13 of the World's Best Ski Resorts

One thing true powder hounds know is that no matter the month, there is snow somewhere. While the snowfall is increasingly unpredictable, it’s a big world with so many amazing places to ski (and board, of course). And some of those spots are a side slip away from the big, famous names. Hit a godly ski area in Greece, or head to Chile where the food is as big of a draw as the powder ⁠— magical slopes await all around the world.

So pack your bags and wax your planks – you might be about to discover your new favorite riding destination.

North America

1. Aspen, Colorado, USA

The complete package

The unbeatable combination of four individual mountains, MoMA-level art exhibitions at the Aspen Art Museum, chic shopping and cosmopolitan eateries mean you need a reason not to visit Aspen Snowmass in Colorado.

Some ski areas have epic mountains, but charmless purpose-built towns. Others have dynamic towns, but "meh" slopes. Aspen makes a clean sweep with the rare combination of a historic Victorian mining town plus endless skiing on the downtown glamazon Aspen Mountain, local favorite Aspen Highlands, beginner skier and X Games home Buttermilk, plus behemoth Snowmass.

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Don’t be deterred by this spot's reputation for glitz and glamour. Peek below the snowpack to discover a tribe of forward-thinking snow-lovers who emphasize community and inclusivity. I came here 25 years ago for the snow and was hooked by its soul.

Best alternative with the complete package: On the slopes of Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco), Western Europe’s highest peak, Courmayeur offers an exceptional all-round ski experience. Quite a few of Colorado's other famous ski-towns have that full package feel as well, like Breckenridge and Steamboat.

2. Park City Mountain Resort, Utah, USA

Best for accessible big mountain skiing

Many of the most famous resorts in Utah are less than an hour from Salt Lake City and the state’s international airport, making it easy to fly in and go straight to the mountain. Not only does Utah have the largest resort in the US – Park City Mountain Resort, boasting more than 330 trails across 7300 skiable acres and 41 lifts – but it also has incredible amounts of snow.

Although the skiing is admittedly good (and the terrain park is killer), the nightlife and amenities are even better. Downtown Park City's Main Street is made up of a blend of historic architecture, entertainment venues, breweries and high-end restaurants.

Best alternative in Utah: Advanced skiers and boarders can flock to Utah's Powder Mountain or Snowbird for heaping piles of snow, even later in the season. And those searching for a cozy cabin trip will enjoy the short lines and comfy fireplaces at Sundance Mountain Resort.

3. Big White, British Columbia, Canada

Best for ski-in ski-out

Big White’s tagline should be "no schlep." Ski-in ski-out accommodation, the kind where you can reach through the kitchen window and grab a snack mid-run, is the holy grail of skiing. This family-friendly resort in Canada’s British Columbia is entirely ski-in ski-out ⁠— even the main road is listed as a piste.

The absence of car parking and lack of stairs, where kids could face-plant as they carry their big skis, aren’t the only reasons to love Big White. Its 7.5m (24ft) of powder is enough to bury a house, it has the biggest night-skiing area in Western Canada (38 acres/15ha), the country’s second-largest lifting system and "snow ghosts" – frozen trees like stalagmites – haunting the upper slopes for an "only-in-BW" experience.

Best alternative for ski-in ski-out: Fire up the fondue, France’s Les Arcs 1950 is the most charming (and newest) of the five Les Arcs villages, entirely ski-in ski-out with fairy lights strung between traditionally built wooden houses and 425km (265 miles) of slopes to explore.

South America

4. Portillo, Valparaíso, Chile

Best for a southern snow fix

This South American superstar in Chile is nothing short of epic, like an all-inclusive cruise ship marooned on a mountain. This big, yellow hotel with a slope-side pool offers four meals a day (including high tea and top-quality South American steaks), and reliable snow. Numbers are capped at only 450 beds, creating such an exclusive club feel that you’ll be saying "hola" to everyone by week’s end.

