Skier Density

BillSki's Triple-Black Diamond ANALYSIS
Toolbox	Intro	price	Alpha
	skier density	vertical	lift capacity
	acres	snowmaking	state/alpha
	trails	charts	snowfall
		classic trails

Skier Density

A calculation of the uphill capacity divided by the number of skiable acres. Simply, the maximum number of skiers per acre of terrain on an hourly basis. A good way to look at this is only the potential for overcrowding, without artificial barriers such as limited lift ticket sales.

East coast usually wins this one. Surprisingly, Crotched is way up there, probably because they had to install new lifts all-around when they re-opened. Pats Peak and Butternut are also way up there. If you really want to get away from people in the East, go to Squaw, Ski Ward, Whiteface, Bosquet or Berkshire East.

I think the reason Wachusett feels more crowded than Crotched is that Wachusett is closer to metro region while Crotched is just re-establishing its market presence. Said another way, I'll bet you find more empty chairs at Crotched than you do at Wachusett. You'd need to see the actual daily attendance figure to get a better handle on the actual density.

Go west young man and lady to escape people, go to Utah to have the place to yourself.

US Resort Data				05-06 Pass
	Resort	State	Ticket '05-06	Early	Late	Vert	Lift Capacity	Skiable Acres	Trails	Average Snowfall	Snow making	Skier Density
1	Crotched	NH	$44		$ 469	875	11,200	75	17		100%	149
2	Pats Peak	NH	$47		$ 349	710	9,600	80	22	90	100%	120
3	Butternut	MA	$46		$ 199	1,000	13,175	110	22	70	100%	120
4	Granite Gorge	NH	$29		$ 299	515	2600	25	17	100	25%	104
5	King Pine	NH	$36			350	4,000	45	16	120	100%	89
6	King Pine	NH	$34		n/a	350	4,000	45	16	85	100%	89
7	Jiminy Peak	MA	$55		$ 759	1,140	13,800	170	43	90	93%	81
8	Hunter NY	NY	$54	$ 699	$ 899	1,600	16,900	230	53	125	100%	73
9	Cannon	NH	$54	$ 445	$ 595	2,146	11,025	165	55	156	97%	67
10	Cochran's	VT	$30	$ 175	$ 225	500	1,000	15	8	78	30%	67
11	Waterville	NH	$55		$ 529	2,020	14,626	225	52	111	96%	65
12	Bellayre	NY	$46	$ 647	$ 672	1,405	10,980	171	42	171	96%	64
13	Whiteface	NY	$63		$ 849	3,430	13,270	220	69	168	97%	60
14	Stratton	VT	$72		$1,199	2,003	29,550	500	90	180	90%	59
15	Wachusett	MA	$48		$ 629	1,000	6,005	103	22	45	100%	58
16	Mount Sunapee	NH	$58		$ 899	1,510	13,000	230	65	110	97%	57
17	Pico	VT	$49	$ 299	$ 399	1,967	10,650	200	48	200	82%	53
18	Okemo	VT	$69		$1,199	2,200	32,250	610	115	155	95%	53
19	Windham Mountain	NY	$55	$ 950	$1,075	1,600	13,200	250	41	110	97%	53
20	Sunday River	ME	$59		$1,300	2,340	32,000	663	128	120	100%	48
21	Ascutney	VT	$56	$ 669	$ 819	1,800	7,200	150	56	180	95%	48
22	Sugarbush	VT	$63	$ 939	$1,319	2,650	24,363	508	111	282	68%	48
23	Mount Snow/Haystack	VT	$69		$1,300	1,700	36,252	771	145	153	85%	47
24	Killington	VT	$69		$1,300	3,050	52,973	1,182	200	250	70%	45
25	Loon	NH	$65		$ 529	2,100	11,865	275	44	116	99%	43
26	Saddleback	ME	$39	$ 400	$ 500	2,000	4,200	101	50	185	80%	42
27	Gunstock	NH	$52	$ 449	$ 499	1,400	8,445	220	50	100	80%	38
28	Balsams	NH	$35		n/a	1,000	3,250	87	14	165	80%	37
29	Bolton Valley	VT	$49		$ 699	1,625	6,000	165	61	300	60%	36
30	Sugarloaf	ME	$61		$1,300	2,820	21,805	651	133	190	94%	33
31	Bromley	VT	$59		$ 975	1,334	9,904	300	43	150	84%	33
32	Bretton Woods	NH	$64		$ 499	1,500	14,200	434	101	180	92%	33
33	Middlebury	VT	$37		$ 585	1,020	3,500	110	15	180	40%	32
34	Jay Peak	VT	$58		$ 582	2,153	12,175	385	76	320	80%	32
