North America Ski Resorts That Receive the Most Snow

It’s no secret that powder days are considered the “holy grail” of skiing. Many skiers are chomping at the bit for powder days once the first snowstorm arrives. But it begs the question, which ski resorts receive the most snow each year? It should come as no surprise that the ski areas of Western North America are the snowiest ski resorts, and receive the most snowfall on average. Yet each ski season has its surprises. Vermont’s Jay Peak, for example, recorded 475 inches of snow during the 2024-25 ski season.

So how do North America ski resorts stack up historically for snowfall? Read on as we share with you the North America ski resorts that receive the most snow.

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North America Ski Resorts That Receive The Most Snow

The snowiest ski area in North America is Alyeska, Alaska, where the average annual snow is around 670 inches of accumulation. It’s jumped as high as 848 inches, and surpassed 700 inches during the 2023-24 ski season, but that’s not always the case. Nevertheless, if your ski trip planning is based on whether you can guarantee natural snow (and lots of it), then head to Alyeska. Alyeska is located just 40 miles from Anchorage in Girdwood and offers 1,600 skiable acres, with plenty of steep and deep. If that’s not enough, Girdwood is the gateway to Alaska’s incredible Chugach Mountains, home to more than 700,000 acres of backcountry skiing.

Fittingly, we head to Canada next, where British Columbia is no slouch in the snow department. Whistler Blackcomb logs in with an average snowfall of 465 inches, while Revelstoke receives an impressive 400-500 inches of snow on average. Revelstoke continues to hold the Canadian record for the most snow dropped in a single season, recording an astonishing 80 feet of snow during the 1971-1972 ski season. British Columbia is the snowiest Canadian province, by far. The SkiBig3 resorts, over in Alberta, get about half the snowfall of British Columbia’s snowiest resorts.

The Snowiest Ski Resorts In the U.S.

Can the ski resorts in the Lower 48 compete? Yes, many can. In fact, Mt. Baker in the North Cascades of Washington is considered one of the snowiest ski areas in the world, where it averages a whopping average annual snowfall of 650-700 inches. Need more proof? Mt. Baker broke the world record for snowfall in a single season: 1,140 inches, or 95 feet, in the 1998-99 season. The ski area’s summit elevation is 5,089 feet, which shows you that mountains don’t have to reach the sky to generate a lot of snow.

Don’t sleep on the Pacific Northwest’s other snowy ski resorts. Many of them, including Crystal Mountain and Stevens Pass in Washington, and Mt. Bachelor and Timberline in Oregon, receive well over 400 inches of snow per season on average. Generally speaking, ski resorts in the Lower 48 don’t often surpass 500″ of snowfall.

Over in Wyoming, the ski resorts near the Grand Tetons rack up hundreds of inches of snow each winter. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort receives more than 450 inches of snow each year on average, while nearby Grand Targhee receives more than 500 inches of snow annually. Even during a ski season when many other ski resorts out West are having less snow, you can often count on good accumulation at both Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee.

However, during the 2022-23 season, a number of ski resorts did, including multiple resorts in Utah that broke their all-time snowfall records that year. In Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah ski resorts like Alta and Snowbird collect snow by the meter. Alta averages 548 inches each season, while next door neighbor Snowbird accumulates more than 500 inches. Alta closed the 2022-23 ski season at a whopping 903″ of snow, while Snowbird broke its record with 838”. Brighton and Solitude also see about 500 inches of snow each year.

Do those numbers hold up across Utah? Not exactly. The resorts in Summit County – Park City Mountain Resort and Deer Valley – get about 200 inches less than those in Little Cottonwood Canyon, due in part to a difference of about 1,500 feet in altitude. Both Park City and Deer Valley average 300-350 inches of snowfall annually. No matter how you cut through it, there is indeed some truth to Utah’s claim of having “The Greatest Snow On Earth.”

Over in the popular ski state of Colorado, Wolf Creek, near Pagosa Springs, reigns supreme, averaging 400-plus inches of snow each winter. It consistently receives more natural snow, on average, than any other ski resort in Colorado. Crested Butte averages 200-plus inches. Winter Park, a Denver favorite, and early-to-open Loveland, see around 350 inches of snow on average. Vail, Aspen, and Steamboat all average 300-350 inches of snow annually.

What about California? Mammoth Mountain on average receives 400 inches of snow. It doubled that by the end of the 2022-23 season, with 700″ at the Main Lodge and nearly 900″ at the summit. Further north, Palisades Tahoe also saw more than 700 inches of snow. Like Mammoth, Palisades Tahoe receives 400 inches of snow on average. Nearby Sugar Bowl sees 450-500 inches of snow annually.

Snowmaking Rules The East and Midwest

You won’t find many record breaker resorts in the Midwest, but temperatures often make for good snowmaking at Midwest ski areas when the snow isn’t flying. Still, Michigan’s Mt. Bohemia averages some 270 inches, aided by generous lake-effect snow. Boyne Mountain, by comparison, averages 140 inches.

The East Coast won’t set many snowfall records despite those occasional Nor ‘easters that are often unpredictable. But the averages are more than sufficient, especially since many ski resorts in the region have the most sophisticated and powerful snowmaking systems in the world. Jay Peak is considered the home of the best snow on the East Coast, receiving 350 inches of snow on average. During the 2024-25 ski season, Jay Peak received an incredible 475″ of snow, which was more than many of the snowiest ski resorts listed here. Killington averages 250 inches, while Stowe to the north accumulates around 314 inches. Sugarloaf, in Maine checks, in at 200 inches of snow on average.

Header: @Ben W. Murdock Park City Mountain Resort