When you think of skiing you think of Vermont, Colorado and New Hampshire but New York is actually the king of the slopes.

I was shocked to find out that New York tops the list of skiing destinations in the United States. I probably shouldn't be too surprised, since so many New Yorkers I know love to hit the slopes every winter.

According to onthesnow.com, New York has more ski resorts than any other state. In fact, it has more than twice the amount of ski slopes as Vermont. The list shows the Empire State as having 51 ski resorts.

In second place is Michigan with 40. Rounding out the top ten are Wisconsin and Colorado with 31, California and New Hampshire with 30, Pennsylvania with 26, Vermont with 23, Minnesota with 20 and Maine with 18. The four states with the fewest ski slopes are Alabama, Maryland, Rhode Island and Tennessee with one each.

So why does New York have the most ski slopes in the nation? Most likely because New York is such a huge state and so much of it is in a climate that's perfect for winter sports.

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Here in the Hudson Valley, we're not nearly north enough to have optimal ski conditions all season, but we're still home to quite a few ski slopes. Mount Peter, Thunder Ridge, Hunter Mountain, Holiday Mountain, Belleayre, Catamount, Polar Peak and Windham are just a few of the mountains that are easily accessible from home. Further north is some of the best skiing in the country at huge mountains such as Gore and Whiteface.

So, when people ask why you love living in New York, you can add skiing to the list and boast that you're from the state with the most ski slopes in the country.

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