Backcountry may account for the sport鈥檚 biggest boom, but uphill, in-bounds traffic isn鈥檛 far behind. Some resorts have banned dawn patrollers from skinning up, and plenty have begrudgingly stayed neutral, but a few forward-thinking resorts have embraced the trend. sells a day ticket for uphill use ($10) and offers a map of designated climbing and descending routes, some of them dog friendly. Once up the hill, skiers are rewarded with freshly groomed corduroy on any of the resort鈥檚 open frontside runs.
Though doesn鈥檛 actively promote uphill traffic, it鈥檚 one of the few resorts in Utah that permit it鈥攚hich explains why the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association trains here. You can skin up to Brighton鈥檚 10,750-foot Clayton Peak and descend via black-diamond runs under the Great Western lift. The best policy around, though, belongs to tiny in Vermont. The 195-acre hidden gem鈥攚hich offers an impressive 1,700 vertical feet鈥攅ncourages people to test their limits by climbing the mountain at no charge. They just ask that skiers spend some money on a beer or a burger afterward. We鈥檒l drink to that.