A week here involves plenty of late morning starts, long lunches at Tío Bob’s, early hot-tub sessions, a siesta, dinners that start at 9pm and memories of mingling with like-minded skiers, Pisco Sour in hand. And naturally, there are epic slopes where you can hit the powder without the crowds or lift lines.

Best alternative for a southern snow fix: New Zealand’s Treble Cone offers surreal views of Lake Wanaka and snowy Southern Alps peaks.

5. Corralco, Araucanía, Chile

Best for new and intermediate skiers

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Compared to busier ski hubs closer to Santiago, this friendly resort on the southern slopes of Chile’s 2865m-high (9400ft) Lonquimay is blissfully low-key. After the stormy first half of the ski season, August and September in Corralco bring bluer skies and fewer crowds. Its 18 sq km (4450 acres) of snow-lashed terrain is superb for newbie or intermediate skiers and boarders. Only 10km (6 miles) southwest of the resort, the natural hot springs in Malalcahuello beckon to sore limbs.

Best alternative for new and intermediate skiers: Cardrona in New Zealand, where the winter season kicks off in mid-June, is nestled prettily in the Southern Alps. Half of its 345-hectare (852-acre) pisted area suits novice and intermediate levels.

6. Las Leñas, Mendoza, Argentina

Best for luxury stays

Luxury is best served with a sprinkling of powder snow. Premium ski resort Las Leñas gleams out from the Argentine portion of the mighty Andes mountain range. Its slopes climb from 2240m (7349ft) to a vertiginous 3430m (11,253ft), which means you should start slowly to avoid altitude sickness. (There’s no more enjoyable way to adjust than in a lavish spa hotel; Hotel Virgo is the fanciest.) Best of all, you’re in Mendoza wine country, where après-ski involves swishing an inky malbec around your glass while eyeing a menu of succulent steaks.

Best alternative for luxury: Italian ski resorts don’t get more internationally renowned than Cortina d’Ampezzo. The resort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has long been the upmarket haunt of Italians and international visitors alike.

Europe

7. Engelberg, Switzerland

Best off-piste skiing

Engelberg may not have the name recognition of Chamonix, but this is to Europe for off-piste skiing what California’s Mammoth Mountain or Switzerland’s LAAX are to freestyle. Up until a few years ago, Engelberg in Switzerland’s central Uri Alps had been a well-kept secret. However, the recent influx of Instagramming pro skiers and ski films featuring its mountains have seen Engelberg rise in popularity and gain a cult-like status.

To find the best lines from the 3200m (10,500ft) Titlis (reached by a revolving cable car the Titlis Rotair) check in with the freeski crew at the Ski Lodge Engelberg. The Lodge alone is almost reason enough to come here. The stuff of après legends, it’s overflowing with life-loving Swiss-based Swedes who ski hard and party even harder.

Best alternative for off-piste skiing: If Wyoming’s Jackson Hole is good enough for mountaineering legend Jimmy Chin to call home, it’s challenging enough for us mere mortals. You’ll need nerves of steel to attempt areas like Fat Bastard.

8. Austria

Best for après-ski

You might return from an Austrian ski holiday in desperate need of a holiday. Austria is bulging with world-class ski areas like an overflowing Santa stocking, with cute-as-a-button villages, glaciers galore, pistes for every standard and ski days fueled in part by Leberknödel (ground liver dumplings). The raucous après culture isn’t limited to certain niches of Austria. Everywhere in the country reverberates to the clang of ski boots on cobblestones crossing villages at 8pm.

In Saalbach, one of the partying capitals of the Alps, you’ll find the steeps are as hard as the shots. In St Anton (nicknamed "St Man-ton" due to the prevalence of men on group ski trips) the high-octane Las Vegas of the Arlberg siblings (including St Christoph, Stuben, Lech and Zürs), legendary tales have been born at the MooserWirt. Ishgl is the OG party stronghold.

Best alternative for après-ski: The live acts at La Folie Douce in France’s Val d’Isere never disappoint.

