2024 Ski Resort Upgrades Ranked: Which Were Hits and Which Flopped?
This past season, we saw what might’ve been the most explosive investment push in North American ski resort history. Over 30 resorts installed some sort of serious infrastructure upgrade, and about a dozen of those had fundamental impacts on the overall resort experience.
So as you start to plan your winter travel plans, you might be wondering: which ones are best? Which of these are worth going out of the way to visit, and which, if any, aren’t worth the time? We’ll rank the best U.S. and Canadian ski resort investments in winter 2024, and we’ll highlight the advantages and missed opportunities from each one. Let’s jump in.
Whistler Blackcomb's Fitzsimmons Eight-Pack was one of several life-cycle replacement lifts this year.
Honorable Mentions: Minor Investments and Life-Cycle Replacements
Before we get into the upgrades that most guests will prominently notice, we have to give a shout out to the resorts that made lower-key investments that should keep them in good shape for the years to come. Over a dozen resorts completed one or more of these noteworthy investments this past winter, and in the interest of keeping this article reasonably digestible, we’re just going to lay them out here.
While each of these projects has its own nuances, the bulk of them either replace an older lift or lodge with a newer one that offers more reliable service or a higher capacity—or both. Guests who visit these mountains won’t find any crazy terrain expansions or fundamental changes to uphill travel times, but the reliability and capacity enhancements have made things run more smoothly at each of these resorts than they used to, even if it’s not abundantly obvious.
In no particular order, such minor upgrades include:
Alpental Sessel Triple Chair
Belleayre Overlook Quad
Breckenridge Five SuperChair
Copper Aerie Mid-Mountain Lodge
Gore Bear Cub Quad
Holiday Valley Mardi Gras Express
Mammoth Canyon Express Six-Pack
Mount Bachelor Skyliner Express Six-Pack
Mount Hood Meadows Mount Hood Express Six-Pack
Sierra-at-Tahoe Off-Piste Terrain Reopenings
Solitude Eagle Express Six-Pack
Stevens Pass Kehr’s Quad
Sugarbush Trail Network Adjustments
Whistler Blackcomb Fitzsimmons Eight-Pack
Wolf Creek Tumbler Quad
Magic Mountain's trail map, with the Black Line Quad highlighted in red.
#17: Magic Mountain Black Line Quad
Next up, we have what might have been the most hotly anticipated lift installation in recent East Coast history, the Magic Mountain Black Line Quad. We probably could have put this upgrade in the honorable mentions section, but we felt the unique circumstances behind this lift warranted its own segment. This independently-owned southern Vermont resort had been working to install its first four-person for over four years before it finally opened to the public in February 2024. This base-to-summit lift runs parallel to the red double chair, which had provided the only access to the top of the mountain for the past five years, and it now triples the capacity to Magic’s resort summit. While crowding has never been a huge issue at Magic thanks in large part to the resort’s cap on lift ticket sales—and the new fixed-grip quad isn’t any faster than the neighboring double—the increased capacity now allows the resort to sell more tickets each day, which should bring in more revenue for what’s one of the only remaining independently-owned ski areas in the southern part of the state.
The lift line for the new Crest 6 lift at Brighton.
#16: Brighton New Crest Lift + Mid-Mountain Lodge
Next up, we have a series of upgrades that address some serious issues on paper but fall flat in practice. For the 2023-24 season, Brighton spearheaded two major capital initiatives: first off, the resort replaced its workhorse Crest Express quad with a brand-new six-pack, bringing a capacity increase to the resort’s most popular lift. In addition, the resort built its first-ever mid-mountain lodge, adding the first opportunity for guests to sit down inside without going all the way down to one of the bases.
