There are over 600 ski resorts within the United States and Canada. 51 of those are in New York state alone. Skiing and snowboarding are the most popular winter sports in the US, so it comes as no surprise that those resorts have over 53 million annual visitors.
Typically, when building a list of the largest companies, we focus our attention on revenue. Occasionally, we may rank by the number of employees or client list.
For ski resorts, it makes a whole lot more sense to focus on their size. After all, what is a ski resort without its slopes?
The below list ranks the ten largest ski resorts in North America based on how many skiable acres they have.
10 Largest Ski Resorts in the United States and Canada
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Powder Mountain. Utah, United States
Annual Snowfall: 500+ inches or 41+ feet
Skiable Acres: 8,464 acres
Number of Lifts: NineWhat started out as the winter range for Frederick James Cobabe’s sheep has grown into the largest ski resort in North America. Cobabe’s son, Alvin, purchased his father’s livestock company and its 8,000 acres in 1948.
Eventually, he sold off the businesses, keeping the land, to attend college. Once he graduated from medical school at age 45, he realized the property would make an excellent ski resort. Alvin began to accumulate several adjacent properties and opened Powder Mountain in 1972 with only one lift.
With 154 trails and nine lifts, Powder Mountain has grown exponentially since its early days. Alvin Cobabe sold Powder Mountain to Western American Holdings in 2006. In 2013, the resort was sold again to Summit.
Despite its size, landing it at the very top of our list, Powder Mountain is a lesser-known ski resort.
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Whistler Blackcomb. British Columbia, Canada
Annual Snowfall: 450+ inches or 38+ feet
Skiable Acres: 8,171 acres
Number of Lifts: 37Before 1997, Whistler and Blackcomb were two rival mountain ski resorts on adjacent mountains. Whistler was conceived with the hope of winning the bid for the 1968 Winter Olympics. Though the bid was unsuccessful, they opened their slopes in January 1966.
Blackcomb was opened in 1980. They purchased Whistler in 1997, fully merging in 2003. The fully integrated resort now features a Peak 2 Peak Gondola, which takes skiers from the top of Whistler Mountain to the top of Blackcomb Mountain.
In 2010, they were finally able to realize their dream and hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. Vail Resorts bought Whistler Blackcomb in 2016.
This extremely popular resort has over 200 marked trails and rests on over 8,000 acres. Whistler Mountain has 4,757 acres, and Blackcomb Mountain has 3,414 acres. They have an average of 2.6 million visitors per year.
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Park City Resort. Utah, United States
Annual Snowfall: 355+ inches or 29+ feet
Skiable Acres: 7,300 acres
Number of Lifts: 41The third on our list and second largest in the United States, Park City Resort was opened in 1963. Originally called Treasure Mountain, it did not become Park City Mountain Resort until 1996. The resort was purchased in 2014 by Vail Resorts.
With over 330 trails, Park City is home to training courses for the US Ski Team, including slalom and giant slalom. They hosted several events during the 2002 Winter Olympics and are one of the featured mountains in 2008’s Sean White Snowboarding video game.
Like many of the resorts on this list, Park City has mountain bike trails in the summer and a Summer Concert Series. This is a year-round destination with excellent amenities.
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Big Sky Resort. Montana, United States
Annual Snowfall: 400+ inches or 33+ feet
Skiable Acres: 5,800 acres
Number of Lifts: 36Opened in 1973 by Chet Huntley, Big Sky is a basecamp to Yellowstone National Park. In fact, the resort provides daily shuttles to the park’s west entrance. Big Sky features 300 named runs across Lone Peak Mountain.
In 2013, Big Sky Resort expanded by acquiring 200 additional acres on Spirit Mountain and the terrain and facilities of the Moonlight Basin area of Lone Peak. Big Sky is currently owned by Boyne Resorts; it is one of the few ski destinations on this list not owned by Vail Resorts.
The resort is known for its vertical drop and has a max run of six miles. During the summer, they have bike trails, golf, and ziplining. True to their area, Big Sky worked hard to develop and maintain a sustainable and environmentally friendly resort.
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Vail Resorts. Colorado, United States
Annual Snowfall: 354+ inches or 29+ feet
Skiable Acres: 5,317 acres
Number of Lifts: 31Vail may be one of the most well-known names in North American ski resorts. It is the flagship resort for Vail Resorts, which owns 37 ski resorts across the US, Canada, and Australia.
With 195 trails, including seven back bowls and a variety of terrains, this single mountain resort is a premier destination during the winter months. Opened in 1962, Vail was founded by Pete Seibert, Earl Eaton, and several other investors.
