CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine — Journalist Gordy Megroz grew up in South Londonderry, Vermont, just 10 minutes from Stratton Mountain where he learned to ski. It's the icy New England conditions, often devoid of powder, that Megroz attributes with laying the foundation of his skiing skills.
"I like any trail where I get to get out and enjoy the sunshine and get to go fast ... anything that lets me crank up the speed gun a little bit is fun for me," said Megroz.
The New Englander recently spent nearly a year compiling a list of some of the greatest ski mountains across the globe for National Geographic's "100 Slopes of a Lifetime: The World's Ultimate Ski and Snowboard Destinations."
From mountains that skiers and snowboarders expect like Vail Ski Resort in Colorado, Mammoth Mountain in California, and several in the French and Swiss Alps, to more obscure ski resorts in Morocco, India, Hawaii, and Antarctica, it is clear that across the globe, if there is snow, there's skiing.
"There were quite a few ski areas around the world that will probably surprise casual readers," said Megroz.
Megroz has skied at only a quarter of the slopes he wrote about. For the book, he relied on a network of professional skiers and snowboarders along with instructors he knows after more than a decade as a ski journalist and contributing editor for Outside Magazine.
When it came to New England, Megroz knew he was biased and so he relied heavily on others' opinions for curating the list. Sugarloaf was lucky enough to make the cut.
"Tote Road at Sugarloaf is a classic and I thought it had to be in there and pretty much everyone agreed with me," said Megroz.
From his home state of Vermont came a pretty good showing: Killington Ski Resort, Mad River Glen, Rikert Nordic Center, and Stowe Mountain Resort.
And from New Hampshire, Megroz mentioned Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington. While no ski resort is located on the mountain, skiers have trekked the 2.5-miles ascent for more than 100 years to ski the steep cliffs and chutes at the highest peak in the northeast.