Best ski resorts on the US East Coast

They call it The Beast of the East, and the nickname earns itself every season. Killington is the largest ski area in the eastern United States, sprawled across six peaks, and it opens in late October when most resorts are still ordering snowmaking parts. By May it is still running. The K-1 gondola hoists you above 1200 metres of working Vermont mountain.

Stowe is where American skiing was born. White clapboard church spires, a covered bridge over the West Branch, sugar maples bleeding crimson in November, then snow draping the spruce on Mt Mansfield. The village sits 11 kilometres from the lifts, and the free shuttle makes that distance feel like part of the ritual rather than a flaw.

Sugarbush is a large, well-regarded Eastern resort spread across two main mountains, Lincoln Peak and Mount Ellen, deep in Vermont's Mad River Valley. It pairs the classic New England charm of Warren and Waitsfield with surprisingly varied terrain, from mellow cruisers to genuine steeps and tight glades. Castlerock, the resort's narrow, ungroomed peak, has a cult following among skiers who want the real thing. A slope-side base village at Lincoln Peak ties it all together with a strong, friendly local skiing culture.

Stratton rises above southern Vermont with a polished, car-free pedestrian village clustered right at the base of the lifts. It is one of the East Coast's most family-friendly resorts, with a clock tower, shops and restaurants you can reach on foot in ski boots. This is also the birthplace of American snowboarding, where Jake Burton found his first welcome and the Burton US Open ran for nearly three decades. From New York or Boston the drive is short enough to make it a true long-weekend mountain.

Sugarloaf is one of the biggest ski resorts in the Eastern United States and the only place in the East with lift-served terrain above the treeline. A true slopeside village sits at its base, deep in remote western Maine, where cold, reliable winters keep the snow coming.