Where To Ski And Snowboard This Winter And Why

After one of the most disappointing snowfall winters in recent memory, and the news full of “Super El Nino” coverage, skiers and snowboarders have their hopes up and fingers crossed for a great season. Early dustings, from Sugarloaf, Maine to Jackson, WY—where Teton Pass had to close Tuesday due to heavy snowfall—are good signs, and I’m taking the position that it’s time to start booking ski vacations. In fact, I have already booked several, and pretty much planned my entire winter. I’ve been covering ski travel for three decades, and in my very informed opinion, here is where to ski and snowboard this winter—and why.

Where To Ski And Snowboard This Winter And Why

Where I Am Skiing

I’ll put my money where my mouth is and start with the top places I have already bought flights to, because that’s how strongly I feel about these world-class destinations.

Dolomites, Italy

Just about my favorite place to ski in the world, and one I’ve written about before at Forbes. This region is so rich in slopes that you can keep going back again and again without repeating, thanks to the main event, the second largest interconnected ski resort system on the planet, and several other great satellite areas around it, including this hidden gem I’ve also explored here. The 2026 Olympic Winter games were just held here, and it was the best venue in decades.

In fact, the Dolomites have so much skiing it can be hard to wrap your head around even for people who know skiing. As an example, consider the recent Conde Nast Traveller 2026 Best Ski Resorts In The World Awards. In Europe they listed three Italian resorts in the top seven, including Cortina d’Ampezzo (7th), Corvara Alta Badia (6th) and Val Gardena (4th). But the magazine got it wrong, as these are not separate ski resorts per se, they are three different areas within the one interconnected area most people simply call “The Dolomites,” and it’s common to ski two or even all three in the same day, often without knowing it. To pretty much everyone in skiing besides the magazine they are all one “resort”—one resort that has three of the top seven spots in Europe. That kind of says it all. Except it doesn’t.

Besides the sheer amount of skiing and a super-advanced lift system full of heated high-speed bubble chairs, gondolas and trams, what the Dolomites delivers in spades is charm, and the vast trail network also includes more than a dozen villages and towns, each impossibly loveable and full of great food and lodging. Up on the slopes are rifugios, or alpine “hut” restaurants (and often hotels), far more of them than are found anyplace else in the Alps. You can ski from rifugio to rifugio and never stay in a town below, mix mountain and village lodging, or simply use them for fantastic lunches—it is Italy, after all.

Because the area is so big and there are almost no chain or big brand hotels (it’s very mom and pop even at the luxury level), and knowing the routes and where to stay and eat is so important, I recommend using a local specialist. My favorite, who I have skied (and hiked) with before, is Dolomite Mountains, a full-service travel company with amazing guides and local connections that has all the expertise but is squarely aimed at the U.S market. They offer a mix of scheduled group trips such as 7-day fully guided “ski safaris,” and private custom trips with amazing itineraries such as the Gourmet Ski Safari I am doing, combining the best of skiing and culinary, with local comfort food specialties and Michelin-starred dinners. They also have hut to hut trips, hotel to hotel trips and off-piste ski touring vacations.

Big Sky, Montana

For the past several years Big Sky has been the hottest ski and snowboard resort in the country and just keeps getting better. They are wrapping up a decade-long, massive infrastructure improvement program that added multiple high-speed heated bubble chairs (more than any other resort), state of the art gondolas and a new tram. To put it simply, Big Sky has the most advanced lift system in North America, which means they can move a lot of people quickly and comfortably. It’s also the second or third largest resort in the country (depending how you count)—and it was never crowded to begin with. In recent years long lift lines and crowded slopes have become the norm at many of the most popular “big name” resorts, and because of this, low density skiing and snowboarding has become the newest luxury in the sport, and Big Sky offers that in a huge way.

It also has amazingly varied terrain including everything from first-rate learning areas to some of the country’s most infamous double-black runs off of Lone Peak, “America’s Matterhorn.” They have several attractions you won’t find anyplace else in the country, from a hand built “iglu” ice bar to a one-of-a-kind glass enclosed observation center on the highest peak. I previously did an in-depth guide to all the many new additions that you should absolutely read if you are planning an epic ski trip this winter (though Big Sky is on the Ikon, not Epic, pass).

