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Directions: Fly into Montrose Regional Airport and take the shut- t le or drive 1 hour to the resort. Or fly direct ly into Tell uride . VAIL VAIL, CO The wild thing about Vail is that it's so huge that the snow lasts ~ 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 you spend here, the more you'll love it. The ridges of Vail run east to west, and the steepest front side terrain is found toward the eastern boundary. Over the back of the ridge line are the infamous 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 scarce- ly 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 November-Mid April Ticket Price: $61 Summit El evation (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 Vail- Eagle County Airport and drive 30 min- utes east to the resort. WINTER PARK FRASER, CO The resort is made up of two mountains: Winter Park and Mary Jane. Winter Park is a sedate, mellow area cut into a forested 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. Telephone: 970-726-5514 Website: www.skiwinterpark.com Snow Report: 303-572-SNOW Season: Mid November-Mid Apri l Ticket Price: $ 52 Summit Elevation (feet): 12,060 Vertical Drop (feet): 3,060 Terra in (acres): 2,886 Green/Blue/Black (percent): 9/34/57 Annual Snowfall (inches): 369 Directions: Fly into Denver International Airport and drive 1 hour 30 minutes to the resort. SUN VALLEY SUN VALLEY, ID Opening in 1936, Sun Valley was the first destination ski resort in the country. The first chairlift in the world was built here, 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.sunvalley.com Snow Report: 800-635-41 50 Season: Late November-Late April Ticket Price: $63 Summit Elevation (feet): 9,150 Vertical Drop (feet): 3,400 Terrai n (acres): 2,054 Green/Blue/Black (percent): 36/42/22 Annual Snowfall (inches): 200 Directions: Fly into Freedman Memorial Airport in Sun Valley and drive 10 minutes or fly into Boise, ID, and drive 2 hours 30 minutes east to the resort. IDAHO a ~ • A SUGARLOAF 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 tradition- al 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. Telephone: 800-TH E-LOAF Website: www.sugarloaf.com Snow Report : 207-237-6808 Season: November- April Ticket Price, $53 Summit Elevation (feet): 4,237 Vertical Drop (feet): 2,820 Terrain (acres): 1,400 Green/Blue/Black (percent): 27/28/45 Annual Snowfall (inches): 240 Directions: Fly into Portland International Airport and drive 2 hours 30 minutes northwest to the resort. MAINE 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 always to have kept one step ahead of increasing numbers on the mountain. Even now with nearly 550,000 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 snow-making is the most advanced in the east. Telephone: 800-543-2SKI Website: www.sundayriver.com Snow Report: 207-824-5200 Season: Mid November- Early May Ticket Price: $53 Summit Elevation (feet) : 3,140 Vertical Drop (feet): 2,340 Terrain (acres): 663 Green/Blue/B lack (percent): 33/35/32 Annual Snowfall (inches): 155 Direct ions: Fly into Portland International Airport and drive 1 hour 30 minutes northwest. MONTANA BIG MOUNTAIN WHITEFISH, MT "Great groomers," "big fogs," Ulong traverses" and "beer" are a few of the phrases which pop up in a conversation about Big 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 bottom 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. Telephone: 800-858-4157 Website: www.bigmtn.com Snow Report: 406-862-SNOW Season: Late November-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 www.blue.comIV3Nl/pilgrimage. ... BRIDGER BOWL 'a" BOZEMAN, MT ~ Bridger is a wild frontier, home to skiers and snow boarders who ~ have a crazed look in their eye. There's no big talking scene and no posers , just earthy people grabbing freshies away from the spotlight. It has a welcoming atmosphere and it won't be long before you'll know everyone on the mountain. Bridger Bowl should in fact read Bridger Bowls as the resort occupies two bowls and two ridges, the Nose and the Ridge. Bridger Bowl is perhaps most well known for the Ridge. It's divided into Upper and Lower Mountain by the lift system. The Lower Mountain is very flat up to the Deer Park chalet where it turns into black diamond terrain by the time you get to the Bridger Chair. From the top of the chair, you can traverse either way or hike the last 500 vertical feet to the top of the ridge. This season, Bridger Bowl is replacing one of its double lifts with a triple, and is offering special ski packages all season long starting at $39 a day for lift tickets and lodging. Telephone: 800-223-9609 Website: www.bridgerbowl.com Snow Report: 406-586-2389 Season: Early December-Early April Ticket Price: $35 Summit Elevation (feet): 8,700 Vertica l Drop (feet): 2,000 Terrain (acres): 1,500 Green/Blue/Black (percent): 25/35/40 Annual Snowfall (inches): 350 Directions: Fly into Gallatin Field Airport, only a lO-minute drive from Bozeman, MT, and then drive 16 miles to Bridger. TAOS SKI VALLEY TAOS, NM Taos' ski school is consistently rated #1 in the country. Their Ski Week program is a 5- or 6-day more-than·just-Iessons program where beginners of all ages stay with the same instructor and group throughout the week. They have specialized ski weeks for teens and also Master Ski Weeks, which are taught by instruc- tors 50 years and older. Taos is known for having some of the toughest expert terrain in the country, but it has good beginner and intermediate runs too. Variety is key, and from every lift you can get to every type of terrain. Taos is one of the few resorts left in the country that doesn 't allow snowboarding. Telephone, 800-776-1111, 505-776-2291 NEW MEXICO ~BLUE.COM What's the ultimate snow mecca? Read "ALASKA: Snow Pilgrimage:' the story of a skier. snowboarder and telemarker on the search for true gliss at 59 • Directions: Fly into Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell, MT, and drive 20 minutes to the slopes. 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 i it's an enduring icon and perennial challenge, even for strong rid- ers. Both sides of the peak offer steep-as-you-like cliffs and chutes descending into the rugged bowl above the treeline and the main trails. 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. Telephone: 800-548-4486 Website: www.bigskyresort.com Snow Report: 406-995-5900 Season: Mid November-Mid April Ticket Price: $58 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.