Settling the score: A definitive winner in the battle between East and West coast skiers

Boulder, Colorado is the undisputed center of the North American skiing universe. And we don’t mean to say skiing is more popular here than elsewhere. Rather, we’re speaking in geographical terms—there’s “east of here,” and “west of here.” It’s a fact—learn to live with it.

Every year we hear people debating the age-old question of whether skiers from the East are better or worse than skiers from the West. So this year we decided to settle the score.

To put an end to the fiery debate, we considered a number of factors, from contest results, to major film appearances, exposure in FREESKIER magazine, and beyond—17 different criteria in total. We weighted said categories based on our subjective order of importance, enlisted Christopher Steiner (Steiner was a staff writer at the Chicago Tribune and Forbes Magazine; he’s published two books including Automate This, which focuses on the power of algorithms.) of zrankings.com to craft an algorithm, plugged in the numbers and voila!.. out popped a winner. For your reference, our formula looks like this:

Winner’s Points = 100 Points x Category Weight

Loser’s Points = Losing Value / Winning Value x 100 Points x Category Weight

Below, you’ll find the breakdown of each category and who came out on top. It was a tight race but in the end we could only crown one winner. Note: In the case of a professional skier’s representation (East or West), the determining factor is the location of his/her upbringing.

AFP Point Totals

 

X Games Medals

 

Olympic Medals Earned

 

FWT Overall Rankings

 

Major Film Appearances

 

FREESKIER Profile Appearances

 

FREESKIER Epics Appearances

 

Covers of FREESKIER Magazine

 

USASA National Rankings

 

Level 1 Superunknown Contest Winners

 

Skier of the Year Winners

 

NASTAR Average Finish

 

Road Trip Challenge Winners

 

FREESKIER.com Demographic

 

Biggie vs. Tupac

 

Sierra Nevada vs. Sam Adams

 

Dunkin’ vs. Chipotle

 

And The Winner Is…

Let it be known, the majority of the FREESKIER edit staff hails from the East Coast. Thus, we’re well aware that the results of this examination will induce a bit of a sting for many skiers out there. All we can say is this: We sure like to be on top. But, sometimes it’s not such a bad thing to be on the bottom. It’s less work…

Note: This article appears in FREESKIER magazine Volume 17.3. The issue is now available via iTunes Newsstand. Subscribe to FREESKIER magazine.