On the lodging side it just keeps getting better, with the most recent addition being the first ever mountain property from venerable luxury brand One & Only, added last season. That followed the Montage Big Sky, one of only four Forbes 5-Star ski-in/out hotels in the U.S. Big Sky has lots of more affordable ski-in/out options at its base and is the only major ski resort with a luxury dude (or guest) ranch onsite, Lone Mountain Ranch. This in turn is home to what has been ranked as the nation’s best cross country ski system, so there is just an amazing wealth of ways to enjoy yourself –including “snow coach” tours of nearby Yellowstone National Park in uncrowded winter.

Just in the three years since I last skied Big Sky so much has been added that I am super excited to check it all out—including what is arguably the single most desirable dinner in American skiing, M By Alinea Group, which I wrote about in detail here at Forbes.

SilverStar, British Columbia

I love a good hidden gem, and SilverStar is the answer to the trivia question “What is the biggest North American resort many skiers and snowboarders have never heard of?” While it gets overshadowed in BC by Whistler/Blackcomb, SilverStar is over 250-miles away, in the great wine region of the Okanagan Valley in the interior, where it gets much drier snow, locally known as “Okanagan champagne powder,” than the wet heavy coastal stuff that often falls in Western BC.

With more than 3,500-acres and over 130 marked runs, SilverStar is in the Top 15 in North America in size, and does even better for quality: Conde Nast Traveller magazine just ranked it as the 5th best ski resort in North America for 2026 (and for what a ski vacation here costs, it is by far the highest ranked on the list). Since so few people know it, here is some perspective: it’s bigger than Mammoth, Snowmass, Breckenridge or Jackson Hole, and bigger than Telluride and Aspen put together.

Like Big Sky above, the biggest thing lacking here is crowds, and the lift system is very modern: the main gondola was added recently, along with high speed quads and six packs. The oldest of 13 lift dates from 2007. There’s an exceptional cross-country center that is located at the top, and accessed by lift, which is unusual, and it is lighted for nighttime use, even rarer. The alpine resort also has extensive night skiing, unusual for a resort this big.

So, if you like to go to great places that will make your friends look puzzled and say “where?” consider SilverStar. Or if you want to save money, then definitely consider SilverStar, which probably offers the most ski bang per buck per acre in the Western Hemisphere. It’s the largest resort operated by Pacific Group Resorts, a company dedicated to keeping the cost of skiing down and the sport accessible. PGR has a mantra called “Mission Affordable” with packages for lift tickets at all its resorts, even huge SilverStar, available for under $100 a day—less than a third of the going rate at better known resorts half its size (at Silverstar the normal deal is 4-day pass for $485, still a bargain in today’s ski world, but before November 3 you get 5-days for the same price).

Keystone, Colorado

Back in the winter of 2023-2024, Keystone added a new high-speed 6-passenger chair that opened up 550-acres of above treeline skiing in Bergman and Erickson Bowls. It wasn’t the biggest terrain expansion in skiing in recent years, but it was one of the best, and that winter I lapped that chair all day—and could have lapped it for several more. There’s an expression in skiing that usually is reserved for epic powder days called “permagrin,” where it’s so much fun that a smile is stuck on your face all day, and that is what I experienced at Keystone. I wrote extensively about the expansion and resort experience here at Forbes.

While the resort is hardly a hidden gem—it’s one of the most visited in the entire country—it still sort of flies under the radar compared with its nearby siblings such as Vail and Breckenridge. It’s always been justifiably known as a “family friendly” resort, and has won many award and accolades for this, thanks to almost all the lodging being in condos, which run more affordable with better family amenities (space and kitchens), and a pedestrianized base village that is safe, easily navigated and self-contained.

But Keystone is very much a “real” skiers’ and snowboarders’ resort, with well over 3,000-acres, around 140 trails and 20 lifts. It’s big, it’s got all kinds of terrain and it’s got those awesome bowls. It has some great restaurants that also fly under the radar, especially the excellent Keystone Ranch.

But the one thing that Keystone always lacked, that has kept it out of many travel conversations in the media, is luxury lodging. That all just changed with the opening of Kindred, a ski-in/out full-service luxury resort, residence, private club and spa in the absolute best location imaginable at the base of the slopes. The only thing more surprising than the fact that it took so long to build a property like this here (it’s a sister hotel to Vail’s wonderful Arabelle) is that this premier site was available at such a long established ski resort. But whatever happened historically, this is a game changer, and it’s why I’m going, to check out the newest big thing in luxury ski lodging—I already know how good the skiing is.