35	Stowe	VT	$76	$1,245	$1,507	2,360	15,000	480	48	260	73%	31
36	Shawnee Peak	ME	$45		$ 679	1,300	7,200	239	40	115	98%	30
37	Suicide Six	VT	$52		N/A	650	3,000	100	23	190	50%	30
38	Dartmouth	NH	$40	$ 399	$ 475	968	3,100	104	30	105	70%	30
39	Wildcat	NH	$55	$ 499	$ 699	2,112	6,700	225	47	200	90%	30
40	Magic Mountain	VT	$49	$ 399	$ 599	1,600	3,200	108	35	140	87%	30
41	Black Mountain	ME	$18		$ 269	1,120	1,400	48	20	120	65%	29
42	Cranmore	NH	$45		$ 529	1,167	5,400	200	39	115	100%	27
43	Attitash	NH	$59		$1,300	1,750	7,500	280	70	130	98%	27
44	Smugglers	VT	$58	$ 429	$ 559	2,610	7,053	270	78	271	62%	26
45	Mad River	VT	$50		N/A	2,037	3,000	115	45	250	15%	26
46	Black	NH	$32	$ 399	$ 499	1,100	3,700	143	40	110	98%	26
47	Ragged	NH	$52			1,250	5,620	220	50	120	95%	26
48	Berkshire East	MA	$45			1,180	10,000	400	45	90	100%	25
49	Deer Valley	UT	$74	$1,345	$1,585	3,000	43,500	1,750	90	300	29%	25
50	Gore	NY	$61		$ 849	2,100	8,400	344	86	300	96%	24
51	Burke	VT	$52		$ 999	2,000	4,200	180	43	200	75%	23
52	Tenny	NH	$39	$ 379		1,400	2,338	110	45	120	85%	21
53	Arapaho Basin	CO	$49		$ 189	1,672	8,700	487	69	367	25%	18
54	Crested Butte	CO	$69		$1,109	2,775	19,160	1,073	85	240	43%	18
55	Breckenridge	CO	$75			2,610	37,280	2,208	146	305	25%	17
56	Beaver Creek	CO	$69			3,340	25,539	1,625	146	310	38%	16
57	Aspen /Snowmass	CO	$78	$1,579	$1,729	3,635	10,755	692	115	300	16%	16
58	Mammoth	CA	$70		$1,300	3,100	50,000	3,501	150	384	33%	14
59	Sun Valley	ID	$69	$1,775	$1,875	3,400	26,780	2,054	75	220	31%	13
60	Winter Park	CO	$58	$ 299		3,060	36,000	2,770	133	351	15%	13
61	Durango/Purgatory	CO	$56		$ 899	2,029	15,050	1,200	75	260	33%	13
62	Copper Mt	CO	$72	$ 279		2,601	30,630	2,450	125	280	16%	13
63	Mt. Baldy	CA	$45		$ 575	2,100	5,000	400	26	150	20%	13
64	Teluride	CO	$58		$1,375	3,530	21,186	1,700	80	309	10%	12
65	Squaw Valley	CA	$65	$1,299	$1,689	2,850	49,000	4,000	177	450	10%	12
66	Taos	NM	$57		$ 900	2,612	15,000	1,294	110	305	100%	12
67	Sundance	UT	$44	$ 379	$ 429	2,150	5,167	450	48	500	20%	11
68	Loveland	CO	$50		$ 339	2,101	14,293	1,365	70	400	17%	10
69	Vail (multi only - sr. rate shown)	CO	$81		n/a	3,450	53,381	5,289	193	346	7%	10
70	Keystone	CO	$75		n/a	2,900	28,710	2,870	116	230	21%	10
71	Steamboat	CO	$74	$ 925	$1,450	3,668	36,195	3,669	143	335	15%	10
72	Bear Valley	CA	$46		?	1,907	12,000	1,280	67	450	35%	9
73	Solitude	UT	$50			2,047	10,750	1,200	63	500	25%	9
74	Squaw (Big) Mountain	ME	$19		n/a	1,750	3,300	400	20	175	70%	8
75	Park City	UT	$65		$1,095	3,100	27,200	3,299	100	350	45%	8
76	Kirkwood	CA	$59		$ 429	2,001	17,905	2,298	65	500	6%	8
77	Mt. Hood	OR	$39		$ 999	2,777	16,145	2,150	87	430		8
78	Sierra at Taho/Boothcreek	CA	$59		$ 699	2,212	14,920	2,000	46	480	10%	7
79	Heavenly	CA	$70		$ 518	2,900	33,000	4,800	86	360	8%	7
80	Snowbird	UT	$62		$1,300	3,240	16,800	2,500	85	500	20%	7
81	Bosquet	MA	$32		n/a	750	1,200	200	21	83	98%	6
82	Alta	UT	$49		$ 999	2,020	13,000	2,200	115	500	2%	6
83	Mt. Bacheor	OR	$49		$ 910	3,365	21,000	3,683	71	300	5%	6
84	Beaver Mountain	UT	$33		$ 500	1,638	2,700	525	22	400	29%	5
85	Silver Mountain	ID	$40		$ 529	2,200	7,700	1,500	53	300	15%	5
86	Ski Ward	MA	$31		$ 325	200	2,100	410	9	80	100%	5
87	Jackson Hole	WY	$70		$1,595	4,139	10,896	2,500	100	403	10%	4
88	Snow Basin	UT	$58		$ 925	2,940	13,500	3,200	54	400	19%	4
89	McIntyre	NH	$25	$ 200	$ 230	180	2,190	53	9		100%
90	Buttermilk/Tiehack (Snowmass/Aspen)	CO	$78					415			16%
	Average		$ 54			1,994	14,982	983	68	235	61%	15
	Median		$ 55			2,012	11,533	400	56	200	70%	29