Arapahoe Basin is an alpine ski area in the Rocky Mountains of the United States, in the Arapaho National Forest of Colorado. Arapahoe Basin is known for its extended season and its extreme terrain. Arapahoe Basin is located south of Loveland Pass on U.S. Highway 6 in Summit County. The resort's terrain spans over 1,400 acres, serving up a mix of groomed runs, moguls, cornices, and glades. It features a lift-served vertical drop of 2,270 feet and is served by 9 lifts, with easy access to 145 trails. Additionally, there is a significant amount of hike-to terrain which expands the in-bounds area appeal. There is also an abundance of non-winter activities available.
A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald.
Treble Cone is the closest ski area to Wānaka, New Zealand.
Alta is a ski area in the western United States, located in the town of Alta in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, in Salt Lake County. With a skiable area of 2,614 acres (10.58 km2), Alta's base elevation is 8,530 ft (2,600 m) and rises to 11,068 ft (3,374 m) for a vertical gain of 2,538 ft (774 m). One of the oldest ski resorts in the country, it opened its first lift in early 1939. Alta is known for receiving more snow than most Utah resorts, with an average annual snowfall of 545 inches (13.8 m). It is also regularly ranked as having the best snow in North America. Alta is one of three remaining ski resorts in the U.S. that prohibit snowboarders, along with nearby competitor Deer Valley and Vermont's Mad River Glen.
Backcountry skiing (US), also called off-piste (Europe), alpine touring, freeriding or out-of-area, is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas either inside or outside a ski resort's boundaries. This contrasts with alpine skiing, which is typically done on groomed trails benefiting from a ski patrol. Unlike ski touring, backcountry skiing can – and often does – include the use of ski lifts including snowcats and helicopters. Recent improvements in equipment have increased the popularity of the sport. As the sport does confront the individual practicing it with the dangers of natural, unprepared alpine terrain like avalanches, it is generally recommended to carry standard safety equipment and to learn beforehand how to behave safely under such conditions.
Big Sky Resort, known colloquially as Big Sky, is a ski resort within Big Sky, Montana. It is about 50 mi from Bozeman. The resort takes its name from Montana's nickname as the "Big Sky State".
Aspen Highlands is a skiing mountain in Aspen, Colorado. It is famous for the Highland Bowl, which provides what some people consider some of the most intense, wild, and fun skiing in the state. The Aspen Skiing Company operates Aspen Highlands.
Freeriding is a style of skiing or snowboarding performed on natural, un-groomed terrain, without a set course, goals or rules. It evolved throughout the sport's formative years as a contrary response to the highly regimented style of ski competition prevalent at the time. Snowboarders primarily refer to freeriding as backcountry, sidecountry, or off-piste snowboarding, and sometimes big mountain or extreme riding.
Big White Ski Resort, simply known as Big White, is a ski resort located 56 km (35 mi) southeast of Kelowna in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. It is located on Big White Mountain, the highest summit in the Okanagan Highland, an upland area between the Monashee Mountains and the Okanagan Valley. Big White is the fourth largest resort in British Columbia, after Whistler-Blackcomb, Sun Peaks, and Silver Star. In 2019, Big White was nominated as the third-best ski resort in Canada by Snowpak.
Banff Sunshine Village is a ski resort in western Canada, located on the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies within Banff National Park in Alberta and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park in British Columbia. It is one of three major ski resorts located in the Banff National Park. Because of its location straddling the Continental Divide, Sunshine receives more snow than the neighbouring ski resorts. The Sunshine base area is located 15 km (9 mi) southwest of the town of Banff. By car, it is about a ninety-minute drive from the city of Calgary; the Sunshine exit on the Trans Canada Highway is 8 km (5 mi) west of the town of Banff.
Heli-skiing is off-trail, downhill skiing or snowboarding where the skier reaches the top of the mountain by helicopter, instead of a ski lift.
June Mountain ski area is a winter resort in the eastern Sierra Nevada of California, located near June Lake, southeast of Yosemite National Park.
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort (KHMR) is a ski resort located 6.4 kilometres (4.0 mi) west of Golden, British Columbia, Canada. It features over 120 trails across more than 3,486 acres (14.11 km2) of skiable terrain and a 1,315-metre (4,314 ft) vertical drop, currently the sixth largest of any North American ski resort. The resort, named after the nearby Kicking Horse River and Kicking Horse Pass, spans the easternmost slope of the Purcell Mountains overlooking the Rocky Mountain Trench. It is located roughly 7 kilometres (4 mi) east of Glacier National Park and 23 kilometres (14 mi) west of Yoho National Park.
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) is a ski resort in the western United States, at Teton Village, Wyoming. In the Teton Range of the Rocky Mountains, it is located in Teton County, twelve miles (20 km) northwest of Jackson and due south of Grand Teton National Park.
Whitewater Ski Resort is a ski resort in western Canada, located 10 km southeast of Nelson in southern British Columbia. In the Selkirk Mountains, the resort is situated in Ymir bowl, beneath the 2,400-metre-high (7,874 ft) Ymir Mountain. The Selkirks receive plentiful, dry snow, and the location in a high alpine bowl provides an annual snowfall average of approximately 12 m.
Crystal Mountain is a mountain and alpine ski area in eastern Pierce County, Washington, United States, located in the Cascade Range southeast of Seattle. It is the largest ski resort in the state of Washington and lies within the Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest. The resort is accessible from the Seattle–Tacoma metropolitan area via State Route 410.
Breckenridge Ski Resort is an alpine ski resort in the western United States, in Breckenridge, Colorado. Recognized for acres of skiable terrain across five mountain peaks, it welcomes thousands of skiers and snowboarders each season. Just west of the Continental Divide in Summit County, it is perennially one of the most visited ski resorts in the western hemisphere. Breckenridge is owned and operated by Vail Resorts, Inc.
The Stevens Pass Ski Area is a ski area in the Cascade Range of Washington in the United States. It is located at the crest of Stevens Pass at a base elevation of 4,061 feet (1,238 m) above sea level and peak elevation at 5,845 feet (1,782 m). The Mill Valley "backside" of the resort drops to a minimum elevation of 3,821 feet (1,165 m). Total skiable terrain includes 37 major runs covering 1,125 acres (4.55 km2). The ski area is accessed via U.S. Route 2, which connects to nearby Leavenworth.
Temerity is a section of steep, gladed skiing terrain at Aspen Highlands, one of the four mountains owned and operated by the Aspen Skiing Company in Aspen, Colorado. "Boldness, to the point of being foolish," Temerity is designated as double-diamond experts-only terrain. Skiers and snowboarders should be practiced in tree skiing and aware of the dangers involved, and comfortable on experts-only mogul skiing runs such as Steeplechase before attempting.
This glossary of skiing and snowboarding terms is a list of definitions of terms and jargon used in skiing, snowboarding, and related winter sports.
