Stupidity of Ski Mag resort ranking continues.

How can they with a straight face rank Holiday Valley #3 in the East.  They admit it's tiny and crowded and really belongs in the Midwest so just put it there in the future.

WF #5 which I'm ok with Stowe and Smuggs being ahead as they both are excellent skiing.  Tremblant is not my cup of tea but I get why they get  #1 but I'll tell you there are a heck of a lot of Montreal skiers that drive farther to get to WF compared to Tremblant.  Gore didn't make top 20 which is just ridiculous.

Out West happy to see Park City not in top 10.  Vail at 7 so I suspect Epic cut back thier ad spend and is being punished.  Whitefish at 9 is crazy ahead of Snowbird.  

The way I look at this the ranking is it should be forced decisions.  Would you rather ski WF, Gore or just about any New England ski area compared to Holday Valley?  Hell I'd rather ski Hunter over Holiday Valley and you could probably make a case that Mountain Creek or Jimmy Peak is better.   Would you rather ski Whitefish over Snowbird?  I've skied both and you would need to have your head examined if you didn't pick Snowbird.

Nice mention of Liquids and Solids in the piece which I love.

Right you are Z.

IDK. Maybe they feel they have to spread it around.  

Ski makes a lot of these decisions based on ad spending.  

Bored with the football game i'm watching so I pcked up the Ski mag again

There is a 40 page insert ad for Whistler.  By random chance I see they are rated the #1 resort.  Last month the insert was Deer Valley which is ranked 3.  Surprise #2 pick is Sun Vally and thier massive 175 inch annual avg snowfall which about the same as Whiteface.  Anyone Wanna bet that Sun Valley will have an insert ad next month.  Holday Valley must buy a lot of ads in the Midwest edition of Ski.

There's a lot of Holiday Valley fans in Ohio. I think Ellicottville is a great ski town, on par with Lake Placid. Yeah, the mountain sucks for skiers like us, but snoloco would probably love Holiday Valley. The runs aren't long, but they're groomed immaculately, the lifts are fast, the lodges are nice, and you can ski to multiple bars. I can see the appeal in Western NY/Ohio

I get the appeal.  I grew up in the Midwest skiing on 300-400 foot hills
I have customers in Cleveland who sware by HV but given the choice if the drive time where the same HV would not make the top 50 in the eastern us / Canada

Coach Z wrote

Ski makes a lot of these decisions based on ad spending.

Well ya! No shizah! Reality check- Ski Magazine sucks. Always has always will. It's not for real skiers, it's for gapers planning their winter vacation.

Knowing that why should we care about Ski? I will flip through it to see if there are any photos of someone I know but do I actually read it? Oh hell no.

Like 15 years ago there was a magazine called snow country that aimed fir the better ski market.  That was really good imo.

Powder is just too much for the park rat crowd.

I remember Snow Country. It was aimed at the real estate and big vacation/money spending crowd. Not really my thing but they sure did a much better job than Ski.

Mountain Gazette is probably my all time favorite. No longer in print unfortunately.

Funny thing is, Holiday Valley doesn't advertise in Ski magazine.

We've been through this before.  It's reader's rankings.  HV has Cleveland, Pittsburg, Rochester, Buffalo, Toronto and all points between them as their fan base (with little or no competition).  Hollimont (which is over the ridge almost in the town of Ellicotville) has 5,0000 members.

High speed lifts, computerized snow making, lodges with outdoor hot tubs and heated pools for apres ski, brew pub on the slopes and another superb one in E-Ville, and a rocking party town, you can pretty easily figure out why it has a fervent fan base. (Not to mention summer mountain coasters, high ropes courses, golf courses and big festivals year-round).

And the town is MUCH more fun than Lake Placid.  Not even debatable.

HV only has 750 vert and around 50 acres of skiing.  How in the world does that best WF, killington, sugarbush, Gore, Sugarloaf etc etc.  I'd much rather ski in the Catskills and I hate the Cats mostly because it's so crowded.  If HV draws from that many big cities it must be crazy crowded on the weekends.  Lift lines must be insane which is why a private ski area exists next door.

Sure they use reader surveys but that should not prevent them from using editorial common sense

who cares?  

Stupidity of Ski Mag resort ranking continues to get people to talk about Ski Mag on the internet?

75%+ of the paying customers are more about the experience and posting the "experience" on FB.    Thus, it is not about the snow, its how the snow looks on the selfie.    Hot tub selfies are much more shareable than deep woods/powder selfies.    

Talk with most "I ski 3-6 times a year" folks.   The conversation about any mountain quickly moves from snow and slopes to what occurred after they quit skiing.  It's about the trip, not the slopes.  


   

Gorefarmhouse wrote

We've been through this before.  It's reader's rankings.

Right on GFH...same Ski Rag outrage every year. It's whomever gets the ballot box stuffed the fattest.

ScottyJack wrote

who cares?  

Amen

I:)skiing wrote

75%+ of the paying customers are more about the experience and posting the "experience" on FB.    Thus, it is not about the snow, its how the snow looks on the selfie.    Hot tub selfies are much more shareable than deep woods/powder selfies.    

Talk with most "I ski 3-6 times a year" folks.   The conversation about any mountain quickly moves from snow and slopes to what occurred after they quit skiing.  It's about the trip, not the slopes.

It's kind of weird how our culture is more about "sharing" an experience than actually having an experience. It's more valuable than gold now. It's like reality television has taken over reality. Next thing you know we will have a live performance artist as a candidate running for president! What would that say about us?

I:)skiing wrote

75%+ of the paying customers are more about the experience and posting the "experience" on FB.    Thus, it is not about the snow, its how the snow looks on the selfie.    Hot tub selfies are much more shareable than deep woods/powder selfies.    

Talk with most "I ski 3-6 times a year" folks.   The conversation about any mountain quickly moves from snow and slopes to what occurred after they quit skiing.  It's about the trip, not the slopes.

Different strokes I:)...they're having fun their way and spending money which pays the bills. It's all good. Live and Let live. I love 3-6 guy.

raisingarizona wrote

It's kind of weird how our culture is more about "sharing" an experience than actually having an experience. It's more valuable than gold now.  What would that say about us?

Right you are.

raisingarizona wrote

It's kind of weird how our culture is more about "sharing" an experience than actually having an experience. It's more valuable than gold now. It's like reality television has taken over reality. Next thing you know we will have a live performance artist as a candidate running for president! What would that say about us?

In a bike forum that I read there's a popular saying: "Strava or it didn't happen"

Strava is an website / App for recording and sharing rides and runs. I signed up for it a week or two ago and immediately turned on all the privacy settings available - don't care how I compare to anyone else, just want to record my longer rides for myself.

As for Ski mag - for some reason I get it for free, not sure why. It's worth every penny.