Best Ski Resorts for Après-ski

Car-free village beneath the Matterhorn with one of the highest and largest ski areas in the Alps.

4 Vallées is Switzerland's largest single-pass ski area, with 412 km of pistes spanning four Valais valleys. Verbier anchors the high end at 1,500 m, with the Mont-Fort cable car climbing to 3,330 m at the area's roof: a famously challenging top-station with steep off-piste lines and views into France and Italy. Beyond Verbier, the lift network connects Nendaz, Veysonnaz, Thyon, La Tzoumaz, and Bruson. Terrain skews advanced; the area's reputation rests on the off-piste sectors off Mont-Fort and Bec des Rosses (host of the Freeride World Tour final).

The birthplace of alpine tourism: synonymous with luxury, celebrity sightings, and a long calendar of winter sports events including polo on the frozen lake.

North America's largest ski resort by area, combining two massive mountains with a legendary village atmosphere.

Formerly Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows, now united as one of the largest Lake Tahoe ski destinations.

Les 3 Vallées is the world's largest lift-linked ski area, with 600 km of pistes across three Tarentaise valleys: Belleville (Val Thorens, Les Menuires, Saint-Martin-de-Belleville), Méribel (Méribel and La Tania), and Courchevel. From the 1,300 m base at Saint-Martin to Cime Caron at 3,230 m, terrain spans every level: the upper Val Thorens cirque is famously snow-sure, while Courchevel concentrates the most groomed-piste mileage and the priciest lodging in the French Alps.

Arlberg is Austria's most storied ski region, where modern lift skiing was invented in 1901 and the parallel-skiing technique formalised. The area links seven villages (St. Anton, St. Christoph, Stuben on the Tyrol side; Zürs, Lech, Warth, and Schröcken on the Vorarlberg side) across 305 km of pistes from a base of 1,304 m to 2,811 m at the Valluga. The 2016 Flexenpass lift connection joined Warth-Schröcken to the network, making Arlberg one of Austria's largest single-pass areas. Reputation is built on serious freeride terrain off Valluga and Mehlsack rather than groomed cruising.

Highest ski resort in the US with five peaks, a charming Victorian main street, and exceptional expert terrain.

Portes du Soleil is a 12-village lift-linked ski area straddling the French-Swiss border in the Chablais Alps, between Lake Geneva and the Mont Blanc massif. The lift network covers 580 km of pistes from a base of 1,000 m at Morzine to 2,466 m at Pointe de Chavanette (the steep ungroomed run known as the Swiss Wall). Avoriaz at 1,800 m is the snow-sure high base; the lower French villages (Morzine, Les Gets, Châtel) and Swiss bases (Champéry, Morgins) are pretty but more weather-dependent.

Saalbach-Hinterglemm sits at the centre of the Skicircus, a 270 km lift-linked ski area in the Pinzgau valley of Salzburg, with onward connections to Leogang and Fieberbrunn (which crosses the regional border into Tyrol). 70 lifts run from 1,003 m at the valley floor to 2,096 m at the Schattberg. Terrain is overwhelmingly intermediate, much of it tree-lined and sheltered. The area is famous for its cruising mileage rather than challenge. The branding is loud and après-leaning; family options exist on the Leogang side.