The 15 Best US Skiing Destinations Outside Colorado

Taos Ski Valley is a small ski village of about 70 people. It's tucked away in the southern Rockies. There's also skiing in nearby Angel Fire and enough seclusion that you can see the Milky Way in the open sky at night.

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Vermont is a beautiful state full of natural beauty and locals who make the most of it. Such beauty includes the two mountains of Stowe Mountain Resort, Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak.

Lake Tahoe is located in northern California on the border with Nevada. It's home to a lot of great resorts, including Tahoe Cross Country Ski Area and Squaw Valley Resort, which was a site for the 1960 Olympic Winter Games.

Bend, Oregon is a pretty large city known for its microbreweries. Nearby Mount Bachelor is a skier’s dream! It’s a 9,000-foot volcano with wildly diverse terrain that is skiable on all sides.

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Sun Valley was the country's first destination ski resort and home to the first chairlifts in the world. Sun Valley's unheard-of luxury drew celebrities back in the days of Errol Flynn and Ernest Hemingway. The luster never faded! 

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is located near Grand Teton National Park and spreads across two mountains, Rendezvous and Apres Vous. It has one of the highest vertical drops in the country!

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Located just south of our border with Canada, Mt. Baker holds the world record for most snowfall in a single season. It's also home to the legendary Banked Slalom, one of the country's oldest snowboarding events. 

Park City is located just 36 miles outside of Salt Lake City in the Wasatch Back region of the Rockies. Here you'll find Park City Mountain Resort, which jumpstarted Utah's reputation as a ski destination and is the home of the United States Ski Team. 

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Snowbasin is located in the Wasatch Back. It's one of the oldest continuously-operating ski areas in the U.S., having become a recreational site in the late '30s. It also hosted some Olympic events in 2002.

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Located in the Wasatch, Snowbird is known for its intensely vertical terrain and the recently-revamped Cliff Lodge.

(image via Flickr)

Girdwood, Alaska is home to Alyeska Resort, the largest ski resort in the state. It’s located on Mount Alyeska in the Chugach range, which has a reputation for being a pretty decent challenge.

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Ski Santa Fe is located in the Sangre de Cristo mountains, and it’s one of the highest ski areas in the continental U.S. The resort is family-oriented and prides itself on its training and instruction while still welcoming those looking for a challenge.

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Whitefish Mountain Resort is located on The Big Mountain in northwestern Montana, just west of Glacier and 35 miles south of the Canadian border. About half of the runs are advanced or expert, including the cliffs and chutes of the Hell Roaring basin.

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Whiteface Mountain is one of the High Peaks of the Adirondacks, home to the 1980 Winter Olympics. It has some of the steepest drops in this part of the country, as well as fiendishly challenging slides.

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Grand Targhee is in Wyoming, but the closest town is Driggs, Idaho. In fact, the resort was dedicated by the Idaho Governor when it opened. 

(image via Flickr)