Ski circuses

Question
Hi,

I am an avid skier who has been skiing in the Arlberg ski-circus in Austria for many years. I have occasionally been to other ski-circuses such as Trois Vallees, Val D'Isere/Tignes, Klosters/Davos, the Flachau ski-circus, Cervinia/Valtournenche/Zermatt and Saalbach/Hinterglemm  etc.. I am curious as to what other comparable ski-circuses there are which are worth doing.  If you could provide me with a list of other equally large ski-circuses in Europe and elsewhere, I would be most grateful.

I was told by my father that there are no worthwhile ski-circuses in the US, since the Rocky Mountains  are too steep or too isolated or something. The largest US ski-circus is supposed to be  Mammoth, with only 33(?)lifts, which seems rather too small. Is this correct?  Personally, I am only interested in those ski-circuses with regular bus-links between ski-resorts, as I have no driving-licence, let alone a car.

Any help appreciated,

thanks,
Geoff.

Answer
Hey Geoff,

I visited the Saalbach/Hinterglemm area two summers ago and really enjoyed the mountain biking there. Would love to go back in the winter. That said, the ski areas in North America are a bit different than your ski-circuses. They are all individual areas but many are quite large with lots of lifts and plenty of variety in ski terrain. Colorado, Utah, and western Canada offer the most choices. Some areas are close together and you can purchase a ticket that covers multiple areas. These usually offer shuttles between areas. Go to www.goski.com to get plenty of information on all areas in North America.

Hope this helps.
Keep on skiing,
Windlover