In the Media

November 25, 2016

USA Today Reader' Choice Award - In the category Best Ski Resort, Sugarbush was recently voted #1 in the East, and #2 in North America by USA Today readers. A panel of experts partnered with 10Best editors to picked the initial 20 nominees, and the top 10 winners were determined by popular vote. Experts Wendy Clinch (TheSkiDiva), Lyndell Keating (Powderhounds), Kristen Lummis (The Brave Ski Mom), Nate Musson (The Not Snowboarding Podcast) and Mark Warner (Low Pressure Podcast: The Podcast for Skiers) were chosen based on their skiing and snowboarding expertise.

Peering over the edge of Stein’s Run at Vermont’s Sugarbush Resort, my stomach does a backflip. Named for Stein Erikson, the legendary Olympian who sited the trail back in the mid-’60s, Stein’s is a classically steep, double-black mogul run.

A few years ago, I was skiing high above the Sugarbush resort in Vermont with John Egan, a legend of extreme skiing 20 years before the genre had even been identified. Mr. Egan has starred in audacious ski movies from Argentina to Siberia and everywhere in between. He could live almost anywhere, his teaching skills and reputation making him welcome at dozens of skiing resorts. But he has instead called Mad River Valley in central Vermont home for decades.

Home to both Sugarbush Resort and the intense, more "locals-only" Mad River Glen, Vermont's Mad River Valley is beloved by travelers all year round. Skiers flock to the slopes every winter, and in spring the place draws fly-fishing enthusiasts. The summer means arts festivals and in fall, you'd be hard pressed to find more vibrant foliage anywhere in the world.

Moms who want to enhance their skiing skills without worrying what the kids are up to are in luck: For each day they participate in one of these two-and-a-half-day programs, skiiers receive either a half-price, full-day kids program enrollment or a half-price all-mountain lift pass for a child (or an adult companion). With the little ones diverted, moms can take advantage of customized instruction, video analysis, daily breakfast and lunch, discounted lift tickets, and optional gear demos.

'Sugarbush is authentic Vermont. First chair on a powder morning brings out the Mad River Valley locals, including the resort's owner Win Smith (since 2001) who skis more than 100 days a season. Sugarbush has wiped off its 'Mascara Mountain' moniker as dubbed by Vogue Magazine back in the 1960's. Today it's genuine Vermont.'

'For the slopeside diners, the weary skiers, the powder chasing snowboarders and the family friendly atmosphere head in Timbers, the casual fine dining on-mountain option at Sugarbush's Clay Brook and their signature restaurant. The rustic chic vibe is welcoming and very 'Vermont' and they serve one of the best burgers we've ever had.'

Waitsfield was named one of the 'Top 10 Emerging Ski Towns' by National Geographic and was the only town listed on the east coast. 'Deep in the Green Mountains of northern Vermont sits the Mad River Valley, a woodsy skier's paradise that is establishing itself as the quietly humming soul of eastern skiing.'

'I think I'm in love with Win Smith - whom I've never met. We have so much in common: an appreciation for Vermont vernacular architecture, and a love of skiing. I hear he puts in more than a hundred days per season at Sugarbush, the resort he rescued from the cookie-cutter clutches of the now-defunct American Skiing Company in 2001.

'This brings me to Sugarbush, my top pick in Vermont ski resorts. 'The Bush' has the perfect mix of luxury and local. You can find plenty of perfectly groomed trails and high-end accommodations, restaurants, and services.'

'Sugarbush is under-skied, under-visited and just unbelievably sweet, worth some vertical if it's been a while since you skied this Vermont stash.'

''You can hang out and chat with women at a coffee shop, but when you're doing a sport together, the conversations are different.' It was this idea of a shared experience somewhat outside of the normal constraints of daily life that was the core reason they came back every Saturday, each season for years and years.'

'Win's hands on approach to running the resort shines in every detail that adorns the luxurious slopeside Clay Brook condominiums. The suites are luxurious and timeless, very Vermont chic - the decor doesn't sacrifice the rustic vibe that you love from Vermont, and yet it's not overwhelming...and it's as slopeside as you can get.'