Glacier giants with year-round runs sit next to car-free villages and Olympic old-timers; some win on sheer kilometres of piste, others on a single legendary downhill.
1ZermattSwiss resort beneath the Matterhorn whose ski area links across the border to Breuil-Cervinia in Italy and includes year-round glacier skiing.1000pts
2Breuil-CerviniaItalian resort on the south side of the Matterhorn, linked by lift and piste to Zermatt.695pts
3St. Anton am ArlbergTyrolean resort where Hannes Schneider founded his influential ski school in 1921, now part of the linked Ski Arlberg area.695pts
4Les ArcsFrench resort linked to La Plagne by the Vanoise Express cable car to form the Paradiski area.677pts
5KitzbühelAustrian town whose Hahnenkamm races have been held since 1931, on the Streif downhill since 1937.648pts
6LaaxSwiss resort in the Flims Laax Falera area, known for its freestyle parks and the Laax Open snowboard contest.648pts
7SöldenÖtztal resort whose Rettenbach glacier hosts the opening giant slalom of the Alpine Ski World Cup each October.648pts
8Val GardenaDolomites valley on the Sella Ronda circuit whose Saslong course hosts a World Cup downhill every December.595pts
9Saalbach-HinterglemmSalzburg resort in the Skicircus area with Leogang and Fieberbrunn, host of the 2025 Alpine World Ski Championships.595pts
10Val ThorensPurpose-built French resort at about 2,300 m, the highest ski resort village in Europe, part of Les 3 Vallées.595pts
11ObergurglHigh Ötztal resort with Hochgurgl, known for reliable snow from November to May.534pts
12Crans-MontanaValais resort above the Rhône valley that hosted the 1987 Alpine World Ski Championships and is set to host them again in 2027.534pts
13VerbierSwiss resort at the heart of the 4 Vallées area that hosts the Xtreme Verbier freeride final on the Bec des Rosses.534pts
14MegèveHaute-Savoie village developed as a ski resort in the 1920s by Baroness Noémie de Rothschild.463pts
15EngelbergCentral Swiss resort below Mount Titlis, reached by the Rotair revolving cable car.463pts
16Garmisch-PartenkirchenBavarian resort that hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics and stages the Kandahar World Cup downhill.463pts
17Madonna di CampiglioTrentino resort whose Canalone Miramonti slope hosts the 3-Tre World Cup night slalom.463pts
18MéribelResort in the middle of Les 3 Vallées that staged women's Alpine events at the 1992 Olympics and co-hosted the 2023 World Championships.463pts
19CourchevelFrench resort with its own altiport, part of Les 3 Vallées and co-host of the 2023 Alpine World Ski Championships.379pts
20Val d'IsèreFrench resort that shares the Espace Killy ski area with Tignes and hosted the 2009 Alpine World Ski Championships.379pts
21St. MoritzEngadin resort that hosted the Winter Olympics in 1928 and 1948 and is home to the Cresta Run.379pts
22La PlagneFrench resort in the Paradiski area that hosted the bobsleigh and luge events of the 1992 Olympics.379pts
23Les Deux AlpesFrench resort with one of Europe's largest skiable glaciers, offering summer skiing.379pts
24GrindelwaldJungfrau region village below the Eiger, with skiing on First and Kleine Scheidegg–Männlichen.379pts
25ChamonixResort below Mont Blanc that hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1924 and is known for the Vallée Blanche off-piste descent.278pts
26DavosSwiss resort with the Parsenn ski area, where the world's first T-bar lift opened on the Bolgen slope in 1934.278pts
27LechVorarlberg village in the Ski Arlberg area, known for the White Ring ski circuit with Zürs.278pts
28Saas-FeeCar-free Swiss glacier village surrounded by peaks over 4,000 m, with a revolving restaurant at the Allalin station.278pts
29MayrhofenZillertal resort known for the Harakiri, a groomed slope with a gradient of 78 percent.278pts
30Cortina d'AmpezzoDolomites resort that hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics and co-hosted the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.278pts
31TignesFrench resort sharing the Espace Killy with Val d'Isère, with glacier skiing on the Grande Motte.278pts
32Arosa LenzerheideGraubünden ski area formed when the Urdenbahn cable car linked Arosa and Lenzerheide in the 2013–14 season.278pts
33AvoriazCar-free resort built in the 1960s at the heart of the Franco-Swiss Portes du Soleil area.0pts
34Alpe d'HuezFrench resort known for the Sarenne, a 16 km black run counted among the longest in the Alps.0pts
35LivignoDuty-free Italian valley resort that hosted freestyle and snowboard events at the 2026 Winter Olympics.0pts
36BormioValtellina resort whose Stelvio piste hosted the men's Alpine events at the 2026 Winter Olympics.0pts
37IschglTyrolean resort whose Silvretta Arena ski area links across the border to duty-free Samnaun in Switzerland.0pts
38Serfaus-Fiss-LadisTyrolean plateau resort of three villages, known for its family ski programs and an underground metro in Serfaus.0pts
Photo credits
- Zermatt — qwesy, CC BY 3.0
- Breuil-Cervinia — Marcel Wiesweg, CC BY-SA 3.0
- St. Anton am Arlberg — 24seven, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Kitzbühel — Wolfgang Glock, CC BY 3.0
- Laax — SwissBro1400, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sölden — Leo-setä, CC BY 2.0
- Val Gardena — Wolfgang Moroder, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Saalbach-Hinterglemm — MattiPaavola, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Val Thorens — Florian Pépellin, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Obergurgl — Jan Czeczotka, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Crans-Montana — Paradise Chronicle, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Verbier — Realleok, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Megève — Clément Bucco-Lechat, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Engelberg — CenturioST, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Madonna di Campiglio — Wikaly17, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Méribel — Florian Pépellin, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Courchevel — Florian Pépellin, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Val d'Isère — Tom Stollery, CC BY 3.0
- St. Moritz — Travelleronthego49, CC BY-SA 4.0
- La Plagne — Andreas Eichler, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Les Deux Alpes — Data 2 Alpes, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Grindelwald — Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Chamonix — Ximonic, Simo Räsänen, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Davos — BKP, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Lech — Florian Lindner, CC BY 2.5
- Saas-Fee — qwesy, CC BY 3.0
- Mayrhofen — Vašek Vinklát from Czech Republic, CC BY 2.0
- Cortina d'Ampezzo — kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Tignes — Tonkie, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Arosa Lenzerheide — Maciupiciu68, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Avoriaz — Terragio67, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Alpe d'Huez — Marcin Floryan, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Livigno — qwesy, CC BY 3.0
- Ischgl — Basotxerri, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis — Constantin0907, CC BY-SA 4.0






















