There is a lot of snow in the world. True powder hounds may say that it’s not nearly enough, but trust me, 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.
1. Portillo, 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 (there are no day trippers), 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 Tio Bobs, 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.
2. Nozawa Onsen, Japan
Best for local culture
There you are, surrounded by wooden ryokan, ski pants rolled up with post-riding feet soaking in a roadside foot onsen, 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 on a side of snow. In particular, the ancient feudal farming town of Nozawa Onsen will charm the pants off you — 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.
3. Big White, 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.
4. 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 3292m (10,800ft) 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 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.
5. 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.
6. Alta Badia, Italy
Best for food
Ski areas are famed for US$10 soggy, cold 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 (45 at last count) in cozy refuges. And because skiing and eating here costs less than elsewhere in Europe, you can try everything with change to spare.
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.
7. Parnassous, 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 Parnassous.
This is the country’s biggest ski resort and the most popular. It’s only three hours from Athens, but avoid weekends when lift lines can be long. Following a multistage overhaul, since 2014 the resort has two connected areas with 21 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. With the resort transforming and the ambitious Big Sky 2025 10-year project nearing completion, run don’t walk to the ski industry’s Next Big (Sky) Thing.
8. Aspen, 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.
Don’t be deterred by the glitz and glamour reputation, peek below 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.
