Travel
Seen as the Big Trip for British skiers, Canada and the US beckons more keenly than ever, with diverse resorts and improved infrastructure .
ByMike MacEacheran
Published November 28, 2023
• 5 min read
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK)
The Mount Hood stratovolcano, around two hour’s drive east of Portland, Oregon, is the most transfixing ski destination you’re ever likely to lay eyes on. It’s a perfect snow-topped pyramid, pushing high through the clouds, with a belt of fir trees and pistes that crisscross the forest like strands of a spider’s web. Get closer and you’ll see the pattern is the result of several exciting ski areas: Timberline, Mount Hood Skibowl, Mount Hood Meadows, Summit Ski Area and Cooper Spur. For those who love winter sports, this region always offers another reason to stay longer.
As with Mount Hood, the joy of a winter sports trip to North America comes from the variety of destinations to choose from — and in some of the most unexpected of places. You can ski above the Arizona desert or jump-turn a chute in Nevada before playing the slots of Las Vegas. British Columbia and Quebec have more than 80 ski resorts apiece, with California and Colorado not far behind. This spread gives rise to a huge range of possibilities, from Aspen Snowmass, one of America’s most expensive ski resorts, to the raw nature of Mount Washington on Vancouver Island, where black bear sightings are common currency.
Every year, only a minority of Brits fly across the Atlantic to experience this diversity, but North America is becoming amore popular winter sports destination as resorts link areas, expand lift networks and unveil enticing new activities. Heavy snowfall is also helping reset the skier’s compass, with records broken this past season from Mammoth Lakes in California to almost every ski town in Utah.
Where to start? Montana’s Big Sky, one of the United States’ largest ski resorts, brags about America’s fastest six-person chairlift (see p.85). Another major investment is the resort’s newly refurbished Lone Peak Tram, which gives access to the six-mile-long run from Liberty Bowl to Mountain Mall. Big Sky’s first five-star property, Montage, opened in 2021, and One&Only Moonlight Basin — the luxury hotelier’s first outpost in the US — is set to join it in 2024. Developments like this coincide with evolution elsewhere: in California’s Palisades Tahoe, a base-to-base gondola — the first of its kind in North America — now connects the destination’s two mountains, linking up the resort for the first time.
But the sense of progress is perhaps most keenly felt in Colorado, not least in Steamboat. The resort is currently undergoing a $200m (£156m) modernisation that will see the opening of the longest ten-person gondola in North America. Famed Aspen Mountain is also busy increasing its skiable acreage by more than 20% for the coming season. This is what most likely accounts for North America’s snowballing winter sports appeal: never relaxing its efforts, it’s always looking ahead.
Three ski adventures to try in North America
1. Mammoth Mountain, California
The snow-sure resort
The highest ski destination in the Golden State, with an annual average of nine metres of snow. Ski Solutions offers a seven-night trip from £1,600 per person based on two sharing, room only. Price includes direct flights from Heathrow to San Francisco, three-star, ski in/ski out hotel accommodation and car hire.
2. Breckenridge, Colorado
The luxury favourite
As famous for its chic destination hotels and celebrity guests as it is for its beginner’s areas and terrain parks. Skiworld offers a seven-night trip from £2,139 per person based on two sharing, room only. Price includes direct flights from Heathrow to Denver, three-star, ski in/ski out hotel accommodation and shared transfers.
3. Whistler, British Columbia
The all-rounder
One of the most popular ski resorts with British skiers, with top-notch pistes, scenery and fantastic après-ski. Ski Solutions offers a seven-night trip from £1,385 per person, based on two sharing, room only. Price includes direct flights from Heathrow to Vancouver, four-star, ski in/ski out hotel accommodation and resort transfers.
Published in the Winter Sports supplement, distributed with the December 2023 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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