FirstChair Blog

Ski guides, pass comparisons, and trip-planning notes.

• Welcome to the New FirstChair — FirstChair has a new home — faster pages, real mountain pages for every resort, and passes and regions you can browse on their own.
• Uphill Skiing Policies at Northeast Resorts: Hours, Prices, and Where to Skin — Uphill hours, prices, and passes for 32 Northeast ski areas — from free-before-lifts to season passes — organized by state, with links to every resort.
• Night Skiing in America (and Beyond): Every Resort with Lights — 161 ski areas with night skiing, organized by region, from a 4,265-foot lit run in Canada to your local weeknight hill. Every resort linked.
• The Indy Pass's Best-Kept Secrets, Region by Region — 27 lesser-known Indy Pass mountains worth the detour, from a 5-trail, 2,175-foot day in Japan to a volunteer-run hill in Maine. Region by region.
• Every Ikon Pass Mountain in the Northeast (2026-27) — All nine Ikon Pass mountains in the Northeast, from Killington's 3,050-foot vertical to Sugarloaf's 176 trails, with links to every resort.