From the Top: The 'Other Season'

I can see the mail already. “Dear Editor: As a recent subscriber to SKI, I was expecting to receive a magazine about skiing. Instead, this ‘special’ Mountain Summer issue just arrived in my mailbox. Let me tell you, as good as it may be, I really don’t want to read about hiking, biking, fishing or golfing in the mountains. I don’t care if Deer Valley runs its chairlifts for awesome mountain biking. So what if Aspen has incredible festivals? And don’t even bring up the award-winning golf courses at Tremblant. I want skiing only. Period. Please cancel my subscription immediately, you idiot. Signed, Ski Fanatic.”

Well then, let me apologize in advance to the few of you out there who haven’t had the opportunity to appreciate the wonders of summer in the mountains, where the air is not only cleaner but cooler. Because our reader research shows that 88 percent of you vacation in the summer; 53 percent mountain bike; 42 percent golf; and 40 percent hike and camp, it only seems logical to produce an issue on the “other season” in the high country. In fact, SKI has been publishing Mountain Summer since 1993.

For this year’s version, we’ve extended our embrace of warm weather. In addition to writing about the top ski towns for summer, the best scenic drives, the coolest water adventures and the finest golf courses in our “Closer To Heaven” package, we also are introducing the Top 30 Ski Resorts for Summer. These were selected in a poll of SKI editors and contributors, and are presented by region. The capsule reports are based loosely on the format we use for our annual October Top 60 Resort Guide; they include insider information on these resorts, a “Don’t Miss” suggestion and an unbeatable package. For those who still need a summer ski fix, turn to page 39 to read about skiing in South America, or learn about North America’s finest late-skiing bastions.

What do you do in the summer?” is a question that’s frequently asked of SKI Magazine staff members. Most of our readers seem to think that we work extremely hard during the winter and then have a chance to catch our wind in the summer. It’s actually just the opposite: Summer is SKI’s busiest season, when we’re putting together those big, fall issues packed with all the new gear and resort reviews. So as you read this in late April or early May, we’re putting the finishing touches on our ski-test results for the annual September Buyer’s Guide. And we’re poring over the early returns for the Reader Resort Survey, finding out whether there will be a new No. 1 resort in North America. So for those of you sitting down to write that nasty letter about the lack of skiing in this issue, try to be patient. It will be only a couple months before the Buyer’s Guide arrives at your home, signaling the approach of yet another ski season.

You can reach Andy at abigford@skinet.com