What Makes a Mountain Ski Big or Small?

Coming off a tangent in the Belleayre gondola thread, I figured this would be a good discussion for a separate thread.

To me, things that make a mountain "ski big" are many lift sections or starting points, long runs, and a low density trail layout.

Whiteface has only slightly more skiable acreage than Windham, but anyone who's skied them both would say that Whiteface skis way bigger.  It's all about the layout here.  After taking the Facelift up, there's another lift that you have to go up to reach the summit.  There are three separate mountains and two of them are over 4000 feet.  The runs are much longer and more challenging at Whiteface.

Belleayre has three different starting points, but the runs are rather short and the trails are very closely spaced, making the place ski small.  Mountain Creek has less acreage and vertical, but skis bigger due to the time it takes to traverse across the whole mountain, and the relative separation of the four peaks.

Continuous pitch is the only thing that matters to me.  

Platty and  McCaulley both have that which makes them ski much bigger than they are.

How about this:
- open terrain
- sustained vertical
- acreage
- # of high speed lifts
- variety....terrain (from novice to cliffs), lifts, base lodges
- how late in the season it's open.

IMO high speed lifts make the mountain smaller.

Really?  I couldn't believe how much vert we were skiing out west with all the HS lifts.  Solid 20-25k/day.

It sounds like daily vert is the key to "big" for you.

I personally don't care too much about vert.

Whiteface is the biggest mountain in NY with a lift on it. I ski more vert in an hour at Whiteface vs Gore.

But when both are fully open Gore feels bigger to me.  I guess that means I favor the horizontal.

D.B. Cooper wrote

Really?  I couldn't believe how much vert we were skiing out west with all the HS lifts.  Solid 20-25k/day.

Have you skied Alta and Snowbird?  If so, which feels "bigger" to you?  Snowbird has more high speed lifts, plus the tram.

Snow bird for sure.

Snowbird feels like the biggest Mtn in the US to me.

Ever been to big sky? That's the biggest to me but I have not been to Jackson yet.

tjf1967 wrote

Ever been to big sky? That's the biggest to me but I have not been to Jackson yet.

Yep, Snowbird seems small if you just use the Tram and the terrain to its left looking up hill but throw in all the stuff in the basin and everything further down the canyon and you will have days of fun. Now granted, I have not been to big sky since they bought the other resort and added them on. It's been 16 years since I have been there.

tjf1967 wrote

Ever been to big sky? That's the biggest to me but I have not been to Jackson yet.

Big Sky felt bigger than Jackson Hole to me.  Probably because it's possible to ski on all sides of Lone Peak.  Plus the three peaks are separate.  JH has more than one peak but they can more or less be seen at the same time.  JH has a tram but also has some slower chairs.  But I haven't been to JH since a lift was added to a summit and another base gondola was added for intermediates to reach mid-mountain quicker.

Between JH and Snowbird . . . probably about the same.  But a different feel because Snowbird has a clear frontside and backside (Mineral Basin).

Big Sky with Moonlight has a bit more acreage than Alta and Snowbird combined.  The Big Sky 2020 plan seems based on the idea that high speed lifts attract customers.  Replaced the old triple under the little Long Peak tram with a bubble six-pack.  Would that make that bowl feel bigger to someone who is at Big Sky for the first time?

Big Sky 5800 acres
JH 2500 acres
Snowbird 2500 acres
Alta 2200 acres

Looking at those numbers, my take is that Alta skis big in comparison to the actual acreage.  Especially in the past when Supreme was a pretty old triple.  Assuming someone is willing to hike and/or traverse to get to the goods.  But I may be biased because I know Alta best.

Jackson isn't limited to it's recognized terrain, or at least not for the experienced. With the immediate side country south and north into Granite you have well over 5k acres of terrain. It skis the biggest imo especially on walk on tram days.

Snowbird is my 2nd favorite ski area in the lower 48 but with their heavily policed and mostly closed boundaries it doesn't ski anywhere close to Jackson

Plattekill skis bigger to me than a place like okemo. For me it's more about the style of terrain that defines "big" skiing and little to do with numbers.

Biggest acreage in US is Powder Mt which has only one HSQ so lifts don't really matter that much if there are no lines.  You ski this place until your legs fall off.
8464 acres
It skis fricking mind blowing huge and it has an awesome pay per cat op plus full day cat ops.  
Huge sustained Vert per run.  
Very few crowds - I skied there during Presidents Week and only waited in line at a surface lift that takes you out to some pow runs.

This might surprise you..

Sun Valley ...Almost all fall line skiing..3400 verts...The place skis huge..

Agreed.....anything above the treeline seems bigger, especially if the visibility is good.

Harvey wrote

It sounds like daily vert is the key to "big" for you.

But when both are fully open Gore feels bigger to me.  I guess that means I favor the horizontal.

Yes and no.  Numerous high speed lifts also allow you to check out the horizontal more quickly.  Sometimes, though, they're good for knowing where not to go.  Too many gorbys.

JasonWx wrote

This might surprise you..

Sun Valley ...Almost all fall line skiing..3400 verts...The place skis huge..

But SV only gets 175" average snow per yr roughly the same as WF.  They are relatively in a dessert.

Coach Z wrote

JasonWx wrote

This might surprise you..

Sun Valley ...Almost all fall line skiing..3400 verts...The place skis huge..

But SV only gets 175" average snow per yr roughly the same as WF.  They are relatively in a dessert.

This is true..but their snowmaking is world class and what snow falls sticks around , very little to no rain also...

It is one of my favorite mountains..highly recommended..

back to the original subject...I think Killington with it's alleged 3400 vert or so, skis very small..just my opinion..