Let’s start with what’s arguably the less controversial of these upgrades, the Crest 6 lift. Brighton’s new Crest lift might be the most advanced chairlift in the Cottonwoods, with a smooth ride, contoured seats, and a 20% faster ride time than even the old high-speed quad, which was no slouch itself. In addition, the six-place seating and wider chair spacing makes for more efficient chairlift operations than the old setup, with fewer misloads. However, the new Crest 6’s loading setup isn’t perfect. Rather than the old quad setup where guests could line up on both sides of the lift, the Crest 6 only loads from the skiers’ right side of the lift, creating more congestion on that side of the hill and making it more of a slog to load the lift if you’re coming from the skiers’ left Milly zone. In addition, while the Crest 6 may see fewer misloads than the old quad, its on-paper capacity isn’t actually any higher, so the lift’s impact on lift lines hasn’t been all that noticeable. Finally, while this is really just a minor nitpick, the Crest 6’s massive LED bottom terminal screen does look a bit out of place at this otherwise local-feeling resort.
The Snake Creek Lodge at Brighton.
Moving onto the Snake Creek Lodge, Brighton’s first ever mid-mountain facility should theoretically have made it a lot easier to stop in for a break. However, the lodge has a number of design flaws that limit its practicality. First off, the Snake Creek Lodge is located on a hill several feet above the main trail junction it serves, so it’s a pain to get up there unless you really know what you’re doing. In addition, the lodge is just a lot smaller than the demand entails—even on off-peak weekdays, it can be tough to find a seat. Even more frustrating is the bathroom situation—there are only six stalls in the entire facility, and on busy days, you might be waiting longer to use them than for the actual chairlifts. Finally, Brighton has paired its new mid-mountain lodge with the conversion of its Milly cafeteria into a full-service restaurant. While there’s still an outdoor shack at the base of Milly, you can’t sit inside and warm up anymore unless you do a sit-down lunch, which can be really frustrating if you’re spending time in this isolated area on a cold day. The food at the Snake Creek Lodge is really good—and seating capacity opens up a bit when it’s nice enough to sit outside—but overall, it doesn’t feel like Brighton’s on-mountain facility setup has improved all that much.
An inset of Winter Park's trail map, with the Wild Spur Express highlighted in red.
#15: Winter Park Wild Spur Express
Next up, we move to central Colorado, where Winter Park installed its new Wild Spur Express lift. This high-speed six-pack, which sits in the same alignment as the Pioneer Express quad it replaced, could have easily been kept in the honorable mentions category if not for one notable benefit: a new mid-station for loading. The new mid-station allows guests who are already in the area to avoid an arduous catwalk near the bottom of the lift line and just lap the enjoyable terrain, allowing for greatly improved flow in the area. Those coming to Wild Spur from most other mountain areas will still need to ski or ride all the way to the bottom, but this split distribution of traffic helps keep the crowds at both loading stations relatively even, although lines do still build up on busy days. The new Wild Spur Express lift isn’t exactly going to revolutionize the Winter Park experience, and it doesn’t bring a speed increase over the outgoing chair, but the flow benefits from not needing to schlep all the way to the bottom anymore certainly make it worthy of a spot on this list.
The angle mid-station for the Whiteface Notch lift.
#14: Whiteface Notch Lift
Next up, we move to the Adirondacks of Upstate New York, where Whiteface Mountain installed its first new detachable chairlift in fifteen years. The new Notch lift runs in a brand new alignment, connecting the Bear Den base area with the mid-mountain Legacy Lodge. The lift runs in two sections, with a mid-angle station about 80% of the way up that allows for unloading.
The Notch high-speed quad brings a couple of notable benefits. First off, the new chair brings high-speed lift service to the Bear Den base for the first time, and the new alignment integrates this mellower terrain pod with the rest of the resort much better than the previous setup. As a result, not only do beginners have high-speed access to a much larger selection of terrain, but they’re able to lap a chunk of it a lot more conveniently. In addition, the Notch chair provides the first direct lift access to the Legacy Lodge since 2002, finally providing an option to get there without riding quite a ways out of the way and skiing down.
An inset of Whiteface's trail map, with the Notch Lift highlighted in red.
The Notch lift doesn’t address all of Whiteface’s problems. There’s no great way to get to the upper-mountain Summit and Lookout Mountain lifts without going all the way back to the main base or riding the slow, out-of-the-way Little Whiteface chair first, and the new lift doesn’t provide lappable access to any terrain that’s harder than beginner in nature, meaning the benefits to intermediate and better visitors may be limited. But it seems like Whiteface really intended the Notch lift as a vehicle to spread out base crowds and improve the beginner experience, and in that regard, it gets the job done.
