1. Chamonix, France
- European Ski culture at its finest: One minute your walking the streets of an old European village, sipping on an espresso, the next minute your staring down the scariest line of your life.
- History: Chamonix has a ski history that dates back to before your Great Grandparents were born.
Video: Blizzard of Aaah’s Coloir Sequence
“The extreme skiing capital of Europe, France’s Chamoinx Valley.” - Greg Stump
2. Las Leñas, Argentina
- “Summer” Skiing: Las Leñas ski season extends from mid June till the end of September. So when your buddies are sweating it out in the summer heat you can be skiing a 4,000 foot couloir.
- Ts Marte: The greatest chairlift below the equator accessing 40,000 square acres of Big Andes terrain. It’s Heli-skiing from a chairlift.
Video: Big Lines in Las Leñas, Argentina
“Snow, Wine and Beautiful Argentinians awaits you.” – Carlos V.
3. Hakuba, Japan
- Deepest powder in the world: Parts of Japan advrage over 500″ of snow in just three months.
- Unique culture & food: The food and culture in Japan is unlike anything else in the world. Get done with a day of skiing and soak it all in.
Video: Skiing the Seven Continents | Japan
“I got a taste of the Japanese Alps this February and was blown away by the scene. Travel logistics were easy, the locals are as genuine as they come and the ski terrain is seriously out of this world. ” - Seth Lightcap
Photo by grantkaye.com
4. Alaska (Heli-skiing)
- Steepest powder skiing anywhere: What really makes Alaska such an amazing ski destination is the warm, moist winter air coming off the Gulf of Alaska that abruptly smashes into the steep mountain faces of the Chugach. The effect allows snow to stick to steeper faces then anywhere else in the world.
- Helicopters are AWESOME: Helicopters are called magic carpets for a reason. These machines can deliver you on top of a mountain peak in the time it would take you to put your skins on.
Video: GNAR in Alaska
“The edge of North America. The apex of all skier and snowboarders dreams. The Chugach mountains.” – Jonny Moseley
5. La Grave, France
- No Ski “Resort” BS: The skiing in La Grave is unlike that of your typical US ski resort. A village owned Pulse gondola whisks you from the small sleepy France village to the top of some of the gnarliest terrain in the Alps.
- Vertical Drop: The vertical drop totals 2,150 meters, although it is possible to ski below the resort to the road and increase the vertical descent to 2,300 meters.
Video: La Grave: A Skier’s Journey Ep2
“La Grave is the only place that could have taken the life of legendary skiing icon Doug Coombs.” – Lora
6. Jackson Hole, WY
- Capital of American Big Mountain Skiing: In many ways Jackson Hole was the first resort in America to cater to the Big Mountain Ski Crowd. After a bumpy start Jackson Hole opened it’s gates and allowed the large surrounding peaks to be skied.
- The Big Red Box: Jackson Holes Tram is one of the top 10 lifts in the world.
Video: Epic Powder – Jackson Hole – TGR Anomaly
“The Tram has undoubtably accesses the sickest terrain in North America for 40 years” (TGR’s Anomaly)
7. Squaw Valley, CA
- Home of GNAR: Shane McConkeys old stomping ground is widely known for it’s quirky game developed by the man himself.
- Fingers & Palisades: Even if your not “getting after it” entertainment abounds with the pairing of aggressive terrain and aggressive locals all in full sight of the chairlifts.
Video: G.N.A.R.
“If you see Squaw on a powder day you are going to see a bunch of people fired up like any other ski area. They are going to go out and charge as hard as they can and try to end the day as satisfied as they can.” - Scott Gaffney
Awesome list. Been to 5 of them.
Hahnenkamm in Kitzbuhel – Austria is missing on the list
What about sun valley, ID. ?
Are you serious? I doubt Sun Valley would even make the top ten in the US. With less than 200 in per year, it kinda blows dude. Idaho has sick mtn biking & whitewater, but lets just be honest here….the skiing is barely mediocre
Go ski the Lost River Range bro….then decide if skiing in Idaho is mediocre.
Hey Walter. You are a tool. Show up. You probably went to Dollar. Thats where we teach em how to ride.
Walter, i agree with you 100%, i would rather ski bum a year at Jay Peak or the Chic Chocs than waste my time with Sun Valley…..
not Sun Valley, but I think Schweitzer is at least mediocre…
Walter, obviously you’ve never seen the backcountry in central Idaho. You all need to expand from the chairlifts. If you stay on the resort in sv, of course its lame. Look around and think outside the box.