Where Else To Ski And Snowboard This Winter And Why

Unfortunately, ski season is short, sweet and goes by fast, and there are only so many trips I can take. I love skiing in Europe, and especially chalet-based skiing, a uniquely European vacation style that is awesome (read more here), and I am hoping to maybe squeeze in one more quick visit to France, we’ll see.

Japan has the world’s best powder skiing and arguably the world’s best food, making it an absolutely awesome ski trip. Many travelers look at it as a Bucket List thing, but I don’t because that skews “once in a lifetime” and once you go skiing or riding in Japan you’ll want to go back. I’ve been multiple times, and I will go again, but it’s a long trip with a lot of jetlag and not something I can logistically do every year, so maybe next winter. But if you haven’t been, I highly recommend it, though their snow season typically runs about a month earlier than ours, making December to February ideal rather than January to March. Years ago, I wrote a big feature on skiing in Japan for Town & Country magazine that won a prestigious travel journalism award, you can read it here.

Deer Valley, UT is wrapping up the biggest ski resort (in the most literal sense as they still do not allow snowboarding) expansion in history, and it’s really big, more than doubling the already big resort. This added much needed expert terrain, great glades and state-of-the-art lifts, and the way Deer Valley has climbed the ranks of travel greatness cannot be overstated. There are several notable new luxury hotels coming in the next few years, along with a completely new base village that’s already partially open. If you liked Deer Valley before, you’ll love it even more now, and you should go, and you can read all about it here, but I’ve been three of the past four winters and am skipping this one.

The one U.S. resort I wish I was skiing this winer but can’t fit in is Telluride, CO, so I’ll shoot for next winter. It’s my all around personal favorite combo of mountain and ski town. Imagine if the town of Jackson was at the base of Jackson Hole and you get the picture: an ideal Old West town with great shopping and dining and world class skiing running right up from Main Street. You can ski almost to the door of some of the best barbecue in skiing, and overall Telluride has a much better culinary scene than most people suspect. In fact, that is the most recent big improvement here (at least until the new Four Seasons resort opens, another game changer), a number of fun and excellent restaurants. Speakeasy Van Atta was a 2026 James Beard Award semifinalist for best bar, The National, which I ate at this summer and loved, was recognized by the Michelin Guide, and Wood Ear combines ramen and slow smoked Southern barbeque in an amazing way—along with what is likely the best Japanese whisky collection in Colorado.

On the slopes Telluride delivers what many resorts promise but few make good on: plenty of great skiing for every ability, including beginners, intermediates, advanced intermediates (there’s an entire section of the mountain full of “double blues” these skiers can lap), expert, and scary, hairy, hike-to double blacks on par with the likes of Jackson Hole or Crested Butte. The only knock I’ve every heard about Telluride is that it is “hard to get to.” I hate to break it you, but that’s a myth: if you fly into Telluride it’s super easy, closer to town than even the famously convenient Jackson airport, and if you fly to the main gateway of Montrose, with plenty of flights on major airlines, it’s closer than Vail is to main gateway Denver, and no one ever complains about Vail being hard to get to.

Legendary Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is legendary for a reason, and I love it. Jackson also has a lot going on, having just celebrated its 60th with new improvements and an ultra-luxury new private club cum hotel, the Hoback Club. The wonderful Four Season Jackson, long the top luxury hotel with an unbeatable location, added a new and excellent high-end steakhouse, Steadfire, with onsite dry ageing program and carefully sourced meats, which I highly recommend. But I celebrated my own birthday in Jackson last season and am taking a year off.

One final low profile pick is Utah’s Sundance Resort. After the passing of its great founder, Robert Redford, Sundance is under new ownership and has recently added a new lift, new terrain, and a much needed new upscale boutique hotel, the Inn at Sundance. I’ve been before, I loved it, they get amazing snow and it’s easy to get to. I hoped to go back this year to check out the new developments but probably won’t be able to fit I in. That’s why they say there’s always next year.

That’s hardly a complete list of all the options of where to ski and snowboard this winter, but I did say “and why” and this winter I’m focused on resorts that have some new or special appeal, something happening that makes them more notable, and the ones above fit the bill. Whenever you go, have a great time, and pray for snow!

This article was originally published on Forbes.com