Ski areas were selected based on the top 100 most searched ski destinations on HomeToGo for the 2023-24 season. From those top searched destinations, a short list of 48 ski areas was created based on those with 44 miles of ski slope or more.
To rank these destinations, HomeToGo used six data points: affordability, considering the prices of peak-season lift tickets, provided by the resorts, and accommodations, found through HomeToGo’s own data. Also factored in are skiers' search trends, historical snow depths, chairlift capacities, and slope counts. After obtaining the raw figures, each data point was assigned a representative numerical value between 5 and 10. The hypothetical "perfect score" would be 40 out of 40. The following equation was used in order to calculate this for every factor:
Score(i) = 5 · (x(i) - xmin ) / (xmax - xmin ) + 5
Lift ticket score: The destination with the lowest lift ticket price received a score of 10, all other destinations received a score of five or higher. Prices for lift passes were collected from the ski area websites. The lift pass price is for a full day’s skiing for an adult during the 2023-24 ski season. When date selection was required for ticket purchases, February 17, 2024 was selected as the date. These prices were researched in October of 2023 and may include discounts that are offered to customers who buy in advance.
Lodging score is based on the median nightly price per person to stay in a vacation rental found on HomeToGo within 2 miles of the ski area between the dates of December 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024. The destination with the lowest median price received a score of 10, all other destinations received a score of five or higher according to the above equation.
(*) Prices marked with an asterisk are based on the latest available lift ticket prices for 2023
Search popularity score is based on the combined search volume of travelers using HomeToGo and other leading search engines. Destination with the lowest search volume, as taken from HomeToGo and Semrush, was awarded a score of 10, with the remaining destinations receiving a score of 5 or higher according to the above equation.
Snow depth score is based on a four-year historical average snow depth for each ski destination from December 1st to March 31st. Data was gathered from a leading weather data service provider. The ski destination with the highest average snow depth for the months of December to March was awarded a score of 10 with the remaining destinations receiving a score of 5 or higher.
Chairlift capacity score is based on the maximum number of people a ski destination can transport using it's available ski lifts. Note, this number is an approximation and may be affected by many factors including lift closures and snow conditions. The ski destination with the highest ski lift capacity was awarded a score of 10 with the remaining destinations receiving a score of 5 or higher.
Ski slope score is based on the length of ski slopes in miles and was gathered from ski-resorts-stats.com and the ski resort websites themselves.
All prices in USD. Please note that this is a forecast and that prices may change between now and the upcoming season. Prices exclude sales tax.
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