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Top 20 resorts for Beginner Terrain
Top 20 resorts for Beginner Terrain
Click on the names of the resorts to view their trail maps!
Whistler Blackcomb will most likely be on every one of the top 20 terrain lists, because it is so huge that it has every type of terrain, and a lot of it! No ski resort in North America trumps this resort for size. It does have lots of that easy groomers that beginners love, and a lot of family areas, in addition to an awesome ski school.
Pros:
Good easy green circles everywhere - Anywhere on the mountain there is some easy terrain
Huge ski school for all levels
You never run out of things to do
Lots of powder skiing
Cons:
Being the best area on the continent (if not the world!) makes this place super crowded
Hard to get to from the USA
Weirdly, Big Sky is actually known for its super extreme terrain and challenging runs. Although it has those triple blacks, it is also huge and the section that is not near Lone Peak is really good for beginner terrain.
Pros:
Vast expanses of rolling greens that are great for people learning to ski
Not many crowds - although people don't exactly come to Big Sky to ski easy runs
Ski school is incredible
Snow is plentiful - even though you probably don't want to be skiing your first day in two feet of powder
Cons:
SIX lifts to get from one side of the resort to the other - it's just too huge!!!
Fairly hard to get to - closest big city is Bozeman but that's an hour away!
Park city is a great area for beginner terrain, because it has wide swaths of it all around the resort. It is also the biggest ski area in the US, and a lot of big ski areas have a ton of beginner terrain.
Pros:
Beginner terrain is top notch and in huge quantity
Ski school is amazing
Ski town is one of the country's best
So ridiculously huge it's absurd
Cons:
Hard to get from one side to another - look at the trail map, it's scary how big it is!
Steamboat is like a beginner's dream. It has lots of groomed easy runs all over the resort, a nice ski school, and lots of snow especially in winter break.
Pros:
Lots of beginner terrain all across the area
Amazing ski town with good lodging
Lots of powder, really good in winter break
Cons:
Crowds can be a problem on weekends, a school break, or powder days
VERY EXPENSIVE
Beaver Creek is really good for beginner runs, and it is unique because it has easy sections not only at the bottom of the mountain, but at the very top, too! Beginners are not stuck at lower elevations here!
Pros:
As I said, there is lots of green circle runs everywhere on the mountain, and not just at the bottom.
Very developed - lots of lodging, amenities, and high speed lifts/gondolas
Easily accessible - right off of I-70 and not far from Denver
Cons:
Hard to navigate, it takes you five lifts to get to the top from the base, base!*
*Yes, that was purposeful. If you look at the map, it sort of has two different mini mountains with their own base, but connected by lifts and runs.
Heavenly is Lake Tahoe's biggest ski area, and therefore the easiest. It is known for cruisers all over the mountain, with beautiful views of Lake Tahoe and being so big you can ski in two different states at once.
Pros:
Lots of the terrain is designated for beginners
Beautiful views of the lake
You never run out of groomers - this place is huge!
Cons:
Almost no snow often - conditions are terrible near the base
Buttermilk is the beginner resort of Aspen. It has greens all over the place, with a lot of the area designated primarily for beginner terrain. Weirdly enough, it often hosts the X Games, a legendary dangerous competition.
Pros:
The mountain is made for beginners, with no extreme terrain and lots of easy runs that you can do over and over again.
Right next to the other Aspen resorts, so when you get good you can do the other expert runs at the other resorts
Aspen is a great ski town
Cons:
Christmas and spring break can be very busy, or anytime near the X Games.
Sun Valley is the ultimate resort of Idaho. It is the biggest for sure, it is the most well known, and it is (or was) considered very elite with first-class corduroy and lots of terrain.
Pros:
This place is filled with green runs that go from everywhere on a mountain
Huge - you will never run out of things to do
LITERALLY NO CROWDS
Cons:
Hard to get to
Lodging is expensive
Mount Bachelor is probably considered Oregon's best ski resort, (I do not) because of the fact that it is huge and that it has easy runs everywhere, along with top-notch terrain parks.
Pros:
Easy runs LITERALLY all around the mountain, the area encompasses the entire mountain, front and back!
Not as busy as most of the other resorts on this list
If you like terrain parks, this resort is for you! 14 terrain parks on the mountain
Cons:
Not the most interesting mountain. All the runs are uniform and straight, with a clear tree line.
Breckenridge is one of the best areas in Colorado, and Colorado is literally the ski state. Therefore,
Breckenridge is one of the best areas in the USA. and Colorado is literally... Just kiddin. Therefore,*
Pros:
Green runs are in bounty throughout the mountain(s), there are five different peaks!
