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the largest pipes in the Rockies. Telephone, 800-922-2722 Website: www.steamboat.com Snow Report 970-879-7300 Season, Mid Nov- Mid April Ticket Price, $51 (2000-2001) Summit Elevation (feet), 10,568 Vertical Drop (feet), 3,668 Terrain (acres), 2,939 Green/Blue/Black (percent), 13/56/31 Annual Snowfall (inches), 330 Di rections, Fly into Yampa Valley Regional Airport in Hayden, CO, and drive 20 minutes to the resort. A TELLURIDE V TELLURIDE, CO O Telluride is unsurpassable for terrain, attitude and atmosphere. Dizzy Gillespie said N it Telluride ain't paradise then heaven can A through the trees. The terrain is naturally segregated with chal- • wait." He must have just hiked Gold Hill and cut down to Lift 6 lenging stuff on the east side around Lift 8 and Lift 9 and high off Gold Hill. Blue cruising runs converge in the center of the resort heading down towards Mountain Village. Beginners have their own territory around the Sunshine Express Chair on the western boundary. The chutes, trees and meadows on Gold Hill are quintessential freeriding. Telluride is considered a class A, high-risk avalanche area (in the same league as Jackson Hole, WY, and Snowbird, UT) due to a relatively shallow snowpack and drastically changing temperatures. Respect all warnings or ride with people who know the place. Telephone, 866-287-5016 Website: www.telluride-ski.com Snow Report 800-801-4832 Season, Mid Nov-- Early April Ticket Price, $63 Summit Elevation (feet), 12,260 Vertical Drop (feet), 3,535 Terrain (acres), 1,700 Green/Blue/Black (percent), 22/38/40 Annual Snowfal l (inches), 311 Directions, Fly into Montrose Regional Airport and take the shut- tle or drive 1 hour to the resort. A and lasts and lasts. It's all good, trees, bowls, chutes and trails. ~ Vail and her sister mountain, Beaver Creek have it all. The longer A you spend here, the more you'll love it. The ridges of Vail run east V to west, and the steepest front side terrain is found toward the eastern boundary. Over the back of the ridge line are the infa- mous Back Bowls, a dinner set of five dishes exposed to sun and snow. The area is a five-mile wide dream of ungroomed bowls, chutes, cliffs and a few trees. The Back Bowls are scarcely touched by the groomers and can be porridge or they can be the sweetest thing since Ben and Jerry 's . Telephone, 800-404-3535 Website, www.vail.com Snow Report 970-476-4888 Season, Mid Nov-Mid April Ticket Price, $61 (2000-2001) Summit Elevation (feet), 11,570 Vertical Drop (feet), 3,450 Terrain (acres), 5,289 Green/Blue/Black (percent), 18/29/53 Annual Snowfall (inches), 346 Directions, Fly into Va il- Eagle County Airport and drive 30 min- utes east to the resort. A WINTER PARK • A Jane. Winter Park is a sedate, mellow area cut into a forested FRASER , CO The resort is made up of two mountains; Winter Park and Mary V north-facing ridge. Mary Jane has a wilder feel with a narrow front bowl, steep back side and exposed above-treeline bowl. Mary Jane is world-renowned for its moguls. The 1997-98 sea- son saw some changes as Winter Park opened the Vasquez Cirque, a 1,000-acre backcountry playground accessed by hiking in from the Timberline Lift at Parsenn Bowl. It offers 435 acres A VAIL V VAIL, CO The wild thing about Vail is that it's so huge that the snow lasts e of rideable terrain, including above tree line chutes with pitches of up to 60 degrees and gladed riding. The Zephyr Mountain Lodge was completed last season for Winter Park's first ski-in, ski-out site. Telephone, 970-726-5514 Website, www.skiwinterpark.com Snow Report 303-572-SNOW Season, Mid Nov- Mid April Ticket Price, $54 ('00-'01) Summit Elevation (feet), 12,060 Vertical Drop (feet), 3,060 Terrain (acres), 2,886 Green/Blue/Black (percent), 9/21/70 Annual Snowfall (inches), 369 Directions: Fly into Denver International Airport and drive 1 hour 30 minutes to the resort. IDAHO A in the country. The first two chairlifts in the world were built here, A SUN VALLEY V SUN VALLEY, ID Opening in 1936, Sun Valley was the first destination ski resort V and it's no accident that US Downhill queen Picabo Street and snowboard World Champion Sandra Van Ert grew up racing on this mountain. Bald Mountain (affectionately known as Baldy) has a steep, nearly perfect gradient from peak to base. Sun Valley may not get as much snow as some of its neighbors but you get quality turns from top to bottom with no flats to get stuck on and bowls that beg you to go full throttle. Telephone, 800-786-8259 Website: www.sunval ley.com Snow Report, 800-635-4150 Season, Late