The base of Snowbasin's new DeMoisy Express six-pack.
#13: Snowbasin DeMoisy Express
Next up we move back to Utah, where Snowbasin installed the DeMoisy Express lift this past winter season. This new six-pack lift doesn’t add high-speed lift service to any new terrain, but it resolves what was basically the resort’s only remaining chokepoint—its Strawberry area. Instead of riding the Strawberry Gondola, guests now have an additional desirable lift option to serve much of the same terrain—and one that doesn’t require skiers and riders to take off their gear. This has really helped spread out crowds at the bottom of Strawberry, and the lengthy waits that could build up during peak times are now nowhere to be found.
Snowbasin's trail map, with the new DeMoisy lift highlighted in red.
The DeMoisy Express has also brought a few other important benefits. First off, the new six-pack doesn’t extend up quite as far as the lengthy Strawberry Gondola, so guests now have the opportunity to do quicker laps in this area and get back to the base area faster than what was previously possible. In addition, the DeMoisy chair runs along a less wind-prone lift line than the Strawberry Gondola, therefore allowing the resort to keep the Strawberry area open under gusty conditions that force the gondola to close.
While it’s not quite as game-changing as some of the other initiatives higher up on this list, Snowbasin’s DeMoisy lift brings important resiliency and crowd flow benefits that the vast majority of guests will appreciate.
A view of the full lift line of Marmot Basin's Knob Quad. This past season, part of the old double chair was still present (immediately adjacent to the left of the new lift).
#12: Marmot Basin Knob Quad
Moving on to what is by far the northernmost resort on this list, Marmot Basin installed its Knob Quad this past winter, replacing a double chair of the same name that previously ran in a similar alignment. The new fixed-grip quad is only mildly faster than the old double chair, but it does bring a few new benefits versus the previous setup.
First off, the new lift extends nearly 400 feet higher than the previous one, providing lift access to some high-alpine bowl terrain for the first time, including some nice expert cliffs and a reconstructed intermediate groomer, and making the hike to Marmot Basin’s summit nearly half the length than it used to be. In fact, they hadn’t even removed the old Knob lift when we filmed in spring 2024, so when riding the quad, you could still see how much further up it now goes than the old double. In addition, although Marmot Basin rarely sees notable crowds due to its remote location, the four-person setup of the new lift does bring a mild capacity increase versus last year’s Knob chair, and the loading carpet makes it a lot smoother to load.
An view of Marmot Basin's trail map, with the new Knob Lift highlighted in red and the expanded lift-served terrain highlighted in green.
The one downside to the new Knob lift is the ride time. Since the new lift is 40% longer than the old one with only a minimal increase in speed, the ride is now eight minutes to the top, versus the previous six. The ride is absolutely stunning when it’s clear out, so we imagine plenty of guests won’t mind the extra time spent on the chair, but for most visitors, the new setup is going to take longer to lap than the old one.
The Knob Quad isn’t perfect, but it brings a modern update to Marmot Basin’s highest lift-served terrain zone and effectively expands the resort’s stunning high-alpine terrain for those who don’t want to hike. The upgrade will be appreciated by intermediate to expert visitors alike, who now have a larger lift-served high-alpine footprint to play around in, as well as a much shorter hike to reach summit terrain.
The Warm Springs base area at Sun Valley.
#11: Sun Valley Warm Springs Enhancement
Next up, we move to the first resort on this list that not only added one, but two new high-speed lifts: Sun Valley. The Idaho destination removed the two lifts out of its Warm Springs base area, Challenger and Greyhawk, and replaced them with two brand-new detachables—the Challenger six-pack, and the Flying Squirrel quad. The new Challenger lift directly replaces both the Challenger and Greyhawk lifts, using the same lift line as the previous Challenger lift but featuring a mid-station at the current Greyhawk terminus. The new Flying Squirrel high-speed quad runs in a completely new alignment, starting at the Warm Springs base but mostly replicating the lift line of the long-removed Flying Squirrel lift after that, albeit in a longer alignment.
An inset of Sun Valley's trail map, with the Challenger six-pack highlighted in red and the Flying Squirrel quad highlighted in purple.
