What is the Least Crowded Ski Resort in North America?

It ain't Vail, I promise you that.

This isn't the first time this has come up. In fact, last year, I wrote a guide on how to avoid the lines in some of our crowded Colorado resorts. Read it here.

I don't want to give any flack to Vail, or Breck for that matter, because I ski and ride at both of them (and A-Basin, Keystone, and Beaver Creek) and love them. But goodness sakes, they do get crowded!

Still skiable on weekends? Not between 10am and 3pm. At least not for me. The lines are too much.

This becomes pretty obvious on trips up I70 on Friday afternoons. "Where the heck are all these people going?" one wonders aloud. Then one notices that every car has a rack on top of it, crammed with skis and snowboards. "Oh. Vail."

The reason why Vail and Breck are the most crowded is simple. Proximity to the highway, and fame.

Well, skiing and riding are much more fun when there is room to turn, when the snow hasn't been packed down to cement by crowds of Texans the size of steamrollers, and when you spend more time on the hill than in the lift line.

That's why I was pleased to see Tripfind's list of the Top Ten Least Crowded Ski Resorts in North America. Here it is.

10. Moonlight Basin - Montana

9. Crested Butte, Colorado

8. 49 Degrees North Mountain Resort - Washington

7. Sugarloaf - Maine

6. Revelstoke - British Columbia, Canada

5. Sun Valley - Idaho

4. Steamboat - Colorado

3. Grand Targhee - Wyoming

2. Big Sky - Montana

1. Telluride - Colorado

Which ones matter to us? Steamboat.

It's funny. Steamboat when compared to Vail, is one more hour in the car from Denver International Airport. You'd think it was the moon. The time you spend in lift lines will more than make up for it, and you'll probably see the time savings within the first few hours of the trip. The last time I was at Vail on a weekend, I was shocked at the sheer mass of people. At Mid Vail, many parts of the mountain intersect. It was overwhelming.

At Steamboat, long lift lines take five, maybe ten minutes to get through. At Vail and Breck on that same weekend, it can take 20 to 30 minutes to get through the lines. That's pain. I won't even do it.

The Northwoods lift at Vail is one of my favorites. It serves some great north facing terrain, and the snow stays soft because of the slope's direction. It is unbearably crowded. Take the Storm Peak lift at Steamboat. It services much more vertical terrain, and takes less than half the time on a given Saturday.

I'll admit that the Morningside chair at Steamboat on a Saturday can take a spell. This is mainly because it serves both the best beginner terrain and the hike access for extreme riders.

But if you consider a lift like Bar UE, it never has a line, even on Saturdays and Sundays.

There is a lot of griping from Steamboat locals about the 'First Tracks' deal where they let people who pay extra up at 8am instead of 8:30. They talk about the good ol' days when almost no one knew about the program, but in my experience, Steamboat is still so much less crowded that Breck or Vail on any Saturday, that it is silly.

Steamboat was a great choice for this list, because it's not out in the middle of Nowhereville, Montana, or EKBF, Colorado (also known as Crested Butte) it still offers all the amenities that Vail Resorts offers, and frankly, gets way more snow.

What do you think? Do the lift lines at any resorts drive you crazy?