The world’s largest ski resorts are mainly in the Alps
The size of the slopes can be an important factor when choosing your ski holiday destination. Some ski resorts have joined forces to link up all their slopes, creating some of the largest ski areas in France, Europe and even the world. While some people prefer small resorts where peace and quiet take precedence over the size of the area, others prefer resorts where a huge choice of slopes is on offer.
It’s difficult to say exactly which is the largest ski area, as most resorts (except in Canada and the USA) translate their size according to the length of their runs, rather than their actual surface area. What’s more, some resorts take off-piste into account, while others do not calculate the length of their runs in the same way.
We have therefore compiled two rankings. The first shows the world’s largest ski areas, based on official data supplied by the resorts. The second ranks the resorts according to data collected over several years by German consultant Christoph Schrahe. As you will see, the two rankings are completely different, but give a good overview of the world’s biggest resorts.
The world’s biggest ski resorts – Published figures
1. Les Portes du Soleil (France-Switzerland), 650 km of pistes
2. Les 3 Vallées (France), 600 km
3. Les Quatre Vallées (Switzerland), 412 km
4. Via Lattea (Italy-France), 400 km
5. Zermatt-Cervinia (Switzerland-Italy), 360 km
6. Les Sybelles (France), 310 km
7. Espace Killy(Val d’Isère-Tignes) (France), 300 km
8. SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental (Austria), 280 km
9. Le Grand Massif (France), 265 km
10. Big Sky Resort (USA), 250 km
11. Serre Chevalier (France), 250 km
12. Alpe d’Huez (France), 249 km
13. Ischgl-Samnaun (Silvretta Arena) (Austria-Switzerland), 238 km
14. Snowmass (USA), 237 km
15. Megève (France), 235 km
16. Arosa-Lenzerheide (Switzerland), 225 km
17. La Plagne (Paradiski) (France), 225 km
18. Les Deux Alpes (France), 225 km
19. Laax-Flims-Falera (Switzerland), 220 km
20. Grandvalira (Andorra), 210 km
The biggest ski resorts – Actual figures
However, consultant and writer Christoph Schrahe measures pistes in a more obvious way, taking from point A to point B to arrive at the correct figure, while ski resorts use many tricks to inflate the length of their pistes and areas (by an average of 34%). Here’s an overview of the rankings:
1. Les 3 Vallées (France), 493 km
2. Les Portes du Soleil (France-Switzerland), 425 km
3. Paradiski (France), 378 km
4. Sella Ronda (Italy), 309 km
5. Matterhorn Ski Paradise (Switzerland-Italy), 252 km
The ski areas that boost their figures the most
The survey also reveals which ski resorts exaggerate the most about the number of ski kilometers offered to skiers (published km / actual km / % exaggeration).
1. St. Moritz-Celerina (Switzerland), 163km/64km/+156%.
2. The 4 Valleys (Switzerland), 412km/164km/+151%.
3. Monterosa Ski (Italy), 180km/73km/+146%.
4. Isola 2000 (France), 120km/54km/+123
5. Les Sybelles (France), 310km/141km/+120%.
Here are the ones that exaggerate the least (published km / actual km / % exaggeration):
1. Vier Berge Skiischaukel (Austria), 121km/131km/-8%.
2. Kitzbühel (Austria), 164km/164km/0
3. Lech/Zürs(Austria), 122km/118km/+3%.
4. Espace Diamant (France), 185km/178km/+4%.
5. Baqueira-Beret (Spain), 131km/124km/+6%.
Source: « The list of the world’s 50 largest ski areas » by Christoph Schrahe, Ski Weltweit / Montenius Consult