Best small ski areas debate

Awesome thread.
Shames/Smithers/Anthony Lakes/June/Whitewater/Wolf Creek get the all-time nod. Can't believe someone threw in Mt Abrams (grew up 10 miles away (part-time)) - had a stolen trail sign on my bedroom wall as a kid.
For the East Coast nostalgics (like Mittersill & Burke) -
The King: Mad River Glen. Gotta give props - skier cooperative, single chair, rad terrain.
When I was a pup, Sunday River had 2 chairs and was badass (now a ridiculous overcrowded worthless frozen megalopolis).
We lived in a tiny Eastern Bloc - style condo at Bolton Valley the year (1995?) it was between owners and didn't open - was the realm of about a dozen of us - take a run before work, a run after work. Stupid good.
Smuggler's Notch.
Le Massif in Quebec City - in the 80's, the "lift" was a converted school bus that would take you back up atop the ridge - no one there, river effect snow, great views and skiing, dirt cheap.
No longer in the conversation, but back in the day, Grand Targhee was as good (and as big) as small got.
For those who like subzero, Marmot Basin in Jasper.
Surprised no one's put up Brian Head.

Sundown Mountain Resort, Dubuque, IA

$20 lift - 6 lifts Their season's pass is valid at Silver Mountain, ID

I have to put in a plug for my local area Hoodoo.  A low key place, 1000 ft vert.  Some great runs, 4 lifts.  If you know where to look the powder can last all day long.  Also great deals on tickets..... Tuesday is $19.00  season pass $400

Warner Canyon outside of Lakeview, OR. 1 lift/ 200 acres and lots of good BC nearby.

Cooper Spur!! Great for the whole family and good home cooked chili. (although I believe they are now owned by a much bigger company...)

Do abandoned ski areas count? Then Satus Pass in the Simcoe Mountains!!

Mt. Cain, Vancouver Island
Non-profit ski area!!!

Mt. Cain is located in a regional park and is run by a non-profit society, the Mt. Cain Alpine Park Society. It is Vancouver Island's only community-owned and operated ski and snowboard facility. Situated on the north end of Vancouver Island, Mount Cain offers a unique experience for skiers, snowbo
arders and backcountry explorers. see more...

www.vancouverisland.com/Ski/resorts/?id=1

Does Alpental count as a small area?

No

Alpental is to big to be small, is to steep, rains to much and its WAY to crowded to be considered. The place gets iced most the year and that horrible clunky chair-2 ( I hear) can ROLL BACK!!! Oh and the CAMERA at the top of chair-2 disqualifies them.
To bad because Alpental (Alpensmall) is an iconic, complex and endlessly interesting (small) ski area even though in my opinion is about to be developed for the worse, and LOT-3 over-night RV camping (a 40 year Alpental tradition) is now under assault by the evil corporate piggies and pojama people.

I think a prerequisite for qualifying as a SMALL ski resort in this thread is, that they have FREE OVER-NIGHT PARKING! This helps folks enjoying the mountains on a shoestring which in turn helps families and young folks get up there! Otherwise if ski area access is only for the rich folks, then you have that plastic vibe of boring, spoiled plastic people with endless corporate "labels" and insurance regulations ruling the mountain and not the spirit of the "sliders".
BillyTheMountain

You can't cheat the mountain pilgrim!
Bear Claw, from the movie Jerimia Johnson