While on the surface, this project involves two high-speed lifts being replaced by two other high-speed lifts, the key is in the realignment of the uphill network. The Challenger lift is nearly 9,000 feet long—and with an over 3,000-foot vertical rise, it has the biggest vertical gain of any chairlift in the country—and under the previous setup, it was the only way to get out of the Warm Springs base, meaning getting to other mountain areas was a huge slog. But with the new Flying Squirrel lift, there’s now a much more direct alternative to get to points skiers’ right of the Warm Springs area, cutting down a significant chunk of time and making it much more simple to leave that part of the mountain. Those looking to spend time in the Frenchman’s area and lower half of the Lookout pod will especially appreciate the added convenience. The Challenger six-pack is also nearly 20% faster than the previous quad, even with the added mid-station, so the journey is more desirable than it used to be for those who choose to ride all the way to the top. Finally, the Warm Springs overhaul has come with a brand-new black-diamond trail called Lower Flying Squirrel and a small expansion of glade terrain, making for some cool new advanced-level terrain right off the Flying Squirrel lift.
Sun Valley’s Warm Springs base was perhaps the most needed lift network overhaul at the entire resort, and while it may not have made quite as much of a splash as some of the entries a bit higher on this list, we’re glad to report it’s delivered on addressing the resort pod’s biggest issues.
The Creekside Express provides an extension down in a lower alignment than the old Musical Chairs double chair it replaced.
#10: Schweitzer Creekside Express
Moving up to Northern Idaho, we have the Creekside Express at Schweitzer Mountain. On paper, this lift just serves some beginner terrain, but it brings a number of notable benefits that all Schweitzer guests should appreciate. In addition to bringing high-speed lift service to Schweitzer’s only two beginner trails, the new lift is also the catchment for guests arriving from the resort’s slopeside parking lot, meaning that the capacity upgrade from a double to a quad really helps reduce lines at the beginning of the day. In addition, the new lift has been extended down in a lower alignment than the old Musical Chairs double, with a provision for a new, much bigger parking lot that’s set to open next year.
The skier bridge down to the Creekside lift is a bit narrower than it could be, but overall, this upgrade makes for a much more inviting beginner setup and makes the arrival experience less of a hassle. We’ll have to see how future parking lot upgrades affect crowds, but for now, the Creekside Express is a very effective upgrade in a previously neglected mountain area.
An inset of Sunday River's trail map, with the Barker 6 Lift highlighted in red.
#9: Sunday River Barker 6 Lift
Next up on this list we have Sunday River’s new Barker 6, a replacement for what was previously one of the most problematic chairlifts in the region. Even on its own, the new six-pack lift is a welcome addition to this Maine resort’s lift fleet—like with the Jordan 8 lift installed the year before, the new Barker chair comes with heated, contoured seats in addition to brand-aligned ruby red bubbles that provide isolation from the elements on cold and windy days.
The Barker 6 lift has very nice padded and countoured seats.
But perhaps an even bigger benefit of the new Barker chair is in allowing Sunday River to retire its high-speed quad predecessor. While the old Barker lift looked fairly modern on the surface, it suffered from serious mechanical issues—and in its final years, it wasn’t even able to run at its intended design speed. Barker is one of the main lapping pods at Sunday River, and the upgraded lift has made for a faster and more comfortable ride, making it a lot more enjoyable to spend time in this area. The fancy new Barker 6 has also drawn crowds away from overworked lifts such as Jordan and the chondola, consequently improving the flow of the resort in general. While we’re still hoping the resort upgrades a few particularly dated lifts in certain other mountain areas in future seasons, it’s hard to argue that the Barker 6 hasn’t made a significant impact on the overall experience at Sunday River—and one that goes far beyond the typical lifecycle upgrades covered in our honorable mentions.
A ride up the new Mountaineer Express at Attitash.