Sun Valley definatly
the title should say “7 RESORTS YOU NEED TO SKI BEFORE YOU DIE” not “7 PLACES YOU NEED TO SKI BEFORE YOU DIE”…. there are way gnarlier spots to shred than jackson and squaw…
AK, Hakuba, Chamonix… neither of them are resorts genius.
Nice list Tim-7 of the best!
ONCE AGAIN HOW THE HELL IS SQUAW ON THE LIST?????????????????
Agreed. How is Squaw on the list and not ANYTHING in BC? Whistler, The Stoke? Alta? Austria? Come on man. Not saying Squaw isn’t amazing, but to leave the others out?
Accept it. Some aspect of Squaw is going to be highlighted on very list (…every positive list) published on this website
I guess you’ve never heard of Snowbird
Ha. Snowbird sucks.
Sorry, I know I’m a homer
what’s an expresso?
http://assets.diylol.com/hfs/042/d21/07a/resized/english-error-echidna-meme-generator-me-and-my-friends-like-expresso-maybe-we-only-supposably-like-it-229dbc.jpg
Something you drink before getting “extream” in Cham.
putting Squaw on every list. Should take this time with no snow there to learn to blow yourself. haha. 1-6 are a must, 7, eh…maybe it should of been a list of 6. its sweet but not a must before you die
Why is squaw on this? And whistler not? I wonder…
…because Whistler is for Japanese gapers.
I hate how everybody acts this is the only list of good ski resorts you should ski before you die! It would be impossible to make a perfect list of ski resorts because everybody has there own Opinions. I would agree that Squaw shouldn’t be on that list, but this guy thought it should be, and i have no problem with that.
Jackson sucks tell your friends.
Lame comment but then again from someone who is a pussy and cant shred it is a very fitting remark. Besides not knowing how to shred you prob never stepped thru an access gate either champ.
Mr. Rice….. I am sorry about your social disorders..aspergers can be very difficult to deal with and i understand it makes it hard for you to pick up on sarcasm..
Nice fake name ^
Perhaps you’re missing the sarcasm….
You too pal
It should just be titled 7 kick ass places to ski.
LaGrave = Gnarly Gnarly Gnarly
la grave….. some dudes i met in chile toldme to ge there…that good??
any info greatly appreciated bro. thanks
think snow.
steve
No it’s not good, Please don’t go…..
La Grave doesn’t exclusively contain no-fall zones. Some pretty steep and scary places, but there is variation, you can choose to leave your harness at the hotel.
That La Grave photo is the fkn steepest pitch I’ve ever seen. Is it even
skiable ?
see the way i look at it, i ride for fun, 90 degree la grave does not look like my idea of fun, i know there are mellow areas in la grave but then why would you go there if you weren’t planning to go all out? there are loads of places though missed out, the list is like a noob list for anyone who has never actually travelled to ski or board. The middle east have amazing mountains, also himilayas and russian mountain ranges are pretty fcuking ultimate far more than chamonix or any of the usa mountains with the exception of alaska. Las lenas? thats like a standard austrian mountain. Can someone make an interesting list for real bc skiers/ riders instead of a timeshare promo?
Portillo? Bariloche? Whistler?……..
they have las lenas..
Ahhh yes. Only the elusive Hakuba remains to be skied on my personal top 100 list. But soon it will be mine. All mine.
Stay awesome, Hakuba. I’ll be coming for you very soon.
Muwahahahaaahhhaaaa!
What, no Snowbird, Utah!!?? Almost 800 inches last year…
you sure about that Sparticus? you might want to check your facts before you spew them across the internet. Snowbird received less than 1/2 of 800 last year with a grand 11/12 total of 383″. Two years ago was Snobirds biggest year on record with a total of 783″ and it was SIIIIIICK!
Look at the date of Jimmy Cracks Capricorns comment you retard.
bird sucks, deal with the truth
Chamonix as number one!? Are you mad?! Yes, the terrain is steep, but you can get the same terrain with a lot less people in many other Alps resorts. Not to mention the layout of Chamonix is ridiculous… Having to cram onto a bus at the end of the day can ruin any halfway decent day on the hill.
Yeah, all true.
But most places in the Alps don’t have avy test dummies plummeting into them during the storm like Cham does.
What about Breckenridge. I heard it’s really neat.
