Lift-off for ski season

Learning how to ski is only half the battle. Knowing where to ski is what counts. Sandra O'Connelltakes a quick slalom through some of the world's best options

Andorra

Think Andorra is just for beginners? Think again. Since the lift link was established between Pas de la Casa and Soldeu, skiers are looking at a combined 186km of pistes. That’s as good as you’ll get in big-shot Alpine resorts like Kitzbühel or Les Deux Alpes.

Not only is Andorra one of the cheapest options for ski packages, but there’s duty free shopping there too.

Where to go

Pas de la Casa, the highest resort in the Pyrenees, clings to the border with France. While not the most attractive of places (think rapid 1970s development), it’s purpose-built for the convenience of skiers.

Soldeu/El Tarter, like Pas, is part of the Grandvalira ski area, has a great snow record, a terrific snow park for snowboarders and top notch kindergartens.

Arinsal, part of the Vallnord ski area, is linked by high speed cable car to neighbouring Pal, so your lift pass covers you for the remote ski area of Arcalis too (for experts only).

France

Resorts here are rarely chocolate-box pretty, but then ski aficionados don’t care about any aesthetic other than that involving snow. What’s more, Alpine resorts here were designed by skiers with skiers in mind, so what your building lacks in charm it most likely makes up for in doorstep skiing. The high altitude means you’re more snow sure too.

The French take their skiing seriously and haven’t skimped on investment. The infrastructure is efficient and there’s plenty of it – so no wasting slope time queuing for lifts.

Where to go

The Three Valleys is made up of eight renowned resorts, including Courchevel, Meribel and Val Thorens. You can ski the entire region – 600km of ski slopes – on one pass and, because of its high altitude, it has an excellent snow record.

Val Thorens, at 2,300m, is Europe’s highest ski centre, though not its prettiest. Courchevel is spread over four levels, from Le Praz to 1850, the highest and most expensive.

To save money book accommodation in Meribel, which is lower down the valley but close to the ski lifts. Snowboarders will gravitate to Meribel Moon Park, which has courses from beginners up.

L’Espace Killy is a vast ski area which includes Val d’Isère and Tignes with over 300km of pistes and great après ski.

Chamonix is a traditional Alpine town at the foot of Mont Blanc. It has a variety of skiing spread over six main areas, as well as smaller valley ski areas ideal for beginners. It also has one of the world’s longest runs, the 20km Vallée Blanche.

Les Deux Alpes stands at 1,300m but, with lifts up to a glacier at 3,600m, offering 225km of marked pistes plus free lifts on the nursery slopes.

Morzine, a chalet-style resort, has plenty to offer novices and families, as well as fast access to Avoriaz the most snow sure of the 12 resorts in the Portes du Soleil ski area, with more than 600km of mainly intermediate pistes.

Italy

The jagged Dolomites are the Alps, Italian style. They offer a wealth of ski opportunities in areas such as the SuperDolomiti and the Milky Way. These are vast ski regions linked by lifts which, if not as efficient as those in other countries, are more than made up for with spectacular scenery and opportunities for cheaper ski packages.

Where to go

Livigno is the big resort for Irish skiers. A designated duty free ski resort close to the Swiss border, it’s a great value option for families.

The slopes are suited to beginner and intermediate skiers while, for the more advanced, your lift pass also gets you on to the slopes at neighbouring resorts Bormio, famous for its downhill racecourse.

Monterosa, the big three-valley ski area, has some of the highest peaks in the Alps, with great opportunities for guided off-piste skiing. You can ski down to the Swiss resort of Zermatt from here.

Cortina, a remote former host of the Winter Olympics, is Italy’s most stylish resort – and being Italy, that matters, so expect an almost wholly Italian contingent of skiers on its car-free main street. Skiing is spread over three mountains, serviced by 50-plus lifts. Most of the runs are above 1,800m with great views of the Dolomites.

Val Gardena, in the Southern Tyrol, is a 25km valley made up of a number of resorts and ski areas.

Cervinia is on the southern side of Monte Cervino – better known to us as the Matterhorn – but a much cheaper ski option. At over 2,000m, it’s great for beginners and intermediates and, for experts, offers direct access to Zermatt and the Klein Matterhorn glacier. What it lacks in architecture it makes up for in exhilaration, including the 13km Highway 7 run.

Austria

For Christmas card Alpine resorts, sleigh filled streets and general gemütlich Austria is the place to ski. Accommodation is top notch and transfer times to the big resorts are typically less than two hours.

