Best small ski areas debate

Hickory Hills, Traverse City Michigan. Best ~150' in the world! I remmeber recording a :19second race time once... Flippn awesome!

Does Alpental count as a small area?

I haven't yet skied a lot of the areas mentioned, hope i'll get the chance.

I'd throw in Beaver Mt. in northern Utah. Probably ~1500-2000 vert, maybe 4 chairs although you pretty much end up just riding one of them. The terrain isn't as crazy as Alpental or the Salt Lake areas but it was basically constant face shots all day every day with some fun tree skiing and I think a lot of days are like that there.

I hit Turner mountain in Montana on a Friday, 2 feet of new. This is a great mountain. 2200' of vertical. The chair is the old debbies gold and bonanza Riblet, 5500' long. Good vibes. www.skiturner.com

I skied Turner in 2002, 1st year the chair replace a Tbar. Untracked snow all day as soon as you get 100 yards off the lift.

No love for Spout Springs?  $25 - $30 passes.  Nice little area and some fun tree skiing too.

And how about this deal:

Shell 2 for 1 Friday >>starts in January Purchase 10 gallons or more at the following stations and receive 2 tickets for the price of 1. Applies to the Friday swing pass only. Coupon from the station is required.  participating stations>

We have 3 areas at the top of our list, all are managed by volunteer organizations.
   1. Turner Mountain
   2. Mt Cain, British Columbia
   3. Hurricane Ridge

1. Turner Mountain
We visited Turner Mountain a couple of years ago on an extended road trip specifically to learn how they manage their area and how they did their lift replacement. One of their board members and his family spent the entire day with us. They showed us all of the stashes on the mountain (it was a great powder day) and introduced us to many of the locals. It was a big day, about 200 skiers on the entire mountain.
At the end of the day, they invited us to join them at the "Red Dog Saloon" just outside of Libby. The name matched the vibe of the establishment; old building, wood floors and tables, cold beer and good food.  We were enticed to spend a second day there.

2. Mt Cain
We are going to Mt Cain on northern Vancouver Island this winter. It, like Turner Mountain is operated by a volunteer group, it has two T-Bars which serve the inbounds terrain. The out of bounds terrain is reported to be outstanding. A good friend from the Island gives this area high marks.

3. Hurricane Ridge
I am a bit biased about "the Ridge", I have been involved in the management and operation of the area for the last 15 years. Currently I serve as the Liaison between the ski area and the National Park and also am a member of the Ski Patrol.
As Telemack indicated, the inbounds terrain is small, but varied and interesting. The out of bounds terrain is unlimited and offers anything from mellow ridge running and meadow skipping to steep & challenging lines, all within a day's touring of the parking lot.

Gary and Jan