them all except Mt Bachelor. Big Sky off the tram and either side of the ridge hike above Headwaters, must be included. Alta and Snowbasin need consideration. In the East, Stowe is a better mountain, as difficult and with more variety than Mad River...
Good list. (I've skied at Snowbird, Kicking Horse, Revelstoke, Whistler. out of those mentioned) I'd add Red Mountain in Trail BC. Very Steep.
Have you ever considered doing a review on whiteface? My family might go there this winter and I want to know if it is worth the trip
No A basin on here is crazy the east wall and steep gully’s has some nightmare fuel lines
Great list. Been to Jackson a few times and it's my favorite. The difficult runs are usually shortish and there are nearly always ways to take a breather before the next challenging bit. Getting down Rendezvous Bowl off the top when the wind is blowing up the hill is like skiing with your eyes closed. Tried KH last year but the snow was not there. Visibility on that mountain ranges from bad to none but the one day we had perfect visibility (for about an hour) it felt like you could see forever and the view was unparalleled. Between the two Jackson is easier to get to and there are things to do at the end of the ski day, like more than two restaurants/bars.
I worked at Jackson hole as a lift operator for a winter and we weren't supposed to drop corbets coular, or we would be fired. lol unfortunately that year we didnt get much snow so I never even considered dropping it... but my east coast ice skiing experience came in handy that year! Not much powder though. Same thing happened when I skied snowbird. warm conditions, no snow on the cliffs! BC we got some powder though, 6ft!
I skied whistler like nothing about a few years ago I was still pretty small and had lots of fun whistler is def a must go for more advanced skiers
as an intermediate skier, kicking horse is still pretty slick albeit a little repetitive.
You mentioned Mad River Glen, but not Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire. I would think that trails like DJ's Tramline and Avalanche might exceed the difficulty of Mad River Glen. However, the overall mountain experience might be less demanding than skiing out West. And what about Bridger Bowl in Montana? Big Sky?
MRG far exceeds Cannon IMHO but is not in the same league as the west coast. I agree with all the Big Sky ppl. Way hairier than Kirkwood. Revelstoke only has the one run under the gondola to brag about though the steep glades are pretty crazy. So maybe put Big Sky in for one of these?
I skied all over the hardest off trail places Mt Baker in the 80s and one chute in this video I would sometimes spend a day running and never see another person.There were some amazingly competent off-piste competition skiers that I knew there. Back then I would stay in a lodge right by a ski lift. I loved Jackson Hole - great steep ice runs when I was there, but coldest place I've ever been.
Mission Ridge, Wenatchee, Eastern Wa. is 1 of coldest I've been; 60 mph+ winds regularly, but great, dry snow!
@@bradlyscotunes9156 yes, Mission Ridge has been very cold and dry when I was there mid-winter
Yes silverton
Silverton is so Fun! A must ski in everyone's bucket list!
Any ski resort back East after an ice storm.
I learned to snowboard in 2008 or 2009 in Jackson Hole, working as a lift operator, during one of the snowiest seasons to date. I rode every single day for three months. I feel blessed
@mucanan ..& a mere 15 years later you don't remember which year it was? Yikes! Your senior years are looking rough..
I learned to ski at Jackson Hole. Corbetts Couloir, the Hobacks, great snow, no grooming on Rendevous. I have skied Colorado, Utah, Korea, Europe, nothing compares to Jackson Hole.
BTW, lost my wife for a while at Whistler. We got off at the top and we were going to take the green run around the backside after which we would split and I would go down the front and she would green it to the bottom. 1 minute in we hit a complete white out (no vision with hand in front of face), which forced me to stop after 100Ms and inch my way round for 10 minutes but she went off a ledge, fell 100 feet in to s snaow bank, and took 20 minutes to punch her way back up and out. All ended well but it took us an hour or so of panic to find each other at the bottom of the mountain to figure out what happended (pre cell phones). These places are serious, even for the easy runs.
Crested Butte is also good for beginners too. Lots of greens and blues
I've skied all over North America and on 3 continents. A-Basin, Alta, and Taos need to be on this list.
Love Silverton!
