Les Portes du Soleil is a major skisports destination in the Alps, encompassing twelve resorts between Mont Blanc in France and Lake Geneva in Switzerland. With more than 650 km of marked pistes and about 200 lifts in total, spread over 14 valleys and about 1,036 square kilometres (400 sq mi), Portes du Soleil ranks among the two largest ski areas in the world. Almost all of the pistes are connected by lifts – a few marginal towns can be reached only by the free bus services in the area. The highest elevation accessible on skis is 2260 m and the lowest is 930 m. As with many other Alpine ski resorts, the lower slopes of the Portes du Soleil have snow-making facilities to extend the ski season by keeping the lower slopes open during the warmer months.
Sankt Anton am Arlberg, commonly referred to as St Anton, is a village and ski resort in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It lies in the Tyrolean Alps, with aerial tramways and chairlifts up to 2,811 m (9,222 ft), yielding a vertical drop of 1,507 m (4,944 ft). It is also a popular summer resort among trekkers and mountaineers.
Obertauern is a tourist destination which is located in the Radstädter Tauern in the Salzburger Land of Austria. The winter sports resort is separated in two communities: Tweng and Untertauern.
Galtür is a village and ski resort in the upper Paznaun valley in Austrian state of Tyrol located in the Central Eastern Alps 35 km southwest of Landeck near the border of Vorarlberg and Switzerland.
Aonach Mòr is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. It is located about two miles northeast of Ben Nevis on the south side of Glen Spean, near Fort William. The mountain has a summit elevation of 4,006 ft (1,221 m) and is classified as a Munro.
Les 2 Alpes is a ski resort in the French department of Isère, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The village sits at 1,650 m (5,413 ft) and lifts run to 3,600 m (11,811 ft). It has the largest skiable glacier in Europe and is France's second oldest ski resort behind Chamonix. It has the longest, normally open full on-piste vertical available in the world. It is a 71 km (44 mi) drive southeast of Grenoble.
Borovets, known as Chamkoria until the middle of the 20th century, is a popular Bulgarian mountain resort situated in Sofia Province, on the northern slopes of Rila mountain, at an elevation of 1350 m.
Indoor skiing is done in a climate-controlled environment with artificially produced snow. This enables skiing and snowboarding to take place regardless of outdoor temperatures. Facilities for both alpine skiing and nordic skiing are available.
Formigal, officially Aramón Formigal-Panticosa, is a ski resort in the Aragon Pyrenees of northeastern Spain, near the town of Sallent de Gallego in the upper Tena Valley in the province of Huesca. The nearest international airports are in Zaragoza, Spain and Lourdes, France.
Cerler, officially called Aramón Cerler, is a ski resort situated above the village of Cerler in the high Benasque Valley, near the town of Benasque in the central Pyrenees. Near Cerler are the highest peaks of the Pyrenees, Aneto, Monte Perdido, and Posets.
Åre is a ski resort in Jämtland, Sweden, founded 115 years ago in 1909 and owned by SkiStar AB.
Avoriaz is a French mountain resort in the heart of the Portes du Soleil. It is located in the territory of the commune of Morzine. It is easily accessible from either Thonon at Lake Geneva or Cluses station on the A40 motorway between Geneva and Chamonix. Either way one follows the D902, Route des Grandes Alpes, to Morzine and then the D338 running from Morzine to Avoriaz. Snow chains are often necessary. Avoriaz is built on a shelf high above the town of Morzine, which is among the pioneering towns of skiing with its first lifts dating back to the early 1930s. Today Avoriaz is one of the major French ski destinations catering for all standards of skiing and ranks among the top snowboarding destinations of the world. Apart from snow-based pursuits, Avoriaz is also a centre for trekking, golf, VTT and other outdoor activities during the summer. Cars are forbidden in Avoriaz. The resort is designed to be fully skiable. Other transport around the resort includes horse-drawn sleighs and snowcats during winter.
A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-comfort aerial lifts, such as chairlifts and gondola lifts. Today, surface lifts are most often found on beginner slopes, small ski areas, and peripheral slopes. They are also often used to access glacier ski slopes because their supports can be anchored in glacier ice due to the lower forces and realigned due to glacier movement.
Auron is a ski resort in the department of Alpes-Maritimes and the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in France. The resort has 135 kilometres (84 mi) of ski runs, at an elevation of between 1,600 and 2,450 m in the French Alps. It is located above the Tinée Valley near the town of Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée. It is situated 95 kilometres (59 mi) north of Nice. The resort is part of the Stations du Mercantour group, along with Isola 2000 and St. Dalmas.
Glenshee Ski Centre is an alpine snowsports area in the Scottish Highlands. It is located above the Cairnwell Pass at the head of Glen Shee on either side of the A93 road between Blairgowrie and Braemar. Glenshee is Britain's largest alpine snowsports area and is referred to as the 'Scottish Three Glens'. in reference to Les Trois Vallées. The ski area covers 2,000 acres (8.1 km2).
Bukovel is the largest ski resort in Eastern Europe situated in Ukraine, in Nadvirna Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. A part of it is in state property. The resort is located almost on the ridge-lines of the Carpathian Mountains at elevation of 900 m (3,000 ft) above the sea level near the village of Polianytsia. It is one of the most popular ski resorts in the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains and is situated 30 km (19 mi) southwest of the city of Yaremche. In 2012, Bukovel was named the fastest-growing ski resort in the world.
Chill Factore is the UK's longest indoor ski slope; a £31 million real snow centre located in the Trafford Park area of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. Designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects, the centre opened in November 2007, at which time it was the widest in the world, at 180 metres (590 ft) long and 100 metres (330 ft) wide at its widest point.
The Mount Hermon ski resort is situated on the south-eastern slopes of Mount Hermon, a few kilometers off the Purple line, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Israel. The site is surrounded by the Hermon nature reserve. While the nature reserve is open year-round, the ski resort is open only at the peak of winter, when enough snow is accumulated on its ground. It has a top elevation of 2,040 metres (6,690 ft), going down to 1600 metres, with an area covering about 2,434 dunams.
Brezovica ski resort or Brezovica ski center, is a mountain resort and the largest center of winter tourism in Kosovo. Located on the slopes of Šar Mountains, it is mainly a destination for skiing and snowboarding. In the summer, eco-tourism opportunities include hiking, mountain biking, golf, and other outdoor recreational activities. Hiking paths can lead the visitors to the nearby Livadh Lake.
The Silvretta Montafon ski area is located in the Montafon valley in Vorarlberg (Austria). It is one of Austria's ten largest ski areas.