#8: Attitash Mountaineer Express
After years of waiting, what many would call the most needed lift upgrade in New Hampshire has finally arrived. Attitash’s Summit Triple has finally been replaced with a detachable quad, cutting down what was previously an agonizing 12-minute ride to a much more palatable six-minute journey. Not only has the new Mountaineer high-speed quad made it much more desirable to spend time on the Attitash side of the resort, addressing an outgoing lift setup that could have at best been called perplexing, but it’s also taken some of the load off of the much more popular Bear Peak side, providing some crowding relief over there.
An inset of Attitash’s trail map, with the Mountaineer Express highlighted in red.
While the Mountaineer lift’s installation did unfortunately require the removal of a beautiful observation tower at the top of Attitash, it’s a game changer for the resort in just about every other respect. The project has resulted in high-speed lift access to all but a handful of the resort’s trails, eliminated one of the most grueling lift rides in the country, and spread out crowds significantly better across the resort. Attitash isn’t suddenly the best resort in the East with this investment, but it’s a very welcome improvement.
The revamped Lift 4 brings high-speed service to a solid beginner and intermediate terrain pod at Taos for the first time.
#7: Taos Lift 4 Upgrade
Next up, we move all the way down to New Mexico, where this southwest state’s biggest resort had some big projects in the works this past winter. Most notably, the resort replaced its Lift 4 fixed-grip quad chair with a high-speed detachable, cutting the ride time in half and adding a second high-speed lift to the increasingly popular mountain.
An inset of Taos’s trail map, with the new Lift 4 highlighted in red.
While Taos has always been a more advanced and expert-oriented resort, the new Lift 4 does quite a bit to improve the experience for lower-ability-level visitors. Unlike the expert-oriented Lift 1, which was previously Taos’s only high-speed lift, Lift 4 serves much mellower terrain, finally making it more desirable to lap some of Taos’s best beginner and intermediate runs. Taos still has quite a few slower lifts in its mid- and upper-mountain areas, and it still takes a ride up the slower Lift 2 to get to the Lift 4 terrain pod from the main base, but while the resort still wouldn’t be our first choice for families, the new upgrade makes the resort a lot more palatable for those whose primary intention isn’t to hike and seek out expert lines all day.
The new Lone Peak Tram brings a 250% capacity increase over the old one.
#6: Big Sky Lone Peak Tram
Next up, we move to what may have been the highest-profile lift upgrade of the year: Big Sky’s all-new Lone Peak Tram. This 75-passenger aerial tramway sits in a completely different alignment than the old 15-passenger “can”, with the lift now directly accessible from out-of-base lifts and a lot easier to lap from Lone Peak’s south and east-facing bowl terrain. The lift’s whopping 200% capacity increase has helped quite a bit with crowd flow as well. All of these factors have, at least on paper, made the Lone Peak Tram a lot more accessible for repeat rides than in previous seasons.
An inset of Big Sky’s trail map, with the new Lone Peak Tram alignment highlighted in red.
But unfortunately, Big Sky has held onto some fairly controversial policies when it comes to Lone Peak Tram access. Rather than being included with the base level of access, certain pass products do not come with the Lone Peak Tram as standard, and instead charge guests per ride on the resort’s highest lift. This strategy theoretically controls crowds at the lift, but it’s especially disappointing given how much easier to lap the new tram is compared to the old one. At least on paper, Big Sky has relaxed this policy for the upcoming 2024-25 season, and all lift ticket products now come with Lone Peak Tram access as standard. However, the extra-cost add-on charge still remains for all Ikon and Mountain Collective Pass holders, including the day-ticket-like Ikon Session Pass; since these products are much cheaper on a daily basis than the now over $200-per-day lift tickets, this effectively means that consumers who attempt to secure Big Sky access through remotely economical means will still have to pay the same extra cost for the Lone Peak Tram as last year.
On its own, the new Lone Peak Tram is a game-changing lift that makes it much more practical to access Big Sky’s most unique terrain, best views, and full vertical drop. But the access restrictions for Ikon and Mountain Collective Pass holders hurt its impact on the typical visitor’s overall mountain experience. On the one hand, it’s hard to justify putting an upgrade that’s not even included in access for such a large chunk of visitors any higher on this list, but on the other, it’s hard to deny that the new tram setup is way better than the old one.
The Timbertown Quad serves the first publicly-accessible beginner terrain on Loon's South Peak side.
