Destination Snow

I got a comment from a reader asking "What's a destination resort?" The question caught me off guard as I believed this to be a rather universal term. Anyhow my explanations of destination vs non-destination resorts.

What is a non-destination resort?
Typically smaller in both skiable acreage and lodge capacity, usually you'll not find a large hotel within sight. What you can find nearby are plenty of bed and breakfasts, cabins for rent, and a handful of hostel style housing areas (I love the hostels). Occasionally you'll have a large hotel that isn't attached to any of the chains (f.e. the Mt Shasta Inn, Lake George Hotel, or something similarly named to the area). The riders to the area all live within an hour to two hours, allowing most to use their cars as lockers and drive home at the end of the day. Having learned to ride years ago at resort XYZ, these riders have graduated through the local resorts to find one they find the most rewarding. Rewarding could be seen as better terrain, better snow, or just where all their friends end up going. Occasionally they can be seen "roughing it" at a "lesser" resort. A season pass is cheaper here than most big destination resorts, and typically has no black out dates. The busy time is clearly defined by the weekend rush, where lift lines can go from none to half hour waits. If you carefully pick a center point on a map, typically you can find handfuls of these resorts within a radius of 5 miles.

What is a destination resort?
Typically larger in size in both skiable acreage and lodge capacity, usually with an entire town attached to the base area. Their terrain typically services all types of skiers and snowboarder, from parks&pipes, piste, oft-piste, beginner, advanced, and really really advanced. Their lift tickets are typically more expensive for a single day pass, but cheaper on a multi-day pass thus the destination portion of the resort. Riders will often travel great distances just to part-take in the offerings. As I said earlier, think of Vail, Tahoe, Whistler, or Stowe.