Resort figures from each resort's Wikipedia article infobox (CC BY-SA 4.0), read 2026-11-05, linked on the name; the resort's own site holds the current lifts, hours and passes. Directions opens Google Maps with the resort's base as the destination.

Backcountry

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center publishes the backcountry forecast by zone every morning of the season. It is theirs, all rights reserved; we link it and copy nothing. Snow depth and water content come from NRCS SNOTEL (public domain).

How to choose where to ski

Vertical is how far a run can drop; acres is how much ground there is to spread out over. A big vertical with few acres skis fast and steep; many acres with a modest vertical skis long and easy.
Lifts per acre is a rough crowd gauge on a powder morning.
Backcountry is a different sport with a different clock: the avalanche forecast for the zone, the gear and the training come first, and the forecast is read the morning of, every time.

What the figures mean

Vertical: Top elevation minus base elevation, in feet: the longest possible descent.
Acres: The resort's stated skiable area.
Lifts and trails: The resort's own counts, as its Wikipedia infobox reports them; the resort's site holds today's number.
Avalanche danger: The Colorado Avalanche Information Center rates each zone on the five-level North American scale, from Low to Extreme, every morning of the season. Read it on their site; it is theirs.

Resort figures from Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA 4.0), read 2026-11-05; the avalanche scale and forecasts belong to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, linked, never copied; the choosing lines are ours.