Big mountain, low base

What can you do if you love snowboarding but get sick when you go to the mountains? One option is to seek out ski areas that offer a bit-mountain experience at a lower altitude.

Recently I compiled such a list. I started with all the ski areas in the U.S., and then cut out everything with a a vertical drop of less than 2,000 feet. I used this admittedly arbitrary number to define a “real” mountain. For a second cut I looked for places where the base elevation is less than one mile high, or 5,280 feet.

Roughly two dozen areas made the list. Alyeska has the lowest base elevation (250 feet), but it’s in Alaska–a long ways away from most people. Many of the places on the list are in the Pacific Northwest, which has a reputation for wet snow, which many riders find less than ideal. The Northeast (with a reputation for ice) is over-represented on the list. Then again, Jay Peak, Vermont, has a good reputation for powder, and one of my best powder days was at Cannon Mountain, New Hampshire.

So as you might expect, there are some trade-offs to consider. But if altitude sickness is a significant problem for you, they may be worth the trouble.