#5: Loon Timbertown Expansion
Next up we have the first major terrain expansion on this list: the Timbertown expansion at New Hampshire’s Loon Mountain. The resort expanded its lower-mountain terrain by over 30 acres, adding a mix of beginner and intermediate trails, and bringing publicly-accessible green terrain to the South Peak side for the first time ever.
Indeed, this expansion substantially overhauls Loon’s beginner experience. Unlike the North Peak side’s rather limited green runs, the Timbertown area offers several beginner trails to choose from, allowing guests of this ability level to spread out across the slopes and making for a much more welcoming trail environment. While they weren’t really that skiable this year due to the below-average season, the beginner and intermediate woods in the expansion area bring a unique environment for those looking to test out tree skiing for the first time.
An inset of Loon’s trail map, with the Timbertown Expansion area highlighted in red.
The Timbertown expansion brings another notable benefit: much improved parking access. The South Peak side’s Escape Route parking lot has historically only been linked to the resort by a shuttle service, but guests can now directly load the Timbertown lift to get uphill. This has substantially reduced the burden on the quick-to-fill-up North Peak lots and made it a lot less stressful to get to the mountain in the morning.
The one downside to the Timbertown expansion is that the new lift is a slow, fixed-grip quad, rather than a high-speed detachable. The ride time isn’t long enough to make this a serious issue with the experience itself, but given how overcrowded Loon’s North Peak lifts can get, it feels like the resort missed an opportunity to spread crowds around with a more appealingly fast lift. But even though the lift could be faster and the terrain isn’t the hardest in the world, the Timbertown expansion goes a significant way towards improving both the beginner and arrival experiences, which for the vast majority of its family-oriented clientele has provided a substantial impact.
The Bucksaw Express lift, pictured here, is Sugarloaf's third high-speed quad.
#4: Sugarloaf West Mountain Expansion
Next up, we move to Maine, where Sugarloaf debuted the largest East Coast terrain expansion in quite some time. The 120-acre West Mountain terrain expansion added 12 new trails of beginner and intermediate difficulty, all served by a new high-speed quad. As part of the project, the resort shortened the agonizingly long West Mountain double lift, which basically just turns it into a parking access lift. The project also removed access to two fairly flat beginner trails that led from the far end of West Mountain to the main base area.
Sugarloaf’s front side has always felt fairly ordinary for a large East Coast ski resort, and the new West Mountain terrain does help the mountain feel a bit bigger and more diverse. The trails in this area are generally further spaced apart than the closely-bunched trails elsewhere on the front side, and they do offer a distinct feel and set of views versus the runs in the main areas of the mountain. The new Bucksaw Express quad holds down speedy lift service to the new terrain pod—and in the process, brings a much-needed additional high-speed lift-served area to Sugarloaf. While it was hard to assess this season because of the area’s mid-February opening date, we do expect this lift to provide some crowding relief to the resort’s two other high-speed quads, the Whiffletree and Sugarloaf SuperQuads.
An inset of Sugarloaf’s trail map, with the West Mountain expansion area highlighted in red.
But while it’s certainly a net positive for the resort, the West Mountain expansion isn’t exactly the revolutionary upgrade that would turn Sugarloaf into an upper-tier East Coast mountain. While they do have some character, the beginner and intermediate runs in the West Mountain area are still rather generic for the region, with not much in the way of features to help them stand out over trails at other competing resorts. In addition, since there is no advanced terrain in the terrain expansion, the SuperQuad remains the only high-speed lift at Sugarloaf that serves advanced and expert terrain, keeping some significant pressure on that lift. It’s also worth noting that while the West Mountain expansion trails may have felt pretty isolated this year, a large chunk of the trail sides are marked for future condo development, so the area will probably see quite the amount of build up in the upcoming years.
The West Mountain expansion certainly makes Sugarloaf feel bigger and gives it a bit more character, but it doesn’t have the “wow” factor to beat out the other major projects on this list. And ultimately, that’s probably by design—because these new trails have chiefly been established with real estate development in mind. Lower-ability skiers and riders will love the new terrain, but for most visitors, it’s not standout enough to beat out the top three entries on this list.
