Timber Ridge Ski Area, Gobles

As your ski-lift chair nears its drop-off point, you keep your tips up as instructed, nod at the friendly lift operator, and plant your poles in the hard-packed snow as the chair's momentum propels you forward. You now find yourself at the very top of Hemlock, a black diamond run at Timber Ridge Ski Area. In spite of the run's experts-only status and the pillowy mounds of snow that cover it, you brace yourself with a lungful of cold mountain air and point your skis toward the Timber Ridge lodge far below. Gravity pulls you into a graceful slalom through the lily-white layer of powder, leaving a wake of fresh arcing tracks that follow your skis all the way back to the bottom of the lift.

This sense of freedom is a constant every winter day at Timber Ridge Ski Area. Hemlock is joined by a diverse array blue and green runs, welcoming skiers and snowboarders of every experience level. Read below for a by-the-numbers tour of the ski resort:

• 1961: year opened to the public, with one rope tow powered by a '49 Chevy
• 50 cents: cost of first lift ticket
• 60 wooded acres
• 2 types of snow cover: man-made and natural lake-effect
• 8 lifts
• 16 trails
• 2 terrain parks
• 0 abominable snowmen in residence