How good are France and Bosnia and Herzegovina for skiing compared to the United States?
In order to answer this question, I focused on three values; How much skiable terrain is in the country? Measured by the square miles of land contained within ski areas in the countries. How many options are there for places to ski? Measured by the number of ski area in each country. How much unique terrain is accessible? Measured by the number of chair lifts in the country. Each of these numbers is turned into a percentage of that statistic in the US, and the average of the three numbers is taken to find the score on the index. A score over 100 would indicate that the country is a better ski destination than the US, and a lower score would mean that the country is not as good of a ski destination.
Square miles of land within ski resorts: 3896
Compared to the US: 3896/4320=0.90
Number of ski resorts: 364
Compared to the US: 364/532=0.68
Number of chair lifts: 3113
Compared to the US: 3113/2914=1.07
Average compared to the US multiplied by 100=%88.28
Index score: 88.28
Compared to the US: 3896/4320=0.90
Number of ski resorts: 364
Compared to the US: 364/532=0.68
Number of chair lifts: 3113
Compared to the US: 3113/2914=1.07
Average compared to the US multiplied by 100=%88.28
Index score: 88.28
Square miles of land within ski resorts: 54
Compared to the US: 54/4320=0.0125
Number of ski resorts: 22
Compared to the US: 22/532=0.041
Number of chair lifts: 73
Compared to the US: 73/2914=0.025
Average compared to the US multiplied by 100=%2.62
Index score: 2.62
Compared to the US: 54/4320=0.0125
Number of ski resorts: 22
Compared to the US: 22/532=0.041
Number of chair lifts: 73
Compared to the US: 73/2914=0.025
Average compared to the US multiplied by 100=%2.62
Index score: 2.62
Snapshot
Overall, my countries did about as expected. France has a very large skiing community, but is about one eighteenth of the size of the US, making it somewhat surprising that it scored as high as it did. Bosnia and Herzegovina does have a ski scene, but it is very small compared to the US and France. The size of the United States give it the advantage in factors such as the amount of skiable area. The thing that this index struggles to measure is the quality of the skiing in the countries, as this is difficult to measure.