A ride up the new Hero's chair at Aspen Mountain.
#3: Aspen Mountain Hero’s Expansion
Next up, we move to the state that’s home to all of the top three upgrades on this list: Colorado. The bronze medalist of the season is the Aspen Mountain Hero’s expansion, which brings 153 acres of new upper-mountain terrain to Aspen’s town-adjacent ski resort. This project has added a number of new intermediate and expert trails served by a brand-new high-speed quad.
The Hero’s area was previously a very popular backcountry area, and after spending some time here, it’s clear why the resort was so eager to add it to the ski boundary proper. The expansion brings some really interesting terrain within the resort boundaries of Aspen Mountain, including some awesome glades, moguls, and bowls. But importantly, unlike the rest of Aspen Mountain’s expert terrain areas, the Hero’s area is actually easy to lap. Ajax’s decidedly strange lift layout historically meant that lapping any of its expert terrain involved a trip down the full vertical descent of the resort—which could get incredibly annoying if you wanted to spend a lot of time on this type of terrain—but it’s now possible to exclusively lap expert terrain over and over again through the Hero’s lift. In addition, the expansion’s expert-oriented nature has seemed to keep crowds down, and the area has seen minimal lines even during busy times; this is a far cry from popular Ajax lifts such as the Silver Queen Gondola and Ajax Express quad.
An inset of Aspen Mountain's trail map showing the new Hero's area.
The Hero’s expansion isn’t perfect; while this area does have some intermediate terrain, it’s limited in nature and mainly consists of traverses in and out of the expert zones. In addition, there are a few flat terrain sections required to get back to the chairlift, especially if you’re coming from skier’s right of the Powerline trail. But overall, Hero’s is a surprisingly effective addition to Aspen Mountain that substantially improves its flow for experts, provides a haven from the rest of the resort’s logistical issues, and at least for now, allows an escape from the crowds.
A view of the new Bergman Bowl at Keystone.
#2: Keystone Bergman Bowl Expansion
Next up we move east to Colorado’s Interstate 70 corridor, where Keystone debuted what may well be their most important project in decades. This past year, the resort installed its Bergman Bowl Express lift, providing lift service to its high-alpine bowl terrain for the first time ever. Keystone has historically been one of the only major Colorado ski resorts without lift service to bowl terrain, so the project addresses a substantial shortcoming.
The new Bergman Bowl terrain zone brings a distinctive mix of trails for all ability levels, including some uniquely accessible runs for beginners and intermediates. The Ten Mile green run might be the most beautiful beginner trail at any Colorado destination, with wide open panoramic views that are really hard to come by on this level of terrain. Speaking of beginner runs—now that the lower part of the Prospector trail has been rebranded as a green, you can now ski back to the Ruby area if you’re a beginner, which is a huge benefit from an accessibility standpoint and opens up another mountain area for guests of lower abilities.
Keystone's trail map, with the Bergman Bowl Express lift highlighted in red and the terrain it services highlighted in green.
The Bergman Bowl expansion is designed more for families than adventure-seekers, and directly lappable advanced terrain is limited. That being said, guests can traverse over to the expansive Erikson Bowl and hit some very solid advanced-level bowls and trees there. The difficulty of lapping these areas means they hold their snow well, but annoyingly, they all filter back to the Wayback chair, which still hasn’t been upgraded to a high-speed lift. It’s also worth noting that the high-alpine bowl section of this lift only lasts for about half the run, and other mountains such as Breckenridge, Vail, and Copper still offer much bigger above-treeline terrain areas.
If you’re an expert watching this video, you might argue that Aspen’s expansion deserved this number two slot—and we can very much understand that. But ultimately, the Bergman Bowl expansion positively impacts the overall experience for a much wider range of people, and there’s no doubt that it made a bigger splash on the North American ski resort scene than any other project—except one.
#1: Steamboat Mahogany Ridge and Wild Blue Gondola
That’s right, Steamboat’s ambitious series of lift and terrain investments resulted in the most fundamental transformation of the 2023-24 ski season—and it wasn’t even close. First off, the resort completed the second stage of the Wild Blue Gondola, marking the longest traditional gondola in North America. Secondly, the resort opened a nearly 500-acre expansion into Mahogany Ridge and Fish Creek Canyon, bringing a new massive, expert-oriented terrain zone to the resort. On their own, these projects may well have been pretty high up on this list, but combined, they throw a one-two punch at the Colorado ski scene that’s resulted in the biggest disruption we’ve seen in over a decade.
