Score Change: Snow King Sees The Most Radical Transformation of a Ski Resort in Years
Updated:
October 13, 2024
Snow King’s intermediate experience has seen a boost thanks to the Sunnyside backside expansion, which brings new intermediate bowl terrain (the area was technically in-bounds prior to the 2021-22 season, but it did not have any lift service or trail markings, making it effectively unsuitable for resort visitors). However, the back side has a huge catch—it faces south, meaning it doesn’t hold snow very well. The backside experience can be quite variable; snow retention across the south-facing zone is disappointing, with the area relying on snowmaking to avoid bare cover and regularly closing large sections of the bowl. Conditions-wise, the back side looks more like something you’d expect from an average East Coast mountain than a Rockies destination.
A lot has changed at Snow King with these updates, but the resort still maintains the same general vibe as the old mountain. Despite the new buildup, the resort still retains the local town hill feel it has historically exhibited. Perhaps part of the reason for that is that these upgrades haven’t resulted in a major uptick in crowds—or at least one large enough to generate memorable lines. The capacity of the new Snow King Gondola isn’t actually that much higher than the old double chair, but in today’s world, it doesn’t really need to be.
Mountain Score Impacts
Snow King sees multiple boosts to its PeakRankings Mountain Score as a result of these changes. The gondola and backside triple installations have been so critical to the resort experience that we are increasing the resort’s Lifts score by an unprecedented three points, from a 2 to a 5. The new signage has had quite an effect as well, and while there are still some areas for improvement, we are increasing Snow King’s Navigation score by a whopping two points, from a 5 to a 7. However, we have also made the decision to decrease Snow King’s Resiliency score by a point due to the variability of the new back side expansion.
The resort also sees a few Mountain Score shifts due to category recalibrations on our end, rather than changes directly related to investments from this past season. We’re adjusting our Terrain Diversity category to better reflect shortcomings in certain terrain categories (the full overhaul will be released in the coming days), and we have made the decision to keep Snow King’s Terrain Diversity score at a 4—rather than increasing it to a 5—due to its small footprint and limited terrain. In addition, Snow King’s Mountain Aesthetic score sees a one-point shift from an 8 to a 7 as part of a broader category revampdetailed here.
Despite a considerable three-point Mountain Score increase, Snow King faces stiff competition from larger Rocky Mountain destinations and retains its ranking as 24th in the Rockies. However, the resort has leapfrogged ahead of several resorts in other regions and now ranks 41st overall—up five spots from its previous position.
For more on Snow King, check out our fullSnow King mountain reviewand ourRockies resort rankings.
Snow King Score Change
Previous Resiliency Score
New Resiliency Score
Previous Lifts Score
New Lifts Score
Previous Navigation Score
New Navigation Score
Previous Mountain Aesthetic Score
New Mountain Aesthetic Score
Previous Overall Score
New Overall Score
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