A study of key criteria that skiers and snowboarders want from a resort has identified Switzerland’s Les 4 Vallees – Verbier, La Tzoumaz Nendaz, Veysonnaz, and Thyon – as Europe’s ultimate ski resort.
The analysis by insurance company, Columbus Direct, ranked resorts according to a range of criteria, including proximity from the airport, resort altitude, total ski runs, blue runs, red runs, black runs, average snowfall, the price of a one-day lift pass, number of apres-ski bars and number of ski schools for each destination.
According to the new index, the top five resorts in Europe as:
Les 4 Vallees, Switzerland (Verbier/La Tzoumaz/Nendaz/Veysonnaz/Thyon)
Les 3 Vallees, France (Val Thorens/Les Menuires/Meribel/Courchevel)
Les Portes du Soleil, France (Morzine/Avoriaz/Les Gets/Ch-tel/Morgins/Champery)
Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn, Austria (Skicircus)
SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental, Austria
The data reveals that France is home to some of the best ski resorts across Europe, with 14 french resorts ranking in the top 25.
The rest of the top 25 consists of six Austrian resorts and five resorts in Switzerland.
The best resort for more advanced skiers was Les 4 Vallees, followed by Via Lattea, which runs across France and Italy.
For beginners France’s Les 3 Vallees has a total of 312 blue runs and was rated the third best resort for ski schools with 26 schools to choose from.
Austria’s Corvatsch/FurtschellasSkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental was revealed as the resort with the most amount of ski schools with a total of 30.
Austria’s Saalbach, otherwise known as the Skicircus, came out at the best destination for snow conditions with the resorts receiving an average of 457 inches of snow last season.
Switzerland’s Laax, Flims, Falera came in secnd position with an average last season snowfall of 391 inches.