An inset of Steamboat's trail map, with the Wild Blue Gondola highlighted in red.
These projects cut right at the heart of Steamboat’s biggest historical issues: frustrating lift logistics and difficult expert terrain access. The completed Wild Blue Gondola (the first stage, which extends to a new learning area, was completed in 2022) finally provides a way to get up and down the resort without going through the Thunderhead Lodge mid-point, doing wonders to reduce lines in the morning and even taking some pressure off the Elkhead Express lift in the afternoon. The Wild Blue Gondola isn’t a perfect lift—the 13-minute lift ride may feel a bit sluggish for some people, and it’s still somewhat confusing to get from the top of Sunshine Peak to the Storm Peak area, but this 10-passenger lift has provided important relief to what might have previously been the most overworked ski resort base area in North America.
The fully-completed Wild Blue Gondola provides a much-needed additional link out of Steamboat's base.
For experienced Steamboat visitors, the Mahogany Ridge and Fish Creek Canyon expansion areas are without a doubt the more exciting of these two projects. This massive expansion—the biggest one in Colorado since at least 2015—adds some of the best steep skiable terrain in the state. The fully-lift-served Mahogany Ridge brings a barrage of bump runs, aspen trees, and tighter glades that are barely even tree cut, making for some of the most natural-feeling slopes at the resort. But for those who can handle it, Fish Creek Canyon is the most exciting new piece of terrain at a Colorado ski resort in quite some time. This double-black terrain zone starts at a series of gates with some rather daunting warning signs; while not as truly extreme as some terrain at resorts like Crested Butte and Arapahoe Basin, the Fish Creek Canyon trails are no doubt experts only, with intensely steep gradients and distinctive fall lines with unique obstacles—including a rock garden if you can find it. But the most pleasant Fish Creek Canyon surprise of all is that the so-called 30-45 minute “hike back” is hilariously exaggerated, being pretty much a hike in name only. The journey out involves two-to-three sections of sidestepping and a few flat areas, but at least if you’re a skier, it’s actually fairly lappable—and much more so than Steamboat’s warnings would have you believe. Ironically, this makes Fish Creek Canyon much easier for repeat laps than the technically-lift-served but awkwardly-located Christmas Tree Chutes at the top of the Morningside lift.
An inset of Steamboat's trail map, with the Mahogany Ridge and Fish Creek Canyon expansion areas highlighted in red.
And the best part of the expansion? No crowds. At least as of this past season, there were basically no signs to Mahogany Ridge—you wouldn’t know how to get there unless you studied the trail map or coincidentally arrived at the top of the Pony Express lift. Combined with the expert-oriented nature of the area, it seems like Steamboat’s clientele just didn’t make it over there. When considering the awful lines and sheer difficulty of hitting the resort’s hardest slopes in years’ past, it feels like the Mahogany Ridge and Fish Creek Canyon expansion is Steamboat’s way of repenting for those sins—and boy, have they repented effectively.
Is Steamboat the best ski resort in Colorado now? Probably not. But is it still a below-average one? Many would argue not anymore. It’s been years since a large ski resort has experienced such a fundamental transformation over a single season, and it’s one that we expect industry followers to remember for years.
Steamboat's Fish Creek Canyon brings some fantastic new expert terrain to the resort.
Final Thoughts
So that’s our ranking of the major capital upgrades across North American ski resorts in 2024! This past season saw what might have been the biggest slate of upgrades in recent ski industry memory, and while the top mountains really set the bar high, over a dozen mountains on this list really impressed us with the quality of the upgrades they executed. Say what you will about the ski industry, but they blessed us with some really good infrastructure investments this year.
How’d we do? Would you change the order? We’d love to hear from you, so if you have any thoughts, hit us with a comment below!
For more information on these resorts, check out our full Rockies, West Coast, and East Coast rankings.