The ski village is really nice, and one of the most famous in the country.
Absolutely enormous.
Cons:
Very crowded - this is literally America's most visited resort
Very expensive
*Did you notice that the top and bottom lines of the first paragraph look almost the exact same?!?!?
Vail is a great area for people learning how to ski, with lots of green groomers, an easily accessible beginner area near the top of the mountain, and lots of area to explore while staying on easy runs the entire time.
Pros:
Beginner runs are in plenty when you go to Vail, and you can ski with your expert friends. (basically every run has its own green that follows the trail, just snakes in traverses instead of following the fall line.)
Easy to get to and has a lot of nearby other ski resorts near I-70
HUMONGOUS
Cons:
A very expensive place.
Vail is absurdly ridiculously insanely crowded - just look up "vail lift line apocalypse", then click "images", for all the horrifying pictures.
Brian Head is small but mighty. It is not very famous, it is often outshined by its Utah neighbors, and it doesn't have super extreme terrain that Utah is known for, but it is a great place to learn how to ski.
Pros:
Lots of green groomers that you can ride over and over again
The place is never crowded and is not very famous
Prices are very low.
Cons:
Not that big - not as much to explore
Timberline Lodge, on Mount Hood, is known for its lower mountain beginner and intermediate terrain, and also that it is open 365 DAYS A YEAR!!! Only three runs are open in the summer, but they are great for race training!
Pros:
Beginner terrain is in plenty - even though the map does not make it look easy, the runs are all shallow and the black diamonds are blues
Open all year - though if you go in, like, July no more greens will be open
The lodge is amazing, but pricey
Cons:
BUSY
EXPEN$IVE
It may not look like it at first, but Keystone is prime for all sorts of easy terrain, from two degree magic carpets to runs following black diamonds but snaking through the trees. The bottom mountain especially is great for people just learning to ski, with a good ski school.
Pros:
Very family friendly with a lot of easy groomers near the base
Amazing ski school
The base area is really nice, from good lodging to easy access to wagons that take your kids from place to place
Cons:
Terrible snow - literally TERRIBLE
Pricey and super crowded
Aspen Snowmass is the alpha Aspen resort, with the most area, most runs, most lifts, and most vertical. In fact, it has the highest lift-accessed vertical drop in the country!
Pros:
Lots of beginner terrain, especially near the base
Almost all high-speed lifts - get where you want to fast
INSANELY BIG
Cons:
Super expensive
Crowded!
Deer Valley is maybe considered the most luxurious resort of them all, because of all the lodging, easy terrain, and feel. It is for the wealthy and is not very well-known, but it has some awesome green circle runs.
Pros:
Easy runs everywhere, with a lot of different sections to choose from
Luxurious - this is considered the most luxurious resort in the country
A bunch of different areas to go to, with five different mountains to choose from - plus it literally borders Park City
Lodging is spread connected by roads all over the peaks - there's lots of it!
Cons:
Most expensive ski resort in the country, yes, literally.
Close to a lot of other good resorts in Utah
Copper mountain is a nice resort with a lot of good beginner terrain. It may not have as high of a percentage of easy runs as some of the other resorts on this list, but the greens go from almost every lift!
Pros:
Beginner stuffs is in plentiful bounties
Copper mountain does a good job of spreading the crowds out
The resort is not expensive at all without sacrificing quality.
Cons:
Under 200 inches of snowfall a year, though there aren't as many rocks so the area doesn't need as much snow cover than other Colorado resorts
Powder mountain is a good Utah resort with a lot of everything, from beginner terrain to double blacks. I think it is great for easy runs, with greens going from everywhere to anywhere.
Pros:
Green runs are going all around the mountain
SO MUCH SNOW as the title says
No crowds
Huge
Cons:
It is a luxurious resort - but it comes with a price... no literally. A high price. This place is EXPENSIVE!
Winter Park is the closest resort to Denver, and it is super good for advanced and intermediate terrain. Despite this, it has a great ski school and quite a lot of greens all over the bottom of the mountain.
Pros:
Green groomers come from a lot of chairlifts especially at the bottom of the mountain
Lots of lifts - everything is lift serviced
The town is super inexpensive
Cons:
Crowded
The midwestern United States (where I live) has quite a few ski resorts, and most of them are pretty awesome for beginners. At basically all of the resorts, the double blacks are blues, the single blacks are blues, the blues are greens, and the greens are catwalks. End of story. No pros or cons because there are too many resorts.
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