thursday 1 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Forbes Traveler online lists the 20 snowiest ski resorts in the world. full story in Forbes Traveler "This story highlights the top 20 snowiest resorts on the planet, as tracked by Bestsnow, which pulls meteorological records from weather stations, data from avalanche-forecasting centers and monthly snowfall amounts from ski resorts. Bestsnow's numbers—which are used by publications like Skiing magazine and Powder magazine to rank resorts—differ from average snowfall numbers touted by some resorts. This is because, among other factors, Bestsnow looks at monthly averages spread over time periods of up to 40 years." The List: Resort Location Avg. Snowfall (in./year) 1. Mt. Baker Ski Area Washington 641 2. Niseko resorts Japan 595 3. Alta Ski Area Utah 523 4. Alyeska Resort Alaska 513 5. Kirkwood Mountain Resort California 473 6. Stevens Pass Washington 471 7. Sugar Bowl California 464 8. Grand Targhee Resort Wyoming 463 9. Snowbird Ski Resort Utah 461 10. Mt. Hood Meadows Resort Oregon 430 11. Whistler Blackcomb Resort British Columbia 407 12. Powder Mountain Utah 400 13. Solitude Utah 399 14. Whitewater Resort British Colombia 397 15. Boreal Mountain Resort California 395 16. Crystal Mountain Washington 390 17. Mt. Washington British Colombia 383 18. Brighton Resort Utah 381 19. Wolf Creek Colorado 379 20. Fernie Alpine Resort British Colombia 369 Not a single European reort made it. Link to post Share on other sites
9015peter 0 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Where's perisher Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 there are more places in Japan that get more snow than Niseko. Forbes must be Aussie Link to post Share on other sites
woywoy 0 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 There are some Aussie travel companies already quoting Forbes on this. They are quick these days arent they Link to post Share on other sites
cal 6 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Almost sounds suspicious doesn't it. Was there a Niseko-related advertising piece in there as well, conveniently located near the list? Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 There are other resorts in the US that should be on that list, namely Snowbasin,Utah. Not the most accurate, but highlighting resorts that their readership may have heard of I presume. Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 >2. Niseko resorts Japan 595 I guess if you include the 3 diff mountains and add them up it would be bout that much Seriously, if anybody bothered to look youd find accurate information. The J-ski mags have been doing this much longer and Niseko has never been tops for snow quantity - quality always fights in the top 3 and for quite obvious reasons. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 That sounds about right at 15 meters Link to post Share on other sites
mmm-pies 0 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Interesting. Are those resorts what a similar article would class as "the best in the world". How much is "snowiest" to a resort being great? Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Pow 52 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I've skied 9 of the 20 and would say that none of them would win any awards in the 'Best Resorts of the World' category. 1. Mt. Baker Ski Area Washington 641 2. Niseko resorts Japan 595 3. Alta Ski Area Utah 523 9. Snowbird Ski Resort Utah 461 12. Powder Mountain Utah 400 13. Solitude Utah 399 16. Crystal Mountain Washington 390 18. Brighton Resort Utah 381 20. Fernie Alpine Resort British Colombia 369 Link to post Share on other sites
SamuiKitsune 0 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 So which places in Japan get more Powder? I want to visit the weekend of Feb. 8th. Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I've already written a letter to Forbes advising that if they wanted any sort of accuracy then Japan would totally dominate this list and Niseko would not be at the top. I also advised that the figure used for Niseko is purely fiction as there is no snowfall data collection at the resort. to be honest though it's good to see some exposure for Japan skiing in an international mag. Link to post Share on other sites
nzlegend 1 Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 the most snow huh? Link to post Share on other sites
spook 0 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 so, any info on j rankings folks? Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan#Andrew 6 Posted January 9, 2008 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted January 9, 2008 I sent them something about that as well when I first saw it. Good to see Japan get mentions, but a better background piece would be nice. (spook if you do a search on these forums you should find a few ranking threads from previous seasons, can't remember seeing one this year yet). Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 SJ#1, do you read any of the Japanese ski mags? They had a good analysis from last season and 2 years ago with a monthly total snowfall as well as the seasons...maybe Powder Ski had it. They had almost every resort from Hokkers to Shimane...you can see, at least a more accurate picture, of the total snowfalls for resorts across the country. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 That Forbes thing is a joke not even close to any truths out there. Link to post Share on other sites
Oyuki kigan 0 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Whitewhater and Baker are defiantely on my top 10. Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Whistler's not a bad little hill either. Crystal Mt. kicks a lot of ass too. As for...... Originally Posted By: SG the most snow huh? Well, OK... but there are a lot of places that have really good terrain but I wouldn't plan my vacation there cause there's just not enough snow. Lake Louise comes to mind. Europe comes to mind. Anyway, Japan got the shaft. FT must be fuming. Could be because snow statistics are dodgy over here. Seems like sometimes average falls are even confused with snowpack -- As if Happo only got 3 or 4 meters a year. That would put it on par with Blue Mountain Yeah, right! Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Im not fuming at all. The Mag just didnt even come close to what resorts get the most besides maybe Baker. Forbes needs to sell there mag and they tainted their crap towards their readers. Blue Mountain I had a seasons pass or 2 there. Link to post Share on other sites
mina2 6 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 The truth is they will have tainted their crap towards their advertisers with their readers in second position. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 well people, what a score for Niseko. Somebody greased the right palms at the right places. Forbes is an American mag catering for the American market. Having a Japanese destination as number 2 is just outrageous. Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I think they came pretty close for a lot of those NA resorts. Probably pretty close to Niseko too, I would guess. (Not that other places don't get more). My home hill was Devil's Elbow. Didn't make the top twenty. Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 The Japanese certainly don't seem to understand the international skiing marker at all. I've seen so many Japanese resort websites (the english version) that don't have current snow base/weather info let alone past statistics or webcams. These are the sorts of things people want to see before making decisions on where to spend lots of money on an overseas trip. Also sites like snow-forecast have supposedly 'world snow roundups' that don't even include anything from Japan. This is because to get into these reports you generally have to pay money and Japanese resorts don't seem to like doing that. I still don't understand why more Japanese resorts aren't trying their hardest to get more of the foreign market. The domestic market hasn't really been increasing and foreign tourists are generally a hell of a lot more profitable. They stay longer (less cleaning) and generally spend more money when here. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan#Andrew 6 Posted January 9, 2008 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted January 9, 2008 Quote: I still don't understand why more Japanese resorts aren't trying their hardest to get more of the foreign market. The domestic market hasn't really been increasing and foreign tourists are generally a hell of a lot more profitable. They stay longer (less cleaning) and generally spend more money when here. It is quite frustrating, but I personally have seen changes the last few years. Unfortunately they are most often slow changes. I speak with lots of resorts throughout the country and sometimes the person you speak to simply does not accept that the foreign market is a viable one. Even when I present them with a lot of evidence that says it is. Or is just generally uneasy at the idea and seemingly unwilling to share the idea with other staff who might be more receptive. (The number of times I have heard "oh but we don't have signs in English and staff that speak English fluently"). Some just see it as too much effort for something they that feel doesn't have much (relative) potential and want to concentrate their efforts on the market they know best (!), Japan. Actually with some small resorts in remote places, I tend to agree that it might not be worth it, especially if they are not up for the challenge. Another rather large problem is that lots of "marketing staff" have little to no marketing experience, and they basically have no idea. That one is a difficult problem! Lots of larger resorts are seeing the success of Niseko, Hakuba and the likes and starting to think that it might be an idea.... Link to post Share on other sites
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