Blog
Guides and data-backed articles for skiers who want to compare resorts fairly, plan trips, and improve the open map data behind the atlas. Each article is a full guide with clear sections—not a thin summary.
How to Tag a Ski Resort in OpenStreetMap (So It Shows Up in the Atlas)
Ten steps from an OSM account to a mapped ski hill, using Montage Mountain as the example.
Improve the dataHow Global Ski Atlas Data Works: From OpenStreetMap to the Map
Follow Bristol Mountain from OSM way 320434895 through GeoParquet into the maps, charts, and downloads.
Help skiers decideSki Trip Planning Checklist Using Global Ski Atlas
Drive time, a mapped hill, pass tags, and what to confirm before you leave.
Reveal the datasetHow Many Ski Resorts Are There in the World?
Count downhill rows in ski_areas_analyzed.parquet: 3,035 areas in 63 countries, with maps for Chapman Hill, Japan, the Alps, AfriSki, and Les Arcs.
Improve the dataWhat Ski Resort Stats Actually Mean
Trail counts, acres, and lift strings as they sit in ski_areas_analyzed.parquet, not as brochures print them.
Help skiers decideHow to Choose a Ski Resort (Without Reading 10 Resort Websites)
Size, mix, drive, and pass tags from the same parquet, then pick a hill.
Reveal the datasetThe Largest Ski Resorts in the World (By Mapped Terrain)
Ranked by skiable_terrain_acres in the current parquet. The 3 Valleys leads this file.
Help skiers decideBest Ski Resorts for Beginners: Local Hills vs Destination Weeks
Chapman Hill for a Saturday. A destination week is a different map.
Reveal the datasetWhich U.S. States Have the Most Ski Resorts?
Colorado leads this extract with 37 downhill rows. New Hampshire, Vermont, Wisconsin, New York, and Pennsylvania sit just behind.
Improve the dataChairlifts, Gondolas, and T-Bars: Ski Lift Types Explained
Chair lifts lead the tagged count. Platters, carpets, and T-bars still move most of the small hills.
Improve the dataHow to Read a Ski Trail Map (And Spot When OSM Gets It Wrong)
American green/blue/black on live pistes, plus what a missing snap looks like.
Help skiers decidePlanning a Multi-Resort Ski Road Trip Using Open Data
Northeast and Colorado clusters from the same points you already counted.
Help skiers decideEpic Pass vs Ikon Pass: What Our Database Actually Covers
Pass tags from pass-affiliations.json against thousands of downhill rows with no pass at all.
Help skiers decideEpic vs Ikon vs Indy Pass vs Skiing in Europe: Which Path Is Right for You?
Indy, Epic, Ikon, or an Alps polygon. The maps are the argument.
Reveal the datasetSkiing at the Edge of the World: Northernmost and Southernmost Ski Areas
Nedover Alpinbakke on Svalbard at 78.2°N. Cerro Castor in Tierra del Fuego at 54.7°S.
Reveal the datasetWhich Ski Resorts Have the Best Lift Redundancy? An N-1 Test on 1,888 Lift Networks in 52 Countries
Close one lift, measure what terrain you can no longer lap. Les 3 Vallées loses at most 5%. Panorama loses 64% when Champagne Express stops.