9. Alta Badia, Italy

Best for food

Ski areas are famed for soggy, cold and expensive fries. Enter stage left – Italy, where incredible slopes, scenery and gastronomy overlap in a Venn diagram of what a perfect ski area looks like. Especially Alta Badia, with the most on-mountain restaurants in the Alps in cozy refuges. And because skiing and eating here costs less than elsewhere in Europe, you can make your budget stretch further.

Deep in Italy’s Dolomites, pause for a hearty dish of Tyrolean Schlutzkrapfen. Your heart will race from heady aromas swirling from the doorway, or maybe the altitude. Either way, you won’t be able to click your skis off fast enough. Luckily, when you've finally had your fill, you'll be able to hit some incredible slopes as well.

Best alternative for food: The bright lights of Japan’s Niseko offers a food fiesta whether Asian or international cuisine is your yen.

10. Parnassos, Greece

Best under-the-radar spot

As if the islands, historic cities and lip-licking cuisine aren’t enough for Greece, it’s also home to some worthy ski areas. Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous and if planning for a trip packed with more high points than Zeus’s quiver of thunderbolts, say yassou to Parnassos.

This is the country’s biggest ski resort and the most popular at only 3 hours from Athens. Avoid weekends when lift lines can be long. Following a multistage overhaul, since 2014 the resort has two connected areas with 23 ski runs. The best thing about skiing in Greece, though, is the Greeks, specifically their philotimo to foreigners – hospitality given with generosity and kindness.

Best alternative under-the-radar spot: I have no idea why Big Sky Montana near Yellowstone Park, as the third-largest in North America, ever gets overlooked, but it does.

Asia

11. Nozawa Onsen, Nagano, Japan

Best for local culture

There you are, surrounded by wooden ryokan (Japanese inn), ski pants rolled up with post-riding feet soaking in a roadside foot onsen (hot spring), a vending-machine coffee in hand after riding Siberian-grade powder that makes Utah’s cold smoke goods look like lard. Welcome to Japan!

A ski trip to the Land of the Rising Sun (or, for skiers, the land of Japowder, with 12m/39ft of annual snowfall) is the ultimate cultural immersion served with a side of snow. In particular, the ancient feudal farming town of Nozawa Onsen will charm your pants off ⁠— quite literally. You’ll come for the riding, but before you know it, you’ll be stripping down with strangers in a steamy room like an onsen-loving local.

Best alternative for local culture: Poiana Brasov, located deep in the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania, Romania, boasts Bran Castle and medieval Brasov nearby. Plus, ski rentals are the price of a coffee in Zermatt.

12. Furano Ski Resort, Hokkaidō, Japan

Best for snowboarders

Sample some of the Hokkaidō Powder Belt’s finest powder snow. Averaging 8m (26ft) of ultralight powder snow per year, Furano Ski Resort has 28 trails, with about 40% beginner, 40% intermediate and 20% expert runs. There are nine lifts and gondolas, and two snow escalators. The resort is especially popular with snowboarders – the Snowboarding World Cup has been held here several times.

Best alternative for snowboarders: Regarded by many snowboarders as the world’s best resort for off-piste fun, Whistler Blackcomb in Canada has 200 trails spread across 33 sq km.

13. Genting Resort Secret Garden, Hebei, China

For on-piste skiing only

Genting Resort Secret Garden is the crown jewel of the Chongli region, outside Beijing. The 42-piste resort has nearly 400m (1300ft) of vertical, accessed by seven lifts, including a gondola, and has become one of China’s freeskiing epicenters with two sizable terrain parks. In 2022, the area hosted the freestyle skiing and snowboard events for the Beijing Games.

In many ways, Genting exemplifies the Chinese ski experience. Located in Hebei province in the lower ranging Dama Mountains, the resort relies mainly on an
extensive system of artificial snow, so powder is consistent, but delegated for
on-slope skiing, rather than adventures off-piste. The resort rounds out a typical ski
day with off-ski offerings including five-star lodging, a full-service fitness center and piping-hot noodle bars outdoors.

Best alternative for on-piste skiing only: The Yabuli Ski Resort in Harbin, Changbaishan in Jilin province also hosted Olympic events and ranks among the best slopes in the country.