Nov- Late April Ticket Price, $40 Summit Elevation (feet), 9,150 Vertical Drop (feet), 3,400 Terrain (acres), 2,054 Green/Blue/Black (percent), 36/42/22 Annual Snowfal l (inches), 200 Directions, Fly into Freedman Memorial Airport in Sun Valley and drive 10 minutes or f ly into Boise, ID, and drive 2 hours 30 min- utes east to the resort. MAINE A SUGARLOAF V CARRABASSETT VALLEY, ME The Longfellow Mountains sit adjacent to the Bigelow Mountain Range, and together they contribute six of the ten 4,000-foot peaks in Maine. Sugarloaf is the second highest peak in the state. The marketers have tagged Sugarloaf "one big mother." and it is just that. The feature that first impresses is the tree-barren summit, serviced by the Timberline Quad. Trails splay down the mountain and create a criss-cross pattern of traditional New England paths and broader, speed-inducing motorways. Sugarloaf's boundary-to-boundary policy means all the terrain is fair game, and this makes an already big mountain bigger. Sugarloaf is known for having the only above-treeline skiing in the East. It also has three terrain parks and a superpipe and is adding a glade to the trails for this season. Te lephone,800-THE-LOAF Website, www.sugarloaf.com Snow Report, 207-237-6808 Season, Nov- May Ticket Price, $52 Summit Elevation (feet), 4,237 Vertical Drop (feet), 2,820 Terrain (acres), 1,400 Green/Blue/Black (percent), 24/28/48 Annual Snowfall (inches), 240 Directions, Fly into Portland International Airport and drive 2 hours 30 minutes northwest to the resort. .. SUNDAY RIVER ~BETHEL, ME Eight interconnected peaks, state-of-the-art snow-making and an efficient lift system that boasts no less than nine quads, are the distinguishing features of Sunday River. Terrain and lift development seem to have always kept one step ahead of increasing numbers on the mountain. Even now with nearly 600,000 visitors each season, the lines are light and trails rel - atively uncrowded. Sunday River boasts having "the most dependable snow in New England." and its snowmaking is the most advanced in the east. Telephone, 800-543-2SKI Website: www.sundayriver.com Snow Report 207-824-5200 Season, Mid Nov- Early May Ticket Price, $49 Summit Elevation (feet)' 3,140 Vertical Drop (feet), 2,340 Terrain (acres), 660 Green/Blue/Black (percent), 33/35/32 Annual Snowfall (inches), 155 Directions, Fly into Portland International Airport and drive 1 hour northwest. MONTANA A BIG MOUNTAIN V WHITEFISH, MT "Great groomers, H A few of the phrases which pop up in a conversation about Big "big fogs," "long traverses" and "beer" are a V Mountain, tucked away in the northwest corner of Montana near Glacier Park. Covering over 3,000 acres, the in-bounds terrain is extensive although the density of the trees in the bot- tom two-thirds of the mountain makes this figure slightly deceptive. The mountain's tree skiing is one of the best in the west, and its affordable Cat skiing is a good introduction for intermediate skiers to get into the backcountry. This season, Big Mountain is expanding its beginner terrain. Telephone, 800-858-4157 Website, www.bigmtn.com Snow Report 406-862-SNOW Season, Late Nov-Mid April Ticket Price, $47 Summit Elevation (feet), 7,000 Vertical Drop (feet), 2,300 Terrain (acres), 3,000 Green/Blue/Black (percent), 25/50/25 Annual Snowfall (inches), 330 Directions, Fly into Glacier Park International Airport in Kal ispell , MT, and drive 20 minutes to the slopes. A BIG SKY . BIG SKY, MT Big Sky offers over 3,500 acres of incredibly diverse terrain spread over two mountains: lone Peak and Andesite Mountain. Lone Peak is the first thing you see as you drive up the road; it's an enduring icon and perennial challenge, even for strong riders. Both sides of the peak offer steep-as-you-like cliffs and chutes descending into the rugged bowl above the treeline and the main trail s. There is truthfully no easy way down from the top and even the wide open South Face holds up to a 50 degree gradient. Andesite is the 8,800 foot cone just south of the base area featuring wide, groomed trails down both sides. It's named after the abundance of Andesite shale which has a voracious appetite for P-tex and steel edges. Look for better tree skiing at Big Sky this season. Telephone, 800-548-4486 Website, www.bigskyresort.com Snow Report, 406-995-5900 Season, Mid Nov- Mid Apri l Ticket Price, $56 Summit Elevation (feet), 11,150 Vertical Drop (feet), 4,350 Terrain (acres), 3,600 Green/Blue/Black (percent), 17/25/58 Annual Snowfall (inches), 400 Directions, Fly into Gallatin Field Airport and drive 1 hour to the resort. 56