5 Fantastic Winter Resorts for Experienced Skiers
When it comes to choosing a winter resort, the number of options around the world can be overwhelming. You’ve got hundreds of famous luxury resorts across Europe, plenty of exciting places to stay in North America, and a growing number of other modern ski resorts appearing in places like Japan in recent years.
If you’re an experienced skier, then you might plan your snow sports holidays around opportunities to tackle new and exciting slopes or off-piste opportunities that test your skills and grant access to uniquely challenging terrain. You might also be looking to avoid resorts that are overrun with beginners, preferring to share the slopes with other experts.
Tired of recommendations for the same old ski resorts each winter? Here are five of the top places we recommend for experienced skiers.
Courchevel, France
Courchevel is one of France’s best-known ski resorts. As part of the famous Three Valleys ski area, which spans over 600km of mountains, it’s a destination that offers a great variety of terrain to explore on your skis.
Experienced skiers are drawn to this French ski resort because it is known for the brilliant array of more challenging pistes, including 38 red and 10 black runs in the Courchevel Valley. Whilst there are areas that cater to beginners, you’ll get the most out of a holiday here if you’re confident tackling steep slopes and exciting moguls in places like Courchevel 1850 or Courchevel-Moriond 1650.
Another advantage of skiing in Courchevel is that you can quite easily access the other Three Valleys destinations nearby, which offer even more exciting opportunities to test your skills. Val Thorens is home to a lot of steep runs, whilst Méribel has one of the most famous red runs in the whole area, the Combe du Vallon.
St Anton, Austria
St Anton is known as one of Austria’s snowiest resorts, creating a haven for powder enthusiasts who are looking for a brilliant array of off-piste opportunities. It’s another great place to ski that has a wide variety of different terrains, so whatever kind of challenge you’re seeking, you’ll be able to find it here.
There are a good number of intermediate and advanced skiing opportunities around St Anton, including steep, groomed slopes and lots of black runs. It’s the off-piste skiing through the famously deep snow that makes this perfect for confident snow sports enthusiasts though, with lots of untouched terrain that is well-known and therefore can be traversed without a guide.
As the gateway resort of the Arlberg ski region, St Anton has the best ski resorts and offers some of Austria’s finest snow sports opportunities. It’s also very well linked to the region’s other resorts, so if you do grow tired of what it has to offer, you’ve got nearby Zürs and Lech to explore as well.”
Verbier, Switzerland
Another incredibly popular luxury ski holiday destination, Verbier is known as the gateway to and main resort of Switzerland’s 4 Vallées ski area. With 410 km of slopes to explore, it’s got plenty of intermediate and advanced runs and routes that make it a great choice for more experienced skiers to enjoy.
Over a quarter of the pistes in Verbier are classified as expert level, and its impressive altitude also means that you’ve got a lot of steep runs to navigate. Chassoure-Tortin and Mont Gelé are two of the most famous itineraries that we recommend you try if you visit, but there’s also the steep black run from the peak of Mont Fort, which has wonderful views of the Matterhorn on clear days.
The backcountry skiing opportunities in Verbier are excellent and a big draw for a lot of visitors to the area. You’re also ideally placed to explore the rest of the resorts in the 4 Vallées, opening up even more chances to test your skills and enjoy some incredible skiing.
Revelstoke, Canada
When it comes to skiing in Canada and North America, Banff and Whistler tend to get most of the attention. But when it comes to places for more experienced skiers to visit on holiday, we highly recommend taking a look at Revelstoke.
One of the best expert ski destinations in British Columbia, Revelstoke is known for being a mountain resort that still retains its natural wildness. It’s home to the longest vertical drop in North America and some incredibly steep terrain, as well as snowfall that promises plenty of fresh powder, and also has the advantage of never getting overly busy because of its advanced status.
If you’re seeking a truly exhilarating skiing experience, you can try Revelstoke heli skiing to make the most of the resort’s high-altitude runs and slopes.
Gressoney, Italy
Our final recommendation for the best winter resorts for experienced skiers is Gressoney, which is known and loved for being one of Italy’s most unspoiled snow sports areas. Consisting of two villages – Gressoney-La-Trinité and Gressoney-Saint-Jean – it lies at the heart of the Monterosa ski circuit and has a great collection of advanced runs and off-piste opportunities.
Across 180km of terrain, Gressoney la Trinité has a brilliant array of intermediate and advanced ski runs, with 29% red and 8% black. It’s also home to the famous Balma run that features a drop of 1,000m that will delight any thrill-seeking ski enthusiast.
One of the main draws to Gressoney is that it remains relatively undiscovered, so it is perfect if you’re seeking a challenging ski resort that won’t feel overrun with other visitors and doesn’t get very rowdy in the evenings. With access to some of the best off-piste terrain in the Monterosa area, you’ll struggle to grow bored here no matter how long you’re staying!
Summary
There are so many snow sport resorts that grant experienced skiers the chance to test their skills and challenge themselves with all manner of difficult runs and unique off-piste opportunities. Whether you’re exploring an ‘undiscovered’ resort in Europe or heading off into the backcountry of Canada, we hope this list has helped to inspire your search for your next skiing adventure.