Given the steeply sloping terrain on which Little Switzerland sprang up in 1941, it was always going to be either a ski resort or a big, dry waterslide. The team went with the former, and snow bunnies have been zooming down its trails—which range from beginners' slopes to black-diamond runs—ever since. Often, visitors hit the slopes as part of a lesson.

That all might sound classic, especially when you factor in the historical chalet where visitors stop for snacks, but thanks to a recent, multimillion-dollar renovation, the resort is as modern as next year's hottest tech gadget. Evidence: the snowmaker, which substantially extends the ski season, and the resort's website, which keeps a running tally of the open trails and recent snowfall. There's even a live cam on there, for up-to-the-second updates on the conditions