The good news for skiers and snowboarders is that unlike most things in life, the cost of skiing has gone down in recent years, mainly thanks to the introduction and broad adoption of national and global multi-resort ski passes, the most popular of which are the EPIC and IKON passes. These have allowed skiers to experience what have traditionally been the world’s most expensive ski resorts for a pittance of what daily lift tickets would cost. The bad news is that they have also driven more people to certain high-profile resorts, aggravating locals, overflowing parking lots and causing lift lines so long that they become the subject of viral videos on social media.
According to the skier visit rankings at statistic driven winter sports website Snowbrains.com, the nation’s 10 Most Popular U.S. Ski Resorts are all on one of these two passes (Vail, CO: Breckenridge, CO; Mammoth, CA; Keystone, CO; Steamboat, CO; Beaver Creek, CO; Heavenly CA/NV; Northstar, CA: Snowmass, CO; Okemo, VT)
Like most outdoor activities in fresh air, skiing and snowboarding have proven very popular during the pandemic, but at the same time, some of the most desirable travel characteristics in this time have been privacy and space. Fortunately, there are still big time, destination-worthy mountains where you won’t typically experience crowds, and you don’t have to eschew your pass investment to visit them. You just have to decide to ski the trails less traveled. Here are five standout domestic options:
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