Ski Resort Scorecards 2026: 10 Resorts Scored on Snow, Season, Access and Price Transparency, Plus What a Six-Day Lift Pass Really Costs

1. Zermatt — 65/100

360 km of piste · 3,899 m top lift · season 1 Nov to 2 May

Zermatt takes the index on season length and altitude rather than on size. It is the only resort here to score a full 20 of 20 on season, on a published window of 1 November to 2 May — 182 days, forty-seven more than Courchevel — and 18 of 25 on snow reliability from a 3,899 m top station, year-round glacier skiing and 412 cm of average annual snowfall. It loses ground on terrain, 7 of 20, because 360 km of piste and 52 lifts are simply smaller than the Trois Vallées, and on access, 10 of 20, because the nearest airport is Sion at 90 minutes. Zermatt Tourismus and Zermatt Bergbahnen publish a 2026/27 six-day adult pass at CHF 384, which is the cheapest of the three Swiss resorts here. Four Michelin-starred restaurants sit in the village. The linked Italian sector at Breuil-Cervinia is included in the higher pass tier.

2. Val d'Isère — 53/100

300 km of piste · 571 cm average snowfall · 5 five-star hotels

Val d'Isère has the best snow record of any Alpine resort in this index: 571 cm of average annual snowfall, a third more than Courchevel's 418 cm and well ahead of Zermatt, which is the reason it scores 18 of 25 on reliability despite a lower top station at 3,456 m. It shares the Espace Killy area with Tignes and publishes a 2026/27 six-day pass at EUR 468 — the most expensive in this index, and more than double Kitzbühel's. Access is its weak mark at 6 of 20: Chambéry is 115 minutes and 144 km away. The season runs 28 November to 2 May, 155 days, second only to Zermatt. Val d'Isère Tourisme lists five five-star hotels and one Michelin-starred restaurant. Glacier skiing on the Pissaillas keeps the top of the season honest.

3. Courchevel — 52/100

600 km of piste · 159 lifts · 24 five-star hotels · 7 Michelin stars

Courchevel is the only resort in this index to take a full 20 of 20 on terrain, and it is not close: 600 km of piste and 159 lifts as part of Les Trois Vallées, the largest linked ski area in the world. It also carries the densest luxury stock here — 24 five-star hotels and seven Michelin stars, more than Zermatt and St Moritz combined. What costs it the top position is time: a published season of 4 December to 18 April is 135 days, the shortest of any resort with a published window, worth 3 of 20, and with no glacier and a 3,230 m top station snow reliability is 11 of 25, the weakest of the four leading Alpine resorts. The 2026/27 six-day Trois Vallées pass is EUR 421. Chambéry is 105 minutes away. For where to stay, see our European mountain chalets guide.

4. Verbier — 47/100

410 km of piste · 95 per cent snowmaking · 70-minute transfer

Verbier has the shortest transfer of any European resort in this index — 70 minutes and 61 km from Sion — which is worth 12 of 20 on access and is the practical reason many people choose it over Val d'Isère. It also has the highest snowmaking coverage recorded here at 95 per cent, and a 3,330 m top station with glacier skiing, for 16 of 25 on reliability. The published season of 12 December to 18 April is only 127 days, the shortest in the index, and scores zero on that criterion — a hard mark that the resort could move simply by publishing an earlier opening it already operates. Verbier / Val de Bagnes Tourisme and Téléverbier publish a 2026/27 six-day 4 Vallées pass at CHF 409. Three five-star hotels and one Michelin star. The off-piste is the reason to come; see our heli-ski operator index for the next step beyond it.

5. Aspen Snowmass — 40/100

757 cm average snowfall · airport 4.8 km from the lifts · 10-minute transfer

Aspen Snowmass has the best airport access of any resort in the world that we have scored, and it is the single most striking number on this page: Aspen/Pitkin County Airport is 4.8 km and ten minutes from the lifts, against 229 km and 165 minutes for St Moritz. That is a full 20 of 20, the only resort here to take the criterion outright. Snowfall of 757 cm gives 18 of 25. Where it falls away is transparency: neither Aspen Skiing Company nor its shop publishes a six-day adult pass we could verify — the shop blocks automated access — so it scores 0 of 15, and the only figures we could confirm are a 1-day ticket at USD 279 and a 7-day at USD 1,953 for 2025/26. At roughly USD 279 per day against Zermatt's CHF 64, that is the widest transatlantic pricing gap in this index. Its terrain score of 2 of 20 rests on lift count alone, for the reason given above.

Not scorable on this record: season length. That criterion scores zero until a verifiable published source exists.

6. Kitzbühel — 36/100

188 km of piste · EUR 213 for six days · 70 minutes from Salzburg

Kitzbühel is the value finding of this index. Its 2026/27 six-day adult KitzSki pass is EUR 213 — under half Val d'Isère's EUR 468 and EUR 208 less than Courchevel — for 188 km of piste and 58 lifts. Per skiing day that is about EUR 36. Access is strong at 12 of 20, 70 minutes and 74 km from Salzburg Airport. What pulls it down to sixth is altitude: a base at 800 m and a top station at 2,000 m is the lowest ceiling in this index by more than a kilometre, there is no glacier, and no average snowfall figure is published, so snow reliability scores 7 of 25 — the weakest mark of any resort with a complete record. The published season is 5 December to 18 April, 134 days. Five-star hotel count and Michelin stars are not published by any registry we could reach; the Austrian Hotelstars search returns no static results.

7. St Moritz — 25/100

8 five-star hotels · 6 Michelin stars · 165 minutes from Zurich

St Moritz carries the second-densest luxury stock in this index, eight five-star hotels and six Michelin stars, behind Courchevel alone. It still scores 25 of 100, second from bottom among the profiled eight. The arithmetic is not a verdict on the resort, it is a verdict on distance and on what is published. Access scores 0 of 20: Zurich is 229 km and 165 minutes away, the longest transfer here by 50 minutes. Snow reliability is 14 of 25 on 288 cm of average annual snowfall, the lowest figure in the index, offset by a 3,057 m top station and glacier skiing on Diavolezza. Terrain is 1 of 20, since Engadin St. Moritz publishes 155 km of piste and 23 lifts for the Corviglia sector alone, with Corvatsch, Diavolezza and Lagalb operated separately. Its six-day pass of CHF 376 is a 2025/26 figure; no 2026/27 price was published when we checked. Season dates are not published at all, which is why it scores zero there.

Not scorable on this record: season length. That criterion scores zero until a verifiable published source exists.

8. Niseko — 24/100

1,243 cm average snowfall · Niseko United, four linked resorts · 150 minutes from Sapporo

Niseko has the deepest snowfall record of any resort in this index by a wide margin — 1,243 cm, against 787 cm for Whistler and 571 cm for Val d'Isère — and the thinnest published record of any resort we scored. It has eleven facts on file against Zermatt's twenty-two. There is no combined figure published for Niseko United's base altitude, piste length or lift count, because the four resorts that make up the network — Grand Hirafu, Hanazono, Niseko Village and Annupuri — are separately owned and publish separately, and the joint site does not consolidate them. So terrain is not scorable at all, and snow reliability of 12 of 25 rests on snowfall and a 1,308 m summit without the altitude data that would normally support it. The all-mountain six-day pass is JPY 74,500 for 2026/27, which is published and dated, so transparency takes the full 10 available for a lift pass. Transfer from New Chitose is 150 minutes.

Not scorable on this record: terrain scale, season length. That criterion scores zero until a verifiable published source exists.