Breck is one of my favorite * regular * places to ski, as a local. But it is not Epic and will never compare with the Heli skiing I did in the Chugash in Alaska. No chance. The only terrain comparable is Lake Chutes at Breck. Or Imperial Bowl after a foot and a half of fresh pow – and you are catching one of the first chairs as the open Imperial Lift – you have 4-5 runs before it will be all tracked out. Breck is paradise up halfway through a Level 8 skier. If you are a Level 9 skier and only ski double black diamonds and EX terrain, then Breck is certainly better than Keystone, but it still gets boring. Only areas like Silverton, Heli in Alaska and the ski areas listed here are going to really challenge you. But I would still put Breck at the top of the list in Summit County, but not top in Colorado and definitely not top in the world.
The best part of this post is the URL … 7 place ski die!
WB ? Revelstoke ? ….What the fuck just happened?!?!?!
get over yourself, they weren’t picked
Mount sewlyn Australia
4 down and 3 to go
…should be on this list before either Jackson or Squaw. That said, everyone should spend a few days exploring the terrain off of KT-22 before they die.
Maybe Whislter/Blackcomb, but not Alta/Snowbird. Jackson/Taghee is much better.
totally agree. alta/snowbird good skiing early and always plenty of snow, but nowhere near the challenges in or out of bounds. even better, jackson and targhee are completely different. and then, of course, for cheap thrills, there’s always corbet’s off the top of the tram.
No Silverton, Telluride, or Bird..? Ouch
Snowbird doesn’t have any steeps, how would it make this list?
A-Basin? The place to ski in June, a little closer to home.
I score myself at 1.5 out of 7. Need to start burning those frequent flier miles.
Only place I would add is Stevens Pass
Meh. Skied it. Nonplussed.
Screw the list! The less CDN hot spots mentioned, the better.
All you crap dogs railing on snowbird seriously really suffer from deep pow envy! Yeah, like seriously! Grew up skiing the bird… Including winter of 2011… Yeah the bird got 803 that winter, as did kirkwood in Tahoe. I live in Tahoe now… Pass holder to kirkwood 8 years runnin. Pre-vail! Havevskied 4 of 7 on this list. Pretty good list. But the bird takes it all here in the U.S. Jackson- my fav mountain, when it gets snow! I’ll take the bird’s 500 inch light blower pow/yr. Over any of em. He’ll, ur practically guaranteed to get pow if you ski there any given week. And it’s plenty steep…frickin gaper!
That said, had a great lil spring pow day at the wood today….yoooooow!
It was indeed a great last POW day of the season at the wood yesterday. Awesome Hero Pow for the first couple of hours.
JH averages just 50 inches less annually than the bird….and all of slc doesnt crowd in every day. Less than 1/2 million skiers every year. “when it gets snow” HAH! I had 120 pow days in 2011. Hows that sierra cement in k wood?
JH does suck…tell your friends. It is not steep…and its full of gaper-tourists.
I cant believe Vail wasnt on the list!! Now thats steep!!
“And its plenty steep…….. frickin gaper. Please do tell, where one would find a steep pitch at snowbird? If you think the bird is steep, you sir are the gape.
You’re a soup bone …
This list was obviously written by a biased American, who is just spewing what they have heard from others. I’m sorry but ski movie centrals, Jackson and Squawllywood, are sooo.. overrated. You silly Americans need to get of your country more!
Prefer Jackon to anything I’ve skied in Chamonix. For one thing, I’m 6’3″ and the lifts were too small. Snow sucked too…unless you like the heavy stuff.
if you europeans averaged more annual snowfall, it might be worth it. Alaska definitely sucks balls…i’d rather ski in New Zealand
What about Cloudmont, ALABAMA?
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I think that our government should do more simple and logical – to sell all of the black gold and gas plants to liquidate the workers to put on sausage , and by the move as soon as possible in America.
ski wherever you can whenever you can. the list is good but just a list somebody put together. no harm done if you miss most of them.
Alta………..
Nice list locos!
Some are deserving, but a couple are a joke. Want a life altering ski/snowboarding experience? Check out Island Lake Lodge Powder Cat skiing in Ferney, British Columbia. I didn’t have it on my bucket list until after I went the first time. Now I have it on my list as having done it, but a mist do again before take the last last chairlift of life into heavens. Check it out, you will thank me.
Solid list, but I gotta add Crested Butte. When the goods are good in CB, its pretty much untouchable.
I would definitely add Silverton Mountain to this list. Silverton and Jackson Hole are my two favorites but I would much rather ride at Slverton than Jackson if I had to choose.
Whistler anyone?