BEST FOR FAMILIES
BANFF, CANADA
Banff-Lake Louise has three separate ski areas that should keep most people happy for weeks. The predominant teaching language is English and the ski school is genuinely child-friendly. Counter the chill with a dip in the historic hot springs where you can even rent a 1920s-style swimsuit.
Stay British Airways offers seven nights B&B at Fox Hotel and Suites from £1,065 per person including return flights. Contact ba.com/banff or +44 (0)844 493 0758. BA flies to Calgary.
COURCHEVEL, FRANCE
Courchevel is the country's ritziest resort, but that's just village 1850 (Courchevel is made up of four villages, each numbered after its height in metres). You can also stay in the less cosmopolitan 1650, 1550 and 1300 — never as crowded, even in high season. Children at ski school are given waistcoats with an electro-magnet on the back that attaches to chairlifts so they can't fall off.
Stay Seven nights in a four-bedroom loft at Le Portetta Lodge (leportetta.com) in Courchevel 1650 costs from £2,930. BA flies to Lyon.
BEST FOR OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
ST LARY, FRANCE
The Pyrenees offer great skiing and St Lary on the French side is one of the stars. The skiing is for beginners to intermediates and, with 32 lifts, it's pretty extensive by any standard. The best bit is the price — if you normally holiday in the Alps you'll find it hard to wipe the smile off your face.
Stay Seven nights at Résidence Cami Réal costs from £458 in an apartment for four with Ski Collection (skicollection.co.uk).
BA flies to Toulouse.
MOUNT BAKER, USA
The resort is famous for its snow and its season runs from mid-November to early May. The ski area (mainly intermediate) has 38 ski trails, nine modern lifts and a wide variety of terrain. Most of the accommodation and restaurants are at Snowater, 20 miles away, so consider hiring a car.
Stay The Snowater Townhouses (villaresorts.com/snowater.htm) share facilities including pools and fitness centre, from £76 per room per night (miniumum of six nights' stay). The Inn at Mount Baker (theinnatmtbaker.com) has spacious bedrooms with feather beds and outdoor hot tubs and costs from £227 (plus tax) per room for two nights B&B including two lift passes. BA flies to Vancouver and Seattle.
BEST FOR OFF-PISTE SKIING
NISEKO, JAPAN
The Japanese army started training in Niseko in 1911 wearing bamboo planks as skis, but skiing for pleasure began in 1945. I expected overcrowded pistes covered in ice but couldn't have been more wrong: instead it was thigh-deep powder among the widely spaced birch trees and bamboos, and broad trails with few people on them.
Stay Green Leaf Niseko Village costs £255 per person per night half-board. The ski-in, ski-out hotel opens this month. From February 2011, BA will be offering five flights a week from London Heathrow to Tokyo Haneda.
WHISTLER, CANADA
Whistler and Blackcomb mountains have the longest vertical drop in North America and offer awesome terrain. Together they provide enjoyable intermediate and advanced skiing on their lower slopes, but the top halves of both offer contrastingly different experiences. While Whistler is given over to glorious powder bowls, Blackcomb has steep couloirs and long glacial descents.
Stay BA offers seven nights at Delta Whistler Village Suites from £1,275 per person including return flights. Contact ba.com/whistler or +44 (0)844 493 0758. BA flies to Vancouver.
BEST FOR STAR-SPOTTING
ASPEN, COLORADO
Aspen is the A-list resort that attracts the likes of Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas, Kate Hudson and Jack Nicholson. They've migrated here because Aspen, with its four separate mountains, has some of the best skiing in North America.
Stay Seven nights in a luxury studio with a small kitchen at ski-in ski-out Viceroy Snowmass (viceroysnowmass.com) costs from about £1,140 per person. BA flies to Denver.
SUN VALLEY, IDAHO
In the 1930s, it was Hollywood's winter home and you might have bumped into Gary Cooper, Bing Crosby or Judy Garland. These days Tom Hanks has a house here, while visitors include Clint Eastwood, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The skiing is relaxing and one of the resort's claims to fame is that it invented the chairlift in 1936.
