The Largest Lift-Connected North American Resorts For 2015-2016
National Ski Club Newsletter
Here are the largest three lift-connected ski resorts as of the 2015-2016 ski season — Whistler, with 8,171 acres; Park City/Canyons, with 7,300 acres; and Big Sky, with 5,800 acres. Frankly, if you want to ski every run on these resorts on a single ski trip, you may have to extend your club’s trips to two weeks each.
Whistler Blackcomb
Like almost all of North America’s mega-resorts, British Columbia’s Whistler Blackcomb began as two adjacent resorts which were merged into one giant resort in 1997 after being purchased by the Intrawest Corporation of Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2006, Intrawest was purchased by Fortress Investment Group which subsequently ran into financial problems prior to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. — most of the events were actually held in Whistler Blackcomb. Fortress then transferred 75% of the resort to Whistler Blackcomb Holdings which became the managing partner while 25% of the combined resort was sold to Nippon Cable. In 2012, Intrawest sold its remaining 24% of Whistler Blackcomb to Denver-based KSL Partners (also the owners of Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows — which are connected via shuttle.
Whistler Blackcomb will often host two million skiers per season and for the 2014-2015 ski season, it’s almost 50 percent larger than any other resort in North America. Whistler’s pedestrian-only village was the model for several of North America’s ski resorts which were subsequently designed and built by Intrawest.The combined resort has 200-plus marked trails, 16 bowls, and three glaciers. It receives a ten-year average of 462 inches (38 feet) of snow annually, and, with skiing from November to May, has one of the longest ski seasons in North America — as well as having it’s longest gondola connecting any two mountains.
Their famous Peak 2 Peak Gondola is a 2.7-mile, 11-minute ride, 1,427 feet above the valley floor, that connects the two ski areas, allowing skiers to transfer between mountains and ski the best terrain on both in the same day. The gondola has 28 cabins, two of which have glass bottom floors, and each cabin holds 28 skiers, snowboarders, or sightseers.
Mountain Specifications Blackcomb Mountain tops out at 7,160 feet above sea level with a one-mile (5,280 feet) vertical while Whistler Mountain goes up to 7,494 feet and boasts 5,020 feet of vertical. Whistler/Blackcomb is serviced by 37 total lifts, including three high-speed gondolas, one high-speed six-passenger lift, 13 high-speed quads, four triple chairs, and 15 surface lifts.
Trip logistics It’s only an 83-mile bus ride from the Vancouver International Airport to Whistler via the Sea to Sky Highway — which is frequently called one of the most beautiful drives in the world. And, if some of your participants haven’t visited Vancouver recently, consider offering a pre- or post-trip in the city by extending the trip for a couple of days and checking out this beautiful city by the sea. For après-ski, the famous Garibaldi Lift Co at the base of the Whistler Village Gondola is a must-do experience. The next day, try the Champagne Lounge at the Bearfoot Bistro, and then take in the mountain views from the Mallard Lounge at The Fairmont Chateau. And, the Whistler Blackcomb advertisement on page 11 says that clubs can purchase a week-long package of lift tickets and lodging for under $500 per person next season!
What are you waiting for? Park City/Çanyons 7300 acres
Vail Resorts purchased Park City Mountain Resort in November 2014 and Vail has been leasing Canyons since 2013. The resorts will link up with a gondola this summer and operate as a single resort beginning in the 2015-2016 ski season. The combined resorts’ 7,300 acres will make it the largest ski resort in the United States and the second largest ski resort in North America!
Both Park City Mountain Resort and Canyons may be skied using Vail Resort’s EpicPass this ski season. By next season, Vail Resorts will spend over $50 million upgrading Park City Mountain Resort and the Canyons at Park City — the new name of the Canyons base area — and on the connection between Park City and Canyons Resorts.
An eight-passenger gondola from the base of the Silverlode Lift at Park City to the Flatiron Lift at Canyons will have an unload stop at the top of Pine Cone Ridge to allow skiers and riders the opportunity to ski into Thaynes Canyons at Park City via gated ski access or to the Iron Mountain area at Canyons through new trails that will be created from Pine Cone Ridge. Park City’s King Con Lift will also be upgraded from a four-person to a six-person, high-speed detachable and the Motherlode Lift will be upgraded from a fixed-grip triple to a four-person, high-speed detachable chairlift.
Park City/Canyons at Park City is located in the middle of what is the current “hotspot” of the North American ski industry. Deer Valley is buying Solitude and proposing to run a lift into the town of Park City, Alta has already connected its trails with those of Snowbird, Park City and Canyons will be lift connected for the 2015-2016 ski season — and all seven ski resorts in the area are talking about adding two or three lifts to join together in one gigantic ski resort that would be second in size only to France’s Les 3 Vallées.
The Park City area is also less than an hour’s drive or bus ride from the Salt Lake City Airport and you can often ski for free on the afternoon of your arrival. The Salt Lake City Airport is a hub for both Delta and Southwest Airlines and the state’s liquor laws have loosened up over the years, so getting a drink is no problem. Everything is saying that this is the U.S.’s biggest and one of the best places in North America to ski in 2015-2016 and beyond!
Big Sky 5800 acres
Originally conceived and owned by NBC’s Chet Huntley, who died a year after the resort opened. Big Sky, now owned by Boyne Resorts, purchased Moonlight Basin in 2013, creating what, for this season, is the largest ski resort in the U.S. — with 5,800 acres of ski terrain, 300± named runs, 4,350 feet of vertical, and which receives an average of 400 inches of powder per year. It’s served by 30 lifts, including the Lone Peak Tram.
However, there are only 800 hotel and condo rooms for about 2,000 guests — which keeps the number of skiers on the slopes small. Their record skier days of 473,000 last season definitely uncrowded! Lift lines simply do not exist here. As Big Sky’s Sheila Chapman expressed it, “We have the biggest skiing in America because the resort has acres per skier and not skiers per acre!”
Access to Big Sky is via Bozeman, Montana’s, Yellowstone International Airport which has 100 flights from 14 U.S. cities each week. Big Sky has two ziplines in winter, a tubing park, dog sledding, a climbing wall, and a giant swing as non-ski activities. There are several restaurants, bars, and nightclubs at the resort — and more nearby. The most popular non-ski activity is snowmobiling and riding snowcats through Yellowstone National Park. Big Sky is a primary winter base camp for Yellowstone National Park. President Obama and the first family stayed in Big Sky while visiting Yellowstone in 2009 followed by Joe Biden in 2010.
The park’s principle winter entrance is 47 miles south of the resort at West Yellowstone — which offers snow coaches and snowmobile rides through the park. Selling their second trip to Big Sky, the Hawaii Ski Club noted that “the highlight of this trip to Montana is snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is comprised of many geological and geothermal wonders like Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. In addition, a wide variety of wild animals like bison, wolves, bald eagles, elk, and trumpeter swans abound in the park. Over- snow vehicles trek into the heart of this snowy paradise so you will get close to these natural wonders, frosty bison, sculpted ghost- trees, steamy thermal pools, and endless vistas. In winter there are absolutely no crowds in the park and it’s a great place to experience nature!
