Resort Guide

Arrive Someplace New This Winter

By Matt Hansen

One of the greatest feelings as a skier is in knowing a mountain so well you could ski it in a whiteout. You've skied it so many times you know exactly what's around every corner, exactly how to line up your skis through the rocks, exactly how to shake it through the trees. When this happens, you know you've arrived. And finally, the salty old liftie gives you a nod and a bump.

But as glorious as that can be, it can also lead to some very troubling behavior. You get so entrenched in a routine that you become afraid to leave townmdash;you know, just in case it snows. So you keep skiing that same line over and over. But when it finally snows, it's never enough and it's always too crowded. Never being a tourist yourself, you start sticking it to anyone who fits the profile: clean car, shaven face, condo key. You find your roommate's visiting brother too annoying with his constant smiling and get-to-know-you chit-chat, when in reality, he's actually not a bad skier having ski bummed himself for a few years before his job required him to move away.

Over beers one night he talks about some cool ski areas he's had the chance to visit. He says mountain ranges that always sounded so far away are actually within easy reach: the Sierras, Wasatch, San Juans, Cascades, the Tetons, B.C., Alaska, and the Northern Rockies. He says you wouldn't believe how fast they ski in Sun Valley, or how the women and children in Maine rip harder than anywhere else.

But the last thing he says really hits home. He says that each time he goes somewhere new it's the most beautiful place he's ever seen. The gleam in his eye reminds you how you felt the first time you skied at your home mountain. How big and fresh and, yes, how doggone beautiful it was.

So you resolve to take a trip. To see a new place and remember what it was like ski something for the first time, to discover another personal stash, to order a beer in an unfamiliar bar. Just in case you need help, and we're guessing you probably do, the 15 resorts on the following pages can make your discovery a lot easier. They've done all the homework for you, so it's easier than ever to pull the trigger. Before you do, click-in to Powder.com/resortguide for up-to-date conditions on each place.