In a press release late last month, Snowbasin Resort announced that it had been named “Best Ski Resort” by USA TODAY among ski resorts in the U.S. and Canada. The distinction is part of USA TODAY’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards for 2024.

“Being named the No. 1 Ski Resort from a publication the caliber of USA TODAY is a massive honor and accomplishment for our resort, especially coming off our SKI Magazine win a few weeks ago,” said Davy Ratchford, general manager of Snowbasin Resort, in the original press release. “Our team has been working hard to prioritize the guest experience from start to finish through the resort upgrades and improvements. The increased national recognition we’ve received feels extremely rewarding and proves that our hard work is paying off. I’m so proud of our team and grateful for the support of our guests who helped get us this recognition. We will continue to improve our guest experience as we honor this recognition. The momentum has been brilliant for everyone, and it will only get better as we look forward to the 2034 Winter Olympics.”

The release notes that the resort also recently received No. 1 rankings from Outside Magazine and SKI Magazine.

In a follow up email Tuesday, Ratchford told the Standard-Examiner this is a major achievement for the resort.

“Receiving the #1 ranking in not only USA Today but Ski Magazine and Outside Magazine as well this year gives us a lot of validation that the things we’ve been doing at Snowbasin, as a team, have been the right things,” he said. “We constantly strive to be the very best for our guests; to listen to our guests, learn and implement new things that improve the guest and employee experience. Snowbasin has always been a special place. Some like to call it a ‘hidden gem,’ but for so many people this resort is already special with owners that really care about creating something special.”

He noted that the resort has been in the top 10 of publications like this for several years and was No. 2 in the USA TODAY Top 10 last year.

“The momentum we’ve been seeing along with the highest service scores the resort has ever seen has really propelled us forward,” he said. “Since the 2002 Winter Olympics, Snowbasin has thoughtfully grown, and we’ve steadily invested in the resort. Our food quality has as always been one of the most recognized areas, and of course the skiing experience, lodges, lift infrastructure and employee friendliness. Our accessibility, along with the most amount of free parking in America, has also made us stand out over the years.”

Ratchford said being ranked in publications like this not only drives people to try out Snowbasin, it also reaffirms the efforts they have made to build up the resort.

“Guests that come from all over the world to ski Snowbasin have an expectation that the skiing will be world class, and we deliver on that expectation very well,” he said. “We see new people that come every year. We’ve seen major growth from guests coming from Salt Lake City after realizing they can get up to us and be skiing quickly compared to most places. The free abundant parking and ease of access gives us a major advantage over most and while we can get busy on certain weekends, like all ski resorts in Utah, we generally have much lower crowds compared to other resorts. The #1 ranking that we’ve achieved tell us that people care about what we’ve been working on at Snowbasin and that it’s working. Our job now is to constantly deliver on those high expectations and continue to have the best staff members in the ski industry to help us deliver on an experience of a lifetime while at Snowbasin.”

He said there’s still a lot of work to do with the resort in the coming years.

“We are not perfect, and like every ski resort in America, we can always improve on the little things that make us stand out. My team is committed to that objective, and especially as we move towards the 2034 Winter Olympics, we’ve realized that Snowbasin will have one of the largest footprints of any Winter Olympic venues. It will take a team of dedicated employees and volunteers to help us once again deliver on the best Olympic games the world has ever seen,” Ratchford said.

The only other Utah resort to make the USA TODAY Top 10 for ski resorts in 2024 was Snowbird Resort, which placed eighth.