This guy did an amazing operation and avalanche control
Growing up as a snowbirder, I go down any double-black I can
Just skied Snowbird, Solitude, and Brighton this recent March. Snowbird was easily my favorite. Half the blue trails there would be double blacks at 90% of of ski mountains back home in the east. The Peruvian Cirque is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen not requiring a hike
I've been to Tahoe's Northstar and Heavenly, and Colorado's Aspen Snowmass and Vail. They had some gnarly steep slopes, I remember one I took a picture of that looked like50 degree slope at Heavenly
Clearly you guys have the best job!
You guy really need to get upto Red Mountain this season, when it starts popping. Its one of the oldest in north America with raising some of the most influential men and women to come out of snow sports.
Red can get gnarly but whitewater more fun and gets more snow. Nelson also a cool friendly town
@@2richants I love Fernie too.
It always rains at Mt. Baker
Dougie Coombs did a gopher run, in front of my former friends, into Corbetts, back in the early 80s. When I heard, I laughed: they'd accumulated about 7-8ft of windblown light powder; Dougie launched, buried, and skied under the surface 😂
"All we saw was this wicked 'gopher tunnel' of snow collapsing behind him! His head popped up after about seven turns!"
wow. spending an hour to get down a single run sounds like soOOoooOOooo much fun.
I’ve done corbets numerous times on a snowboard … I love Jackson
you forgot Big SKY in Montana. How could you avoid this mountain. You blew it. The upper mountain is scary- You blew it!
Was skiing in Yellowstone and a friend of mine said next day he was gonna ski in “the gullies” in big sky. I didnt know what that was. I got there and was like man no way im going down this. Truly scary stuff
@@MultiJames236those are easy compared to some of the other stuff and that’s insane in it of itself
Just a helpful tip those who don't know - make sure you adjust ski binders according to your weight and type of terrain you are going to ski. This is VERY important. That adjustment will allow binders to pop open if you fall and ski will come off so you won't injure legs. Ski safe 🎿
hardly anyone would think it, but Mt. Baldy (yes, a teeny resort just outside of Los Angeles) has some very difficult terrain, esp. on the face. If you don't heed the warnings and don't know where you're going... can end up in a pickle. When there's snow at Baldy, there's no other place like it.
Some things don't show well in video, steepness of the terrain is one of them, on that slope, you really have to be on skis to appreciate the steepness of the drops.
Taos belongs on this list.
Absolutely it does
Solid list, Squaw is my home mountain. Surprised Mammoth didn't make it?
I theres a solid list of honorable mentions that didnt make the cut. Mammoth is on there for sure.
Great video!! I’ve been to a few resorts on the list! Absolutely love Revy, Whistler and KH!! Great times and awesome days with friends at all 3 mountains!! Would love to go to Jackson Hole one day 🤩
Thx for putting in an East coast beast 😊
skiing is terrible out here. i grew up skiing in tahoe and nothing compares and the snow is ass
I'm only 25 but watching these skiers absolutely crush these expert runs make me feel old and out of shape 😅 I wish I could be in better shape but my job requires a lot of physical labor already, so working out just feels like torture. I can still do a lot of difficult black diamonds and even a few double blacks, but it takes me a while to get down lol. I have to stop and take a breather sometimes.
Good video. Not sure if it would change the rankings, but you overlooked the runs in the Silverado area at Palisades. Many awesome couloirs and chutes and some mandatory cliff jumps. It’s easy to miss as it usually doesn’t open until March. And some say the hardest run at the whole resort is the Keyhole at Alpine.
As someone who grew up in Alberta, I'd definitely put Golden's Kicking Horse and Revelstoke near the top along with Sunshine Village in Alberta with its Delirium Dive and Goat's Eye Mountain terrain... I feared it as a kid and I do as an adult...
Goats Eye is pretty lame.
Another one to look at is the Chutes at Mt Rose in Nevada. The only problem is they don't open them all the time. 55 degree terrain and sketchy ski conditions at times. Although they usually close the chutes if the snow is suspect.
If you want to include Mount Rose, then check out Shames and Apex, both in BC.
Only skied 6 of these areas but I can honestly say all 6 were very enjoyable.