Winter Park Resort and Devil’s Thumb Ranch are celebrating this week after being named the top ski resort and top cross country ski resort, respectively, by a USA Today readers poll.

Winter Park was voted the number one spot out of 20 nominees. Another notch in the belt for one of Colorado’s oldest major resorts. The list also featured two other Colorado resorts: Copper Mountain came in at number five and Telluride Ski Resort rounded out the top 10 but only a few Colorado Resorts made this years list.

Communications Director for Winter Park Resort, Steve Hurlbert, said “Any time you get singled out for an award like this it means a lot but I think it means even more when it’s coming from the visitors experiences.” Hurlbert said in our interview, we pride ourselves on being a resort very much “of the people” and it’s incredibly rewarding to be recognized by those people just looking for a great ski/snowboard experience.

In a similar poll by USA Today readers that came out last week, Devil’s Thumb Ranch was named number one Cross Country Ski Resort in North America.  Hurlbert said, “We are so proud to share our number one ranking with our good friends and neighbors at Devil’s Thumb. I think it speaks to how strong the Fraser Valley is as an outdoor adventure destination.”

Mother Nature and plenty of good marketing will certainly help kick the holiday season into high gear for everyone in the community.  Hurlbert said, “An award of this magnitude signifies that the hard work everyone is putting in here at Winter Park Resort is resonating with people, which is incredibly gratifying.”   With the new gondola and this years capital improvements, “it really has the feeling of a watershed season for Winter Park and this award certainly adds to the feeling like this season could be our best ever.”

Alterra Mountain Company, Winter Park’s resorts parent company has invested over $28 million in Winter Park Resort this year.  Upgrading the Snowmaking System, Improving the base and plaza areas and installing a new 10 Passenger Gondola. Hurlbert said, “Everyone is working hard to get The Gondola ready as soon as possible.”  Could happen as early as next week if all goes well with final inspections and load testing.

The Fraser Valley has much to be proud of these days and with a national spotlight focusing on our best kept secrets you can bet the days of freshies and hidden powder stashes will soon be a thing of the past.

The top 10 winners in the Best Ski Resort in North America:

Winter Park Resort – Winter Park
Mount Bohemia – Lac La Belle, Mich.
Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows – Olympic Valley, Calif.
Alta Ski Area – Alta, Utah
Copper Mountain – Copper Mountain
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort – Golden, B.C.
Deer Valley – Park City, Utah
Revelstoke Mountain Resort – Revelstoke, B.C.
Taos Ski Valley – Taos, N.M.
Telluride Ski Resort – Telluride

A panel of experts partnered with 10Best editors to pick the initial 20 nominees, and the top 10 winners were determined by popular vote. Experts Wendy Clinch (TheSkiDiva.com), Saxon Farnworth (Snowboard Addiction), Elena Hight, Lyndell Keating (Powderhounds) and Kristen Lummis (braveskimom.com) were chosen for their knowledge of the ski and snowboarding industry.

The top 10 winners in the Best Cross-Country Ski Resort category are as follows:

Devil’s Thumb Ranch – Tabernash, Colo.
Cross Country Ski Headquarters – Roscommon, Mich.
Tahoe Donner Cross Country Ski Center – Truckee, Calif.
Garnet Hill Lodge – North River, N.Y.
White Grass Ski Touring Center – Davis, W.V.
Lapland Lake Nordic Vacation Center – Northville, N.Y.
Maplelag Resort – Callaway, Minn.
Sovereign Lake & Silver Star Mountain Resort – Vernon, B.C.
Latigo Ranch – Kremmling, Colo.
Jackson Ski Touring Foundation – Jackson, N.H.

A panel of experts partnered with 10Best editors to pick the initial 20 nominees, and the top 10 winners were determined by popular vote. Experts Jennie Bender, Reese Brown (Cross Country Ski Areas Association), Roger Lohr (XCSkiResorts.com),  Cami Thompson Graves and Jonathan Wiesel (Nordic Group International) were chosen for their knowledge of the ski and snowboarding industry.