Stay Sun Valley Lodge (sunvalley.com) from about £89 per room per night (Hemingway wrote For Whom The Bell Tolls in room 206, which is kept as a museum). BA flies to Salt Lake City as a codeshare with American Airlines.
BEST FOR SHORT BREAKS
LES GETS, FRANCE
This smaller, quieter alternative to better-known Morzine is also at the heart of the huge Portes du Soleil lift system and is an hour's drive from Geneva. A great place for a last-minute break.
Stay The ultimate in barn conversions Ferme de Moudon (fermedemoudon.com) is hidden behind the church above the village. The British owner has fused the original features with a sharp 21st-century look. From £10,000 per week half-board for eight. BA flies to Geneva.
SAMOENS, FRANCE
The Grand Massif area - which comprises Flaine and its lower satellites of Les Carroz, Morillon, Samoëns and Sixt — has 265km of piste and, again, is also an hour from Geneva. Pretty Samoëns is a real town with a life outside skiing.
Stay Hotel Neige et Roc (neigeetroc.com) is one of the best hotels in the area and costs from about £90 per person per night half board. BA flies to Geneva.
BEST FOR APRES-SKI
ST ANTON AUSTRIA
Après-ski begins here long before the lifts close for the day. Focal points are the Krazy Kanguruh and adjacent Mooserwirt. Down in the town there's a permanent party atmosphere with clubs open until the early hours. The skiing is some of the most challenging in Europe.
Stay One of the four St Anton Lodges costs from £1,245 per person half board with Scott Dunn (scottdunn.com). BA flies to Innsbruck.
VERBIER, SWITZERLAND
Verbier has some of the hottest off-slope action anywhere in the world. My favourite is the Farinet, which buzzes from dusk to dawn. The skiing — if you manage to fit it in between partying — is demanding and best suited to high intermediates and above.
Stay Chalet Les Skieurs from £1,500 per week for four (about £375 per person) with Ski Verbier (skiverbier.com). BA flies to Geneva.
BEST FOR ENERGETIC SKIERS
VAL D'ISERE, FRANCE
Something of a melting pot for keen skiers and snowboarders, Val d'Isère has some of France's best off-piste, plus beautifully groomed slopes for intermediates. No fewer than eight entry points give mountain access, so queuing is never a serious problem.
Stay BA offers seven nights at Avenue Lodge from £1,292 per person B&B including return flights. Contact ba.com/ski or +44 (0)844 493 0758. BA flies to Geneva or Chambéry.
VAIL, COLORADO
This Tyrolean-style village is the showcase of US skiing. Most of the runs are so wide they are rarely overcrowded. Nearby Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone offer alternative skiing, which is also included on the lift pass.
Stay BA offers seven nights at the Holiday Inn from £992 per person including return flights. Contact ba.com/ski or +44 (0)844 493 0758. BA flies to Denver.
BEST FOR FOODIES
KLOSTERS, SWITZERLAND
This small farming community welcomed the first winter sports enthusiasts in 1904 and has grown in popularity. Most people plan their day around where to eat at lunchtime. Try the famous Schwendi Ski & Berghaus and Skihütte Selfranga.
Stay Chalet Bear or Chalet Maldeghem both sleep eight and cost from about £10,877 per week half board with Klosters Ski Chalets (klosters-ski-chalets.com). BA flies to Zurich.
ZERMATT, SWITZERLAND
The town in the shadow of the Matterhorn is the queen of foodie resorts. The scent of cooking entices you into a host of wayside huts. My favourites include the two ancient farmhouses of Zum See and Chez Vrony.
Stay Chalet Heidi successfully combines old wood and contemporary fittings in the heart of the town. Seven nights costs from £2,578 self-catering for six with Mountain Exposure (mountainexposure.com). BA flies to Zurich.
Felice Hardy is editor of welove2ski.com.
