Ok, so we all have our favorites. But does that give us permission to create a legitimate top 10 list of ski resorts or mountain towns?

I don’t think so. For starters, think about it. It’s almost impossible to get the complete gauge of a ski resort and mountain town by spending a single season there, let alone a few days. Just ask any locals and they will tell you about that memorable season a decade ago or how bad a certain season was due to a local drought.

Some “journalists” base these lists on when they would breeze in and out of town and make a blanket assessment on this experience alone. Worse still, I’ve seen lists like these created merely from other people’s articles, thoughts all perceptions.

Everyone agrees, the best days on a mountain are spent when the snow is plentiful and deep. It’s not when a resort has suffered through two months without snow and have experienced warmer than usual conditions.

To write an article about snowboarding, you would expect that the person writing the article had actually strapped on a board, right? Well the same applies to these so called “top ten” lists, where I would suggest that most lists are created simply on a personal perception based on a very limited experience at that resort or in that town.

I think the only way to create a legitimate top 10 list would be to clearly give the parameters about which the list has been created period. For example, is it a top 10 list based on random days of experience, locals opinions, lift or terrain numbers, snowfall averages, or anything else that is actually measurable and not subjective?

And let’s be fair, the person writing such a list should also make it very clear as to which resorts were considered. At Snow Report TV, we have had some incredible experiences at small resorts off the beaten track in small ski towns with more soul than you could ever imagine. I doubt that resorts like these are even considered for many lists and therefore my advice is that you don’t place any credence whatsoever anytime anyone posts their own list without clarifying the parameters on which the list was created.

So what’s your favorite ski resort and why? How much time have you spent there and spent at other resorts? We’d love to hear your stories and ideas because maybe, just maybe, you will hear about a resort that you have never even considered and find yourself “home” the day you finally arrive.