Because the resorts aren’t generally as high as those in France, they can be less snow sure. That said, the big resorts all have their snow cannons locked and loaded, just in case.

Where to go

Westendorf, in the Austrian Tirol, has wide nursery slopes and easy ski access, making it a popular option for beginners.

Kitzbühel, the neighbouring resort and known as the Pearl of the Alps, is famous for its downhill race on the Hahnenkamm, held each January. As well as a medieval centre, it has 158km of pistes.

St Johann, at the foot of the Kitzbüheler Horn, has long cruising runs and skiing to suit all standards.

Bad Gastein and Bad Hofgastein, in the Gasteinertal ski area which covers more than five resorts on one lift pass, offers access to over 200km of prepared pistes, 50 lifts and free bus and train transport between areas.

Zell am See is a summer lakeside resort which, thanks to the Kitzsteinhorn glacier, also offers year-round skiing.

It’s one of the prettiest resorts in Austria too, with narrow streets and a pedestrian centre.

Good for beginners and easily pleased intermediates, a comprehensive lift system gets you swiftly to the glacier snowfields 3,000m above the town.

Mayrhofen has great ski schools and childcare facilities too and, as it’s higher than many other Tyrolean resorts, it’s more snow sure than some others. But, unlike the purpose-built resorts of France, expect a (free) bus ride between your accommodation and the ski lifts.

St Anton, part of the Arlberg Ski-Circus, is for hardier types. A conurbation of resorts which between them offer 134 runs and a snowboard park, linked by 83 lifts, it is one of Europe’s top ski resorts for off-piste skiing and lively après ski.

Switzerland

With Alps covering two-thirds of its surface, Switzerland boasts 4,000 peaks and year round skiing. Little wonder even non-skiers will be familiar with its resorts. Its Alpine resorts are typically small and rarely purpose-built, which means they are more expensive than those in France or Italy.

Where to go

Klosters, together with neighbouring Davos, has 320km of immaculate pistes. While mostly intermediate, there are enough black runs and off-piste skiing to challenge all levels, plus lift infrastructure.

The super jumbo cable car decants more than 100 skiers up the mountain every six minutes (yet large queues can still form) but, despite this, the terrain is big enough to give plenty of space for everyone.

St Moritz, the birthplace of winter sports, is super chic and known for its mix of sunshine (300 days a year) and snow. Perched above the Engadine valley, its natural ice toboggan track, the Cresta Run, is world famous.

Verbier is even more appealing to adrenaline junkies. The most challenging Swiss resort of all, it is the largest in the Four Valleys ski region with 400km of the most difficult pistes found anywhere in the Alps.

Zermatt, a glacier resort, is perhaps the best all round option, providing a picturesque village surrounded by 29 of the highest peaks in Europe, including the mighty Matterhorn, Dom and Monte Rosa. It also has the second biggest, lift-accessed vertical drop in the world and, given its altitude (3,899m), heaps of snow.

Sweden

Sweden and snow go together, so it’s surprising we don’t hear more about it as a ski holiday destination.

Though lacking the drama of the Alps, it provides gentle, snow sure terrain that has an appeal all of its own.

Where to go

Are, on a frozen lake shore in the north of the country, is the biggest ski resort in the country. The resort is actually four separate, but linked, ski areas with 102 trails between them.

Because the mountains here are low – the resort is made up of blue and green runs only – it’s a good spot for beginners and families. Cross country skiers are also well looked after, with 70km of pistes to themselves. Instructors have great English and there are plenty of non-ski activities too, including toboganning and dog sledding.

Norway

Given that it hosted the Winter Olympics in 1994, you can be sure they know a thing or two about skiing. Yet because it’s not on the travel map in the way that European resorts are, you can find yourself doing a lot less queuing and more skiing.

Where to go

Geilo is the best known ski resort and is a great option for families with children for whom a lively après ski scene is a con rather than a plus. The quiet, wholesome atmosphere up here will suit much better.

Lillehammer offers a varied network of slopes and trails comprising five ski areas, all within an hour’s drive and accessed by one ski pass. Bad weather rarely affects all three at the same time, giving you your choice of 92 pistes in all.

Bulgaria

For beginners and families, Bulgaria is hard to beat on the value front – whether for ski and snowboard lessons, kit hire or lift passes.

It can be beautiful too, with vast expanses of pine forest and protected national parks. And while, weather wise, snow can’t be guaranteed, the ubiquity of snow cannon means there’s never a shortage of white stuff.

Where to go

Bansko, though based around an attractive old town, is the most modern and developed ski resort. Serious money has been invested in the ski area, including international standard hotels. It has the best snow record and longest season in the country.

