[scythe]

The better ski resorts in the Northeast — Killington, Sugarloaf — aren't as close to the big cities. NH is sort of an exception. But in general, you can drive there on Friday, ski on the weekend, and drive home on Sunday, or you can't. Six hours is just over the line.

There are also more ski resorts in the East. After the environmental movement really kicked off in the '70s it became a lot harder to open a new ski hill with a Forest Service permit. There are no ski resorts in the Rose Mountains or the Wallowas, regions of the West with huge vertical drops and high snowfall. They're protected wilderness. (Today the nearby towns are much poorer than Vail.) Competition keeps prices down.

And the smaller ski resorts in the West aren't exactly driving local economies. Leadville and Lakeshore are just muddling through. It's a very winner-take-all market.