Most ski areas at least one thing they are good at, but a few are able to stand out and be the best at something in an entire region. This list will take a look at the ski areas that manage to be on top of an entire category for this side of North America.
1. Killington, VT
What’s unique: Season length, size, proximity to urban centers
Killington calls themselves “The beast of the East”, and while they do play marketing tricks on some things, it’s hard to compete with skiing in June in the East. It’s also hard to compete with their size, which is either the largest or second largest in the east (depending on how you view the statistics). It’s also only 5 hours from New York and 3 hours from Boston.
2. Jay Peak, VT
What’s unique: Snowfall, gnarly terrain
If you haven’t heard of the Jay cloud, you’ve been living under a rock. 359" of snow a year. That’s more than what Vail and Park City get in an entire year. The Face chutes are also arguably the most challenging in-bounds terrain on this side of the country.
3. Sugarloaf, ME
What’s unique: Size, vertical drop, above treeline snowfields, sidecountry
While Killington is able to claim the largest acreage through marketing tricks (counting forests as skiable acreage), Sugarloaf is the largest in the east if you only count cut trails and gladed tree runs. They also feature a very impressive vertical drop and offer the East’s only official sidecountry in Brackett basin.
4. Mad River Glen, VT
What’s unique: Classic east coast skiing, raw mountain experience, the single chair
Mad River Glen is what East Coast skiing apparently used to be like. No snowmaking, no grooming, no high speed lifts. Just a single chairlift and whatever mother nature decides to give you. Other mountains try to emulate the formula, but the single chair is so iconic that nobody can come close. Ski it if you can.
5. Big snow America, NJ
What’s unique: year-round skiing, proximity to New York City
Now I’m going to be real with you here: I don’t really like this one. However, this list is about uniqueness and not how good the skiing is, and this slope is definitely unique. Until we can figure out how to get snowmaking guns working at 70 degrees Fahrenheit, this is the best option we have from July-September. It’s also located only 5 miles away from New York City (but good luck if you leave to go skiing at 5 PM).
