Believe it or not, ski season is basically here.
Time to tune up our skis and snowboards, find our cold weather gear and block out time on the calendar to head to the slopes. We’re all excited for it—but there’s one state whose residents are a little more active about Googling ski-related terms. We could even maybe call those people obsessed? Thanks to a study by KÜHL, which analyzed more than 450 ski-related keywords and over 500 resorts using Google Keyword Planner, we now know which states search for skiing the most.
The state most obsessed with whizzing down the mountain is—surprise, surprise—Vermont. According to the report, the state is associated with 8,709 ski-related searches per 100,000 residents—that’s a lot!
This year, Vermont residents got to enjoy the snow pretty early, with the first several feet falling during the first week of November. Resorts like Killington (the most searched resort in Vermont) and Stowe (which claims the number one spot on our list of best Christmas vacations) had to scramble to open early. The study says, “Vermont’s search interest far surpasses every other state, showing just how deeply skiing is woven into life in the Green Mountain State.”
Second on the list is New Hampshire, with not even half as many searches as Vermont: 3,837 per 100,000 residents. But interest here peaked (ha!) when Black Mountain Ski Area announced it would open earlier than it has in . . . wait for it . . . 91 years. Only centenarians can remember that very early snow back in 1934, but those headlines brought renewed interest in skiing in New Hampshire.
And in third place we have Montana, with 3,423 searches per 100,000 residents. Big Sky in the Rocky Mountains will be opening a new resort this year, and so there’s excitement building. Montana experienced a mild fall, so perhaps a stronger winter is ahead. Montana also gets a boost in skiership from folks coming in from nearby states like North Dakota.
A few other interesting takeaways: the first snowfall this year belongs to Winter Park Resort in Colorado, which saw flakes descending on September 10. If we adjust the ski-related searching from “who’s doing it” to “where they want to go,” then Colorado wins over Vermont. The most searched gear? Ski mask. Most searched item of clothing? Ski jacket.
These are the top 10 most ski-obsessed states in the U.S.:
1. Vermont
2. New Hampshire
3. Montana
4. Utah
5. Colorado
6. Alaska
7. Idaho
8. Wyoming
9. Massachusetts
10. Maine