Updated July 22, 2025 04:16PM
The Toughest Terrain at the 7 Most Challenging Resorts in North America
We asked SKI readers, and found out where to find the goods at the resorts they ranked the most challenging on the continent.
(Photo: Liam Doran)
When our annual reader-fueled rankings come out every fall, we’re always keen to see how the resorts fare when it comes to challenging terrain. While the amount and quality of expert and extreme terrain is important to many of us, the resorts with the most difficult slopes are not always at the top of the overall rankings.
Related: See Where Your Favorite Western Resorts Ranked in This Year’s Survey
Why is that? Simply, we’re not all in it for the extreme stuff. Chutes, steep trees, couloirs, and mandatory air are just not everyone’s jam. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But if the thought of standing at the top of a steep slope, skis hanging over the abyss, makes your stomach drop and knees knock in the very best ways, then this list is for you.
Think we’re missing something? Let us know how you really feel by taking SKI reader’s survey when it reopens next spring.
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Resort Guide 2025: 7 Resorts With the Most Extreme Terrain
1. Taos Ski Valley, N.M.
- Challenge Score: 9.8/10
- Percentage of Expert/Extreme Terrain: 51
What Readers Say: “Taos is absolutely an expert’s mountain. We were most at home on the steep hike-to terrain, however even some of the lower mountain runs were riddled with moguls and at times other hazards like rocks poking through the snow. The steepness and variable conditions of Taos make it one of the LAST places I would recommend anyone learn to ski at.”
There’s a reason why Taos has long been a host venue of the Freeride World Tour Qualifiers. (The next one is March 2-7, 2025.) Simply put, the expert and extreme terrain off Kachina Peak is incomparable in North America, and when the snow gods smile on the southwestern U.S., there is no better place to be for steeps, chutes, high-angle trees, and low crowds, especially if you’re willing to hike a bit.
Aside from Kachina, which is only open when there’s enough snow to adequately cover its steep terrain, other areas for experts to seek out include Highline Ridge, with its excellent north-facing trees, and West Basin for its chutes and spicy cliff bands.
Watch: How to Keep Your Balance in the Trees
2. Mad River Glen, Vt.
- Challenge Score: 9.6
- Percentage of Expert/Extreme Terrain: 45
What Readers Say: “MRG is for advanced skiers who want an open playground, someone who can ski any conditions—they don’t really groom, except for a couple trails, so you need to be able to ski anything because challenges pop up out of nowhere.”
The northern Vermont mountain is the battleground for expert skiers, who drive past many other Vermont resorts to test their skills on MRG’s tough terrain. The go-tos are located off the iconic Single Chair, including the massive moguls on Chute and the technical steeps with natural obstacles on Lift Line and Fall Line.
If you’re feeling really confident, make your way to Paradise, where the sustained 40-degree pitch features a sporty mix of bumps, trees, cliff bands, and rock outcroppings. Odds that you’re navigating in a slick, icy hard-pack? Pretty high, but that’s part of the charm.
3. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyo.
- Challenge Score: 9.6
- Percentage of Expert/Extreme Terrain: 50
What Readers Say: “ Skiing in Jackson is a remarkably unique experience. From the moment you board your first upper mountain lift, you know there is enough terrain to challenge even experts for a lifetime.”
If you haven’t heard of Corbet’s Couloir, that’s on you, but you’d be forgiven for not knowing about all of the other equally impressive steep and technical terrain on tap at Jackson Hole. Alta Chutes is pretty well-known in its own right, and well worth adding to your list. There are four chutes, so if it’s your first time checking them out, start with Chute 2 or 3 before attempting Chute 1, which is the steepest, narrowest, and most technical.
Over on Cody Peak, Central Couloir carves right down the center and boasts an often-icy and rocky entrance that scares most people away. This is good because they probably wouldn’t have liked the mandatory air at the couloir’s terminus. Central Couloir is a three-minute hike from the top of Rendezvous Bowl.
4. Jay Peak, Vt.
- Challenge Score: 9.1
- Percentage of Expert/Extreme Terrain: 40
What Readers Say: “Excellent expert terrain and glades. The tram is awesome when it’s not crowded.”
Part of Jay’s intrigue, aside from the bounty provided by the “Jay Cloud,” which dumps some of the East’s best snow on its slopes, is the intense terrain accessed by the tram. Experts love these steep chutes and sustained pitches for their sheer scare factor, made even more difficult by the exposed nature of this terrain. On windy, stormy days, the tram face will make you question all of your life choices.
On those days, it’s tight, technical trees for the win. Try Staircase Glade, home to some of the tightest trees in the state, and be reminded why East Coast skiing is legit.
5. Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Colo.
- Challenge Score: 9.0
- Percentage of Expert/Extreme Terrain: 37
What Readers Say: “Hard-chargers will love Crested Butte’s challenging terrain off of the peak, or they can journey over to the other side of the mountain for even more steeps and trees.”
With runs named Body Bag and Dead End Chutes, you know Crested Butte has a little something for expert and extreme skiers. Rambo, with its 55-degree pitch and natural obstacles such as bushes and rocks, is probably the most well-known of CB’s in-bounds steeps. It’s steep and fast, and when the snow is good, it’s not to be missed.
Nearby Body Bag is another to add to your extreme-skiing list, especially if trees are your jam. These double-black glades drop 275 feet at 55 degrees, so you better be confident turning on a dime.
6. Smugglers’ Notch, Vt.
- Challenge Score: 8.9
- Percentage of Expert/Extreme Terrain: 31
What Readers Say: “Smuggs’ access to steep tight glades, inbound drops and chutes, and all-around sidecountry steeps make it hands-down the best in the East.”
Gotta love a ski area that’s simultaneously known for its children’s programming and death-defying steeps. But that’s indeed the case at Smugglers’ Notch, where the challenging terrain on Madonna Mountain is most definitely not suitable for (most) kids.
Case in point, Upper Madonna Liftline, especially if you like an audience. Liftline, which runs directly below the Madonna I lift, boasts a 50-ish degree pitch, during which you also have to navigate massive boulders and an inconsistent fall line. Not to mention trying not to collide with the chairlifts above that feel frighteningly close. (Don’t worry, they’re not.)
Then there’s Black Hole, a triple black diamond with a 53-degree pitch that’s accessed about a third of the way down Upper Liftline. Littered with tree stumps and other fun obstacles, Black Hole skis like a runaway roller coaster. And we mean that in the best possible way.
7. Palisades Tahoe, Calif.
- Challenge Score: 8.8
- Percentage of Expert/Extreme Terrain: 30
What Readers Say: “There’s something for everyone but especially hard-chargers. There are chutes and cliffs everywhere!”
A mountain made famous for its expert terrain in many a ski flick, Palisades Tahoe is still considered the birthplace of extreme skiing in the U.S. thanks to legends such as Shane McConkey and Robb Gaffney. And rightfully so. You can’t visit without skiing the OGs, including the steeply pitched vertical off KT-22 to the hike-to terrain from the Headwall chair. On the Alpine side, a short hike in the Pacific Crest Bowls is just the prelude to some of Tahoe’s best—and most undiscovered—wide-open bowls that funnel down into some seriously gnarly chutes and cliffs.