Seibert was a ski trooper in World War II, having trained nearby at Camp Hale. Upon his return home, he became a patrolman at the Aspen Mountain Ski Resort. He even qualified for the US Ski Team in 1950 but did not compete.
Vail hosted the Alpine World Championships in 1989.
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Heavenly. California, United States
Annual Snowfall: 360+ inches or 30+ feet
Skiable Acres: 4,800 acres
Number of Lifts: 28Located about three hours outside of San Francisco and an hour outside of Reno, this resort straddles the California-Nevada border. You can easily ski in two states in one day. This resort offers dual views of Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
Thanks to its sunny California location, Heavenly Ski Resort gets 300 bluebird days per year on average. Opened in 1955, this resort boasts over 97 trails across its 4,800 acres. Like many of the other resorts on this list, Heavenly is owned by Vail Resorts; it was acquired in 2002.
Despite its location and beautiful views, one of its claims to fame is a bit morbid. Singer (and Congressman) Sonny Bono of Sonny Cher fame died here in 1998 after colliding with a tree.
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Mt. Bachelor. Oregon, United States
Annual Snowfall: 460+ inches or 38+ feet
Skiable Acres: 4,323 acres
Number of Lifts: 15Mount Bachelor is quite unique. It is very unlike any of the other ski resorts on this list. Why? Well, It’s a volcano.
Like Vail, Mt. Bachelor was founded by a former ski trooper. This resort opened as Bachelor Butte in 1958. With over 100 trails, the longest reaching four miles, you can ski from 360 degrees off the summit. They also have several terrain parks, including Woodward at Mt. Bachelor.
This resort, located in the Cascade Range, was purchased by Powdr Corporation in 2001. Despite its similarities with Vail, it is another few on this list not owned by Vail Resorts.
Mt. Bachelor is a year-round destination. Like many of the other resorts, it offers mountain bike trails in the summer.
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Sun Peaks. British Columbia, Canada
Annual Snowfall: 237+ inches or 19+ feet
Skiable Acres: 4,270 acres
Number of Lifts: 13Sun Peaks is Canada’s second-largest ski resort and North America’s eighth largest. The resort was founded in 1961 as Tod Mountain. It has, unfortunately, seen a lot of hardships over the years in the form of unexpected fires.
They were closed from 1968-1970 after a large fire destroyed most of their lift network. During this time, Highland Development purchased the resort and worked to reopen it for the 1970-71 season.
In 1994, Nippon Cable Company of Tokyo, Japan, purchased the resort. The new owners renamed the resort Sun Peaks the following year. Sun Peaks now has 138 trails across three peaks — Tod Mountain, Sundance Mountain, and Mt. Morrisey, which can all be accessed from the village.
They were named in National Geographic’s Best Winter Trips of 2019.
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Lake Louise. Alberta, Canada
Annual Snowfall: 179+ inches or 14+ feet
Skiable Acres: 4,200 acres
Number of Lifts: TenOur third Canadian resort, Lake Louise, is one of three ski resorts within Alberta’s Banff National Park. It is made up of four mountains in the Slate Range: Mount Richardson, Ptarmigan Peak, Pika Peak, and Redoubt Mountain.
They even provide a Sightseeing Gondola that takes visitors up to one of Banff National Park’s best views.
Lake Louise’s history is a bit unusual. Skiing has been commonplace in the area since the 1920s. The first lift was constructed in 1954 and has continued to grow ever since, including 160 trails, ten lifts, and 4,200 acres.
The Lake Louise ski resort is the first stop on the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup circuit. They have been hosting these races since 1980 and have hosted them every year from 1993 to 2020. Unfortunately, COVID-19 canceled the 2020 races.
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RED Mountain. British Columbia, Canada
Annual Snowfall: 300+ inches or 25+ feet
Skiable Acres: 3,850 acres
Number of Lifts: SevenAnother Canadian resort with an unusual history, RED Mountain, is the oldest on our list. They claim they can date their history back to the Red Mountain Ski Club in the early 1900s. The first rope tow was put in place in 1936, and the first chairlift was installed in 1947.
Today, RED Mountain boasts 119 trails and five different peaks that span across three mountains in the Monashee Mountains: Granite Mountain, Gray Mountain, Red Mountain. The Monashee Mountains extend down into the United States.
Not to be confused with the Red Mountain Resort in Utah, RED Mountain ski resort offers year-round amenities. In the off-season, they have mountain bike trails, alpine running clubs, rock climbing, fishing, and more.
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Author
Samantha is a lifelong writer who has been writing professionally for the last six years. After graduating with honors from Greensboro College with a degree in English & Communications, she went on to find work as an in-house copywriter for several companies including Costume Supercenter, and Blueprint Education.
