12 of the world’s biggest and best ski areas

Adding extra runs and lifts, or connecting into other areas of the mountain are all part of the alpine arms race to attract more punters. Marketing departments drool over the figures, casting them out like juicy lures. In the United States and Canada, resorts tend to measure their extent by area, whereas their European counterparts deal in kilometers of runs.

But based on advertised data, here’s a rundown of 12 of the world’s biggest ski areas:

1. Les 3 Vallees, France

Good for: Mileage hunters, velvety slopes, guaranteed snow, gourmets, luxury, Europe’s highest resort.

There’s even a fourth valley — above Orelle — leading to the region’s highest lift-accessed point at 3,230 meters below the summit of Pointe du Bouchet.

Each resort has its own character: there’s uber-upmarket Courchevel 1850, plus the down-to-earth satellites of Moriond (formerly 1650), Village (ex-1550) and Le Praz (1300); attractive Meribel, wooded and chalet style, with Mont Vallon at its head; and lofty Val Thorens, at 2,300 meters the highest resort in Europe, purpose-built in a treeless amphitheater but snowsure and extensive.

Les Menuires, St Martin de Belleville and La Tania make up the area’s other main resorts.

2. Portes du Soleil, France

Good for: Ski safari, international travel, a variety of resorts, snowboard friendly.

Modern, snow-sure Avoriaz, market town Morzine, family-favorite Les Gets and traditional Chatel are the big-name French resorts, while Champery stands out on the Swiss side.

On any visitors’ tick list will be a circumnavigation of the area, traveling off the beaten track and relying on the chatter of lift attendants to remind you what country you’re in.

Highlights include the infamous “Swiss wall,” a bumped-up beast otherwise known as the Chavanette piste above Les Crosets in Switzerland.

Did you know? When the project was initially unveiled in 1964 the area was set to be called the “Haute Route des Familles,” but Jean Vuarnet, the 1960 Olympic downhill champion and Morzine native, lobbied for alternatives. Les Portes du Soleil, named after the pass connecting Morgins to Les Crosets, was chosen instead.

3. Sella Ronda, Italy

Good for: Spectacular Dolomite scenery, clear circuit, exploring valley offshoots, World War I history, food.

It doesn’t shout it from the rooftops, but the extended Sella Ronda region in Italy’s Dolomites could be right up there as one of the world’s biggest connected ski areas. The Sella Ronda is a celebrated circuit around the Sella massif, offering about 26 kilometers of skiing in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction.

Did you know? It is possible to do a variation of the Sella Ronda tour taking in the sites of fierce fighting during World War I, when troops from Italy faced off against Austro-Hungarian and German forces. The two armies tunneled into the mountains for protection, but many thousands were killed by avalanches set off deliberately.

4. Paradiski, France

Good for: Family-friendly, beginners and intermediates, ski-in/ski-out, unheralded expert terrain.

Multilevel La Plagne is a beginner and intermediate heaven, while experts are served by some challenging terrain on the north-facing slopes of the Bellecote (3,417 meters).

Les Arcs contains various satellites named by altitude — Arc 1600, Arc 1800, Arc 2000 — with myriad runs for all levels reaching up to the Aiguille Rouge at 3,226 meters.

Did you know? The Tarentaise Tour is an all-day 70-kilometer off-piste excursion from Tignes, via the Vanoise National Park to Champagny, through La Plagne and Les Arcs before ending up in the hamlet of Villaroger.

5. 4 Vallees, Switzerland

Good for: Moneybags, Verbier chic, views from Mont Fort, off-piste experts, quiet corners.

Stretching to 412 kilometers of linked runs, the area also encompasses the smaller resorts of Bruson opposite Verbier, and Nendaz, Veysonnaz, Thyon and La Tzoumaz overlooking the Rhone Valley.

The high point of the lift system is Mont Fort at 3,330 meters with its far-reaching views of the Matterhorn, the Grand Combin and Mont Blanc.

Verbier, which sits in a sunny bowl at 1,500 meters, is world-renowned for its chic chalets, sophisticated clientele, nightlife and extensive expert terrain.

6. Milky Way, Italy-France

Good for: Partying in Sauze d’Oulx, chilling in Claviere, views above Sestriere, interesting runs, cross-border possibilities, varied resorts.