Borovets, by contrast, is the country’s oldest and largest ski resort, with pistes as high as 2,600m and pine forests below. The climate is particularly pleasant, with average temperatures in January, the coldest month, of around 5 degrees.

Pamporovo, in the forests of the Rhodopi mountain, has well maintained pistes that are good for beginners. By the end of your holiday though, you’ll be up to its toughest challenge – a steep mogul field known as The Wall.

Spain

Synonymous with sunshine for us, the Spanish seem to keep their skiing a local secret, even though the country has five big ski centres. If you can get a cheap flight over, it holds out good prospects for a cheap DIY ski package too.

Where to go

Baqueira Beret, in the Catalan Pyrenees, is the biggest and best known resort – it’s where the Spanish royal family ski. The purpose-built centre has something for all levels, including challenging black runs. Set in the remote and beautiful Vall D’Aran, a three-hour drive from Barcelona, it has 108km of pistes, 33 lifts and plenty of snow canon as back up.

Sierra Nevada skiing is a total head wrecker – it just seems wrong to go to Andalucia for snow. Still, the range has some of the highest mountains in Europe, including at 3,482m the highest in Spain and, being so far south, is as sun sure as it is snow sure.

USA

With €1 worth $1.40, super service and accommodation levels, and world class lift infrastructure, there are plenty of reasons for skiing in the US. The rule of thumb here is that the further west you go, the bigger the mountains.

Where to go

Bretton Woods in New Hampshire is set amid the wondrous Presidential Mountain Range, offering more than 400 acres of ski and snowboard terrain. It’s also one of the most snow sure spots on the east coast and just two hours drive of Boston’s Logan airport.

Killington, in Vermont, stretches across seven mountain areas with one lift ticket giving you access to 33 lifts and 200 trails. With 250 inches of snow each winter backed up by one of the world’s most extensive snow-making systems, the season runs from October to early May.

Vail in Colorado is the largest single mountain ski resort in the US, with four terrain parks and seven bowls. More than half of its slopes are for expert skiers only while its longest run, Riva Ridge, stretches to 6.4km.

Aspen, synonymous with celebs, includes Snowmass Mountain, and a vertical drop of 1,300m with more than 200 runs.

Snowbird in Utah sits high in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, half an hour from Salt Lake City. Well named, at 3,600m, its 89 runs get a reliable 500 inches of snow a year.

Heavenly Mountain on the California, Nevada border and Mammoth Mountain in central California prove that, while it may never rain in California, it certainly snows. Some of the country’s best skiing is here.

Squaw Valley, just 200 miles from San Fransisco, gets around 450 inches of snow each winter and 300 days of sunshine a year.

Canada

Canada offers some of the best ski conditions in the world, with immaculate pistes and fabulous mountain scenery. Just be careful where you go. While resorts here can boast about guaranteed snow, the downside is that biting cold can come as a caveat. If you strip out travel costs, it should work out slightly cheaper than the US in terms of skiing and accommodation.

Where to go

Banff Lake Louise, consisting of three ski areas, opened for the season last week, with authorities forecasting that the La Niña weather system will this year bring higher than average snowfall to the national park – a spectacularly scenic Unesco World Heritage site.

Whistler Blackcomb, built around towering mountains of the same names, offers 200 runs and a vertical drop of 1.6km. The two mountains are connected by a pedestrian village – teeming with great value restaurants – with 38 lifts servicing 12 Alpine bowls.

Argentina

One of the best known ski destinations in South America, thanks to the Andes, the ski season here runs from June to October. Though far less organised than European ski resorts, if you’re in that neck of the woods, they offer great skiing.

Where to go

Las Leñas has steep, long runs and is great for off-piste explorers. It offers some of the biggest, and most challenging ski expanses in the world, topping out at 3,430m.

Cerro Catedral is less remote – just 20km from the city of Bariloche – but as beautiful as any Alpine resort running to 600 hectares of trees, deep powder snow and easily reached off-piste terrain.

Australia

Finally, as if Sydney weren’t perfect enough as a sunshine destination, it’s just six hours (a short hop in Aussie terms) from perfect skiing too. The only difference here is it isn’t pine trees you whizz past, but gums.

Where to go

Perisher Blue, in the Snowy Mountains, is Australia’s largest ski area with 1,245 hectares spread across seven mountain peaks serviced by 49 lifts.

While most of the runs are given over to intermediates, it has a double black trail it’s very proud of too. There is also a snow tube park, cross country trails and snow shoeing, plus great restaurants, bars and cafes when you’re finished.