Recent Ski Bucket List Achievements

JimK

What ski bucket list items have you recently achieved from this past season, or from last few years?

I’m at the age when I honestly don’t have too many personal bucket list items anymore and the extravagant pursuit of the concept seems a bit self indulgent. Sharing ordinary things with loved ones is just as meaningful as some big extraordinary adventure. However, sometimes I get carried away, or tag along with others on an experience I aspired to or was curious about for a long time :-)

I guess in the 2026 ski season the two bucket list type ski activities that stick out for me were: skiing the Vallee Blanche in Chamonix, France and catching the summit tram at Big Sky to ski down from the top of Lone Peak.

Vallee Blanche, Jan 2026:

Big Sky, Apr 2026:

Maybe just for fun I’ll add a couple non-ski items:

Hiking to Delicate Arch, UT, May 2026:

Seeing my one year old granddaughter for the first time, July 2026:

ski_it

IDK JimK - very tough to get a bucket list to compete with a cutie granddaughter like that. ….Or any of your all time pics.
Anyhoo I’ll give it a whirl…
Ok, I skied the newest ski resort in North America if not the world this past season.

NewEnglandSkier13

My bucket list item that I checked off was to ski at a ski area in New England that @ski_it hasn’t skied at when they were operating! 😉 It also happens to be the most recently reopened ski area in New England.

riverc0il

Ironically, the older I get, the less interested I am in bucket lists.

I just want to ski at a high level for as long as possible before I hang em’ up.

ski_it

You win NES13. They were in the parking lot and it is free so I’m counting it!!
Ok you are one up on me

ski_it

I skied a private school slope I had tried before a couple times but was denied way back then.
Now I think I’m one up on you

NewEnglandSkier13

ski_it Yes, I’m very jealous about that one!

snowphoenix

A couple achievements from my season:

Skiing 20 lift-served “days” (counting short night sessions at Wachusett as days) and 342 total runs, a new personal record
Two new Indy Pass areas skied: Ragged Mountain and Black Mountain, NH
My longest season yet: first day was November 28th (previous earliest start was November 30th) and last day was May 9th (previous latest last day was April 14th), and of course my first time skiing in May
I skied the Face Chutes at Jay Peak for the first time, after just looking at them on my many previous trips there

ski_itJR

snowphoenix Knocking down the face chutes is very bucket list worthy!

ski_itJR

These last 2-3 seasons have been full of bucket list items for me. This most recent season I checked off:

Skied my earliest day in the season on November 15th
Skied my latest day in the season on June 1st
Skied my longest season yet at 41 ski days
Skied in the Chic Chocs for the first time
Skied with a guide
Took an avalanche course
Skied in Europe for the first time

I have really wanted to hit a long season (>30days) for a while and getting to start so early was awesome, the chic chocs have been in my sights for years now, and taking a course with a guide was the cherry on top.

My bucket list for next season will be a hut trip, landing a 360 off side hit under a lift for maximum ego points, getting the ski wife hitting glade runs, getting @ski_it to use the brand new skis I got for him 2 years ago, digging my own pit to assess avy conditions somewhere else besides Mt Washington.

justkeepmovingne

Well hello folks - I forgot about this forum for a good few months there. Hope everyone is well.

Most of my bucket list items I was able to check off were centered around touring this year:
-Ski at Petersburg Pass (and in December, no less!)
-Ski at Prospect Mountain in Woodstock
-Do some ski trailwork (not so much a bucketlist, but a goal I set for myself - cleared _¾ mile of blowdown from trails at King Hill (don’t worry - no tools, didn’t violate any rules)
-Ski DJ’s Tramline - wow! Some real big rocks over in there, but what a fun trail
-Ski 30+ days (cleared, and I don’t think I skied after late-march… first time above 25 since 2017/18 when I skied exclusively over at Gore)
-Ski in a new state (achieved 4 - Maine (somehow never), Colorado, Washington, and counting Quebec)
-Ski the Thunderbolt (another long-time bucket list)
-Ski at least 1 new Indy area (achieved 6 - Bousquet, Mont Sutton, Howelson Hill, Loveland, 49 Degrees North, Camden Snow Bowl)

It was a good season.

I’ve got a running list of places to visit or things to achieve in the future, hoping to knock one or two off for 26/27:
-Visit Williams College Ski Slope
-Visit all four Eastern Township ski areas
-Complete a King Hill to Mount Sunapee ski traverse (will require a good snow year and convincing a friend to join)
-Ski at least one new auto road (Cadillac in Acadia, Fort Mt, Kearsarge or Washington in NH, or the Vets Memorial in NY)
-Ski at least one Adirondack dedicated ski trail (targeting either Phelps or Marcy Ski Trails)
-Visit at least one surface lift only ski area
-Get permission to tour at a closed local area (I grew up in Upstate New York… therefore, the two I specifically care about right now are Adirondack Ski Center in Porters Corner and Eagle Mountain in Pattersonville - these are longshots and require me having spare time while visiting friends or family, but I guess you never know)