Find the most popular ski and snowboard areas

When it comes to picking a ski or snowboard area for your next ski holiday, there are many metrics you could consult ranging from the resort with the most terrain to the one with the most efficient lift system or even just areas closest to your home nation. 

However, one of the most sure-fire ways to judge how good a ski area must be to look at its relative popularity and check its visitor count. So, without further ado, below is a list of the world’s most popular ski areas as determined purely by visitors rather than haphazard guesswork or (often) errant resort claims. 

5) Ischgl

Ischgl’s reputation as a party haven has likely helped its massive jump in popularity in recent years – although its fantastic ski and snowboard terrain and great facilities have undoubtedly helped in that too as has its relatively cheap prices (especially when compared to some of the more expensive French and Swiss Alpine ski stations).

Ischgl’s skiing and snowboarding ranges from valley level around 1300m up to just short of 3000m, meaning (combined with this part of Austria’s epic snowfall record) good conditions are almost assured through even the worst of low-snow winters. 

4) Les Arcs

France’s Tarentaise region is home to some of the most famous and renowned ski areas in the world, including Les Arcs with its 200km of pistes. In particular, the environs around the Isère valley are home to such legendary ski areas Val d’Isère, Tignes and Les Trois Vallées – in other words, tough competition when it comes to making the list of the world’s most popular ski area. 

However, perhaps the secret behind the popularity of this resort is the fact it’s linked to La Plagne and, taken together, the two combine to make the famous Paradiski domain offering some 425km of pistes, two glaciers and terrain ranging from the valley towns at 1250m right up to 3250m on the Aiguille Rouge and Bellecôte summits.

3) Skiwelt Wilder Kaiser

Austria’s Skiwelt circus is actually a conglomeration of much smaller resorts all joined together by bus and lift links so should really be considered a ski region rather than just a standalone ski resort as such. Nonetheless, this approach of linking separate resorts has helped with its popularity by offering something for everyone – from smaller sleepy villages to more lively apres ski towns. 

The Skiwelt is Austria’s largest inter-connected ski area with some 288km of pistes ranging from Ellmau to Söll and Brixen located near Salzburg and a short drive from Innsbruck. 

2) Saalbach Hinterglemm

Saalbach’s 270km of ski and snowboard pistes make it one of Austria’s largest winter resorts spanning the terrain between Saalbach, Hinterglemm, Leogang and Fieberbrunn in the Salzburg region of Austria. 

The pistes here span from around 1000m up to 2000m – but this part of Austria frequently gets deluged by snow in the winter, making good riding almost assured for the busy winter months of January, February and March (at least). 

1) La Plagne

In some ways it might seem a little unfair that two of Paradiski’s resorts should feature in the top five most visited ski areas globally however Les Arcs’ neighbour, La Plagne, tops the list by some way in terms of skier days. 

While it might seem a little academic trying to guess the reason for La Plagne’s popularity, just one look at a La Plagne resort guide will let you see it’s helped in no small part by the huge range of intermediate pistes on offer – plus the resort’s famed family-friendly approach to ski and snowboard holidays. Couple that with the fact the resort features 11 (yes, 11) different villages ranging from purpose-built, ski-in/ski-out lodgings around the 2000m mark to quaint traditional farming villages lower down in the valleys and it becomes easier to explain why La Plagne can boast of being the world’s most visited and most popular ski resort.