World’s Best Ski Towns – National Geographic

Photograph by Chase Jarvis, Corbis

Bend, Oregon

Here is something those who already live here have known for years. Bend is one of the best Ski Towns in the World! And now we have the teeth to back that statement up thanks to National Geographic Adventure Magazine, who recently ranked the top 25 Ski Towns in the world. The ranking is not only based on the quality of the skiing, but also on the quality of the amenities and culture that surrounds it. Central Oregon has all that and more.

“…Bend is a fast-growing, adventure paradise of more than 76,000 people in Central Oregon that happens to have the region’s premier ski area, Mount Bachelor, 22 miles west up the road. If you ever dream of skiing in the Pacific Northwest, Bachelor is the kind of mountain you dream about.”

“Beginner and intermediate runs are scattered throughout Bachelor, and some of the groomers are world-class. But with fully 60 percent of the alpine terrain rated black or double-black, experts will get the most from the mountain. From the summit, adventuresome skiers and boarders can jump cornices into the blasted-open summit crater or head for the mountain’s backside of wide-open, backcountry-style double-blacks. Freestyle terrain is excellent, with two halfpipes (18 and 12 feet tall), and a nearly mile-long terrain park.”

Best For: Multisport junkies with a taste for microbrews

…a stupendous selection of hip restaurants, and nine microbreweries within walking distance of each other in the city’s downtown (there’s a reason it’s called “Beervana”). Bachelor keeps the lifts running through Memorial Day, so if you come anytime after mid-winter you can ski up on the mountain in the morning and hike or mountain bike in the lowlands in the afternoon.”

World’s Best Ski Towns – National Geographic.