Favorites from my years in the northeast are Sugarloaf, Stowe, Sugarbush, MRG, and Magic.

Most disliked: Killington on a weekend or holiday period, Mt. Snow, Someday Bigger.

I'm on my third Alta/Snowbird combined season pass and I really enjoy Solitude and Snowbasin. The Canyons is pretty good as well, but since I live 12 miles from Alta and about 20 from Solitude, it's kind of hard to get me to drive over to the other side of the range. Haven't skied Jackson (Tetons) or Sun Valley yet - both about 5.5 hrs away.

So far this season: 2 days at Snowbird, 4 at Alta, and 1 at Solitude

I love the skiing in little cottonwood . I think it is the best in the U.S.
I have skied at both Sun Valley and J hole. Jackson ROCKS , Sun Valley sucks. It doesn't get enough snow and it rained on me.
Still the best ski trip ever was, the week I spent Heli skiing in B.C.

And what about Gwen?.... Haven't heard from the south.

(ps: my wife would really like to know since she plans to heli ski in Argentina (myself, backed out because friends and I are going back to Peru to fail on the usual suspects).

Jackson ROCKS

Indeed it does. Been skiing there every year since '98. Awesome if you can handle the terrain. One thing that's very noticeable: the average skier at Jackson is really good.

This year I'm doing one trip to Jackson and one to Alta/Snowbird. Alta may be the most beautiful place I've skied and also has great snow and terrain--and no snowboarding.

What does everyone think about height vs. weight as the most important factor to determine ski length?

I'm still trying to jump on the parabolic bandwagon, and my rubbery 10-year-old "trad" skis are much longer at 190cm. I'm tossing up between Salomon X-Scream Series at 169cm or so and a couple different K2 Axis models at around 174cm. It's hard for me to get recommendations that I trust for skis because in proportion to my height I am very lightweight. There is so much to choose from, and it costs a lot of $$$...

Looking at the extremely short skis slalom skiiers are using, it almost seems that your height doesn't matter any more. How hard is it to learn to control the inherent instability on short skis?

Ski stability is no longer a function of length.

Improvements in construction (dampening materials), etc. make short(er) skis that are at least as stable, if not moreso, than our old long sticks.

More importantly, since they are sooo much easier to get and keep on edge, that in and of itself makes them more stable.

If you are bombing down the hill and trying to keep yer skis FLAT (a la downhill or maybe Super G) then they likely will be unstable.
The key is to always be edging, be it ever so slightly, and then they feel like they are on rails.

Bottom line: new skis are a VERY big investment. While there really are no longer any full-on crappy skis being made , you will enjoy it much more if yer skis do what you like to do well.
That super-duper mid-fat freeride ski that all the magazines loved (for out West) probably won't be as much fun on boilerplate at Stowe or Hunter.
(what is? )

And the best way to find that out is to demo. Most larger ski mtns have a demo center. Or demo days.
Pick the 3 or 4 models you think will be best for you and take 'em all out for a test drive.

Thanks, this answers my unspoken question - with the short skis I demoed last year, the tips were wobbling in and out a bit on the straightaway now and then when I had them flat. I guess this is a result of my old school and out of practice technique. You almost have to start learning over again on parabolics.

I am 190cm tall and demoed 181's and 167's last year. when I tried the 167's the guy in the shop said I probably shouldn't go much shorter than that. I'm still having trouble getting my mind around the idea that if new skis are so much better short, why isn't everyone on snowblades if length doesn't matter. I guess it depends on whether you want long, high speed turns or not.

I guess I will just keep demoing if I go out again this season.

I rented shape skis (parabolics) one day last season, and have to say I was extremely impressed! My stiff old 205cm Rossi 4S Kevlars couldn't hold a candle to those things! Truly remarkable technological improvement. Didn't make me want to give up my board, however . . .

On ski areas, a well-travelled ski buddy of mine swears that you have to ski the following three N.A. areas before you die:

Squaw
Jackson Hole
Blackcomb/Whistler

It's difficult to buy a "bad" ski these days - they're all pretty good. However it is possible to buy a ski that is not suited to what you like to ski or your ability level. Length isn't as big a deal as it used to be - the side cut makes up for the shorter skis. Thus the 22 meter radius turn of a GS ski that used to be 205cm can now be done on a 177cm.

I'm 6', 186lbs, and low/mid expert ability (on a 4 point ability scale: beg, int, adv, exp.). My workhorse everyday, all-mountain skis are also my longest skis right now, at 185cm - Salomon Super Mountains (no longer produced). I would have preferred the 180s but they were the last pair at the shop and I got a great deal and I desperately needed to replace my straight skis after moving here. My powder skis are 180s and I just picked up a pair of 175cm Atomics.

Mid-fats are a fine all-mountain ski in the north east. However if you do all bumps all the time, you'd probably want something narrower and faster edge-to-edge. A GS ski like the Atomic Beta Ride 9.22 at 180 is excellent if you tend to stay on the groomed cruisers, but if you venture into the trees and woods a lot, you'd want something a bit shorter and softer.

The Salomon X-Scream Series is a great all around do everything ski, but because of it's stiffness it can be too much to handle if you're not at the advanced or expert levels. So if you're an intermediate or strong intermediate, you might want to consider the X-Scream 9s instead. I tend to steer away from integrated ski/binding systems like the Salomon Pilots or the Atomic system (whatever they call it) because of price and locking you into one manufacturer's equipment. [Disclaimer: I really prefer Marker bindings to almost any others and the integrated systems don't allow you to use other manufacturer's bindings] Despite saying this, I bought a pair of Atomic R:11s with their integrated bindings at the Snowbird swap this fall - simply because I got a $1300 set of skis/bindings for $600.

So it really depends on your style of skiing. Read the reviews and demo, demo, demo.

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...with the short skis I demoed last year, the tips were wobbling in and out a bit on the straightaway now and then when I had them flat.

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It is a bit of a technique thing. The new skis really like to be up on edge and turning. Some skis are more squirrley on the flat than others, especially the super-carvers with a very deep side-cut.

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I'm still having trouble getting my mind around the idea that if new skis are so much better short, why isn't everyone on snowblades if length doesn't matter.

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Diminishing returns - there is a limit. The new skis are better short as compared to the old, straighter skis and philosophy. It's not that shorter is always better. See my point above about sidecut making up for length.

Hey Nerdom, you have a board and you still ski??!! Downhill lift service that is. I have a XC and BC ski set-up, but if I'm riding the lift I would not even consider going back to skis.