The Turin Winter Olympics in 2006 brought the area into focus — Sestriere-Cesana-Sansicario hosted all the alpine events — and ushered in a significant lift system update.

The highest lift reaches almost to the summit of Mt. Motta at 2,823 meters with spectacular views above Sestriere, a fixture on the World Cup downhill circuit.

A celestial chart — aka ski lift map — is essential to navigate the Milky Way.

Did you know? Sestriere was purpose built for Fiat car company employees to enjoy winter sports back in the 1930s. Its two circular towers are a nod to the Fiat factory in nearby Turin.

7. Matterhorn Ski Paradise, Switzerland

Good for: Matterhorn gazing, mountain restaurants, alpine history, snow quality, Italian-Swiss mash-up.

Cervinia’s open bowl offers plentiful intermediate cruising with good-value Italian eateries on the south side of Monte Cervino (Matterhorn, 4,478 meters).

Did you know? Edward Whymper and his party first climbed the Matterhorn on July 14, 1865 via the Hornli ridge above Zermatt, but four climbers fell to their deaths on the descent. Three are buried in Zermatt’s churchyard.

8. Arlberg ski area, Austria

Good for: Austrian après-ski, reliable snow, off-piste adventures, royalty spotting in Lech.

Did you know? Like all vast ski areas, keeping an eye on lift closing times is crucial — miss the Auenfeldjet back from Warth to Lech and you’re looking at about a two-and-a-half hour, 250 euro taxi ride back because the short mountain pass between the two is closed in winter.

9. Val d’Isere and Tignes, France

Good for: Intermediates and experts, extensive off-piste, glacier skiing, nightlife, mileage.

Val d’Isere grew out of a small alpine farming village at the end of the Tarentaise valley into one of the world’s best known resorts, with skiing for all abilities on its Le Fornet, Pissaillas, Solaise and Bellevarde sectors, including the challenging 1992 Olympic downhill run, “La Face.”

The various hamlets that make up Tignes sit in a high treeless bowl below the Grande Motte (3,656 meters) with skiing on the glacier — reached by underground funicular railway and cable car — from 3,456 meters.

Did you know? Beneath the water of the Lac du Chevril below Tignes lie the remains of the old village, including a 17th century church, submerged when the hydroelectric dam was built in 1952.

10. Alpe d’Huez and Les Deux Alpes, France

Good for: Short transfer from Grenoble, purpose-built convenience, runs for all standards, glacier skiing.

Not quite a behemoth yet, but the proposed link between Alpe d’Huez and Les Deux Alpes will create a ski area of about 475 kilometers when it’s completed by 2021.

The two resorts announced a 350 million euro investment over the next five years, which will include an 18-minute gondola spanning a deep valley between the two areas.

11. Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia, Canada

Good for: Big snowfall, Canadian efficiency, polite lifties.

It claims a skiable area of 8,171 acres with 37 lifts and more than 200 trails across a variety of glade skiing, open bowls and three glaciers, stretching from Whistler Creekside at 653 meters to 2,284 meters on Blackcomb mountain.

Schrahe has measured a skiable extent of 253 kilometers, which includes a certain amount of avalanche-controlled but ungroomed inbounds terrain, unlike European resorts, which only measure trails.

Whistler and Blackcomb ski areas merged in 1997 and were joined physically by the Peak 2 Peak gondola in 2008.

Did you know? Whistler was conceived as part of a bid to win the 1968 Winter Olympics, and though the plan failed the original resort opened in 1966. It finally held the Games in 2010.

12. Park City, Utah

Good for: Convenience from Salt Lake City, tree-lined skiing, historic Main Street.

Utah’s Park City and Canyons Resort combined in 2015 to create the largest ski area in the United States.

The Quicksilver Gondola crossing Pinecone Ridge is the conduit between the two areas, creating a 7,300-acre playground with more than 300 trails and 41 lifts in the Wasatch mountains about 48 kilometers from downtown Salt Lake City.

Schrahe has measured the ski area at 265 kilometers of runs, with a vertical rise of 975 meters to a high point at the top of Jupiter Bowl (3,055 meters). Only 8% of terrain is rated as beginner.