The Most Challenging Ski Areas in the Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains region of the US is considered the best ski region in the United States. Colorado and Wyoming contain the top four most difficult ski areas in North America.
Colorado has over 50% of the ski resorts listed on this page. Montana contains the second most, with Wyoming coming in third.
Explaining our Criteria
Here at Parks & Trips, we created a proprietary Difficulty Score thats generated by combining a number of metrics for each resort. Primarily, we look at the count of easy-intermediate-expert slopes by acreage and the maximum vertical drop of the overall resort.
Our algorithm compares each resort’s metrics with all others in North America, then gives each a Difficulty Score, which we use to rank them accordingly. Resorts with a lower score are easier than those with a higher one. However, a high score does not mean that the resort does not have any easy slopes, or vice versa. This is just an overall score given to the resort based on all its metrics grouped together.
The Most Difficult Ski Resort in the Rocky Mountains
1. Silverton, CO
Silverton is a unique ski area. Not really a “resort”, this massive mountain has none of the frills that you’d typically see. Silverton boasts that its average total snowfall actually exceeds its amount of daily visitors. This mountain only has advanced and expert trails, no groomers, and no clear-cut runs.
2. Telluride, CO
The next most difficult ski resort in the Rockies is Telluride. Telluride has the steepest vertical drop in the region and the second-highest summit, just behind Silverton. In fact, these two ski area summits are only a few miles apart, however the drive is over 79 miles away.
3. Jackson Hole, WY
Jackson Hole in Wyoming rounds out the top three. This iconic ski resort is the town of Jackson, and is by far the largest ski area (by elevation and size) in the state of Wyoming.
Top 25 Challenging Rocky Mountain Ski Resorts
| Rank | Resort | Summit Elev. | Vertical Drop | Expert Trails | Difficulty ScoreTM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Silverton (CO) | 13,487 ft | 3,087 ft | 100% | 99.6% |
| #2 | Telluride (CO) | 13,150 ft | 4,425 ft | 54% | 90.2% |
| #3 | Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (WY) | 10,450 ft | 4,139 ft | 50% | 87.3% |
| #4 | Big Sky Resort (MT) | 11,166 ft | 4,350 ft | 52% | 86.7% |
| #5 | Winter Park Resort (CO) | 12,060 ft | 3,060 ft | 74% | 86.5% |
| #6 | Breckenridge (CO) | 12,998 ft | 3,398 ft | 58% | 82.6% |
| #7 | Aspen Mountain Ski Resort (CO) | 11,212 ft | 3,267 ft | 52% | 81.9% |
| #8 | Arapahoe Basin Ski Area (CO) | 13,050 ft | 2,530 ft | 73% | 80.9% |
| #9 | Vail (CO) | 11,570 ft | 3,450 ft | 53% | 79.2% |
| #10 | Steamboat (CO) | 10,568 ft | 3,668 ft | 44% | 78.8% |
| #11 | Aspen Highlands Ski Resort (CO) | 11,675 ft | 3,635 ft | 53% | 78.1% |
| #12 | Crested Butte (CO) | 12,162 ft | 2,787 ft | 61% | 76.7% |
| #13 | Keystone (CO) | 12,408 ft | 3,128 ft | 49% | 75.8% |
| #14 | Bridger Bowl (MT) | 8,700 ft | 2,600 ft | 60% | 74.9% |
| #15 | Turner Mountain (MT) | 5,952 ft | 2,110 ft | 60% | 70.4% |
| #16 | Red Lodge Mountain (MT) | 9,416 ft | 2,400 ft | 56% | 69.3% |
| #17 | Copper Mountain (CO) | 12,441 ft | 2,738 ft | 50% | 68.9% |
| #18 | Discovery Basin (MT) | 8,158 ft | 2,388 ft | 55% | 68.5% |
| #19 | Aspen Snowmass (CO) | 12,510 ft | 4,406 ft | 26% | 68.2% |
| #20 | Whitefish Mountain (MT) | 6,817 ft | 2,353 ft | 50% | 67.4% |
| #21 | Sunlight Mountain (CO) | 9,895 ft | 2,010 ft | 55% | 65.9% |
| #22 | Loveland Ski Area (CO) | 13,010 ft | 2,210 ft | 46% | 64.8% |
| #23 | Montana Snowbowl (MT) | 7,600 ft | 2,600 ft | 40% | 64.5% |
| #24 | Beaver Creek (CO) | 11,440 ft | 3,340 ft | 32% | 64.0% |
| #25 | Snow King (WY) | 7,808 ft | 1,571 ft | 58% | 61.8% |
