https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/destinations/north-america/top-30-resorts-in-the-west-2023/
https://www.skimag.com/ski-resort-life/resort-guide-2022/best-west-us-ski-resorts/
https://www.zrankings.com/ski-resorts/west
I feel like these "Top 30 ski resorts in the west" lists almost never include OR/WA.
The lists are usually the results of a magazine reader survey, like these first two from Outside and Ski Mag, and not the results of editors, so I’m more inclined to trust the lists.
However, based on my intuition, those magazines' fan base are more wealthy and disproportionally live in CO/UT, as compared to the average skier/NSer in the west. I think this explains all those big name CO/UT resorts on the list, and the lack of hidden gem resorts like Loveland or Brighton, as well as the lack of any resorts in OR/WA.
Furthermore, there are some solid resorts in OR/WA that I think should make top 30 (e.g. Meadows, Timberline, Baker, Snoqualamie) but I understand why they don't. It would add geographic diversity to the lists, but these aren't curated lists, so the mags aren't trying for geographic diversity. These are simply survey results from the Outside/Ski mag readers.
What do you guys think? Is the Outside/Ski mag fanbase more wealthy and/or CO/UT based than the average skier/NSer in the west? Should OR/WA be making the "Top 30 ski resorts in the west" list more?
**This thread was edited on Nov 5th 2022 at 4:16:48pm
