Méribel, Kitzbühel, Banff - the names alone exert an enduring appeal for thousands of skiers each year. But while the masses head for the honeypot resorts, they're often bypassing real gems which have just as much to offer but, for some reason, have remained out of the limelight.
You'd need to comb quite a few brochures to find all of the follo wing 10 resorts, some of which are offered only by specialist tour operators who will tailor-make your trip. So me, I concede, are more widely known and are found in one or two major brochures, and one or two are now breaking into the mainstream. But they're all resorts which, in my opinion, are underrated and deserve serious consideration.
1. Bad Gastein, Austria
1,080m
The name points to the favourite après-ski activity: bathing in thermal waters (though it doesn't reveal that the waters are radioactive in places). The resort was a spa long before it had a midlife crisis and embarked on a second career as a ski resort, which has given it a rather curious atmosphere (also radioactive in places). But the slopes are excellent: extensive, varied, testing, with a hill of near-glacial height out of town a mile or two at Sportgastein.
2. Ischgl, Austria
1,400m
Austria's premier ski area? Easy: the Arlberg (St Anton/Stuben/Zurs/Lech). But number two? Definitely Ischgl - not quite as extensive as the Arlberg, but as high (top heights around 2,800m, which is exceptional for Austria) with lots of varied skiing on open, fairly snow-sure slopes above the 2,000m mark. The pricey hotels in the attractive, chalet-style village are full of Germans and Scandinavians, as are the bars that start rocking at teatime and go on until breakfast.
3. Serre-Chevalier, France
1,400m
OK, so you've maybe heard of this one - it's now in dozens of brochures. But that's a relatively recent development, and Serre-Chevalier gets overlooked by most British skiers, hooked on the mega resorts of the Tarentaise. Two things set the place apart: about two-thirds of the mountain is forested, making this one of the best resorts in France for bad-weather skiing; and at its foot is a series of small villages, each with a friendly old rustic centre, complete with cheap and cheerful Logis de France hotels.
4. Risoul, France
1,850m
Like my other French suggestion, Risoul is further south than most Brits usually venture. Unlike Serre-Chevalier, it's a purpose-built apartment resort, with the classic row of restaurant terraces lining the foot of the nursery slopes. The slopes it shares with Vars, over the hill, are on much the same scale as those of Les Arcs, and the two areas have something else in common - a 'flying kilometre' speed skiing course on which ordinary punters can have a go.
5. Arabba, Italy
1,600m
If you've watched ski-racing from Val Gardena, you'll have some idea of how breathtaking the scenery is in the Dolomites: spectacular cliffs and spires soaring out of the gentle pastures on which you ski. But the gentle pastures can seem a bit tame. The solution is to base yourself a little way south of Val Gardena in Arabba. It's on the famous Sella Ronda lift/piste circuit, but is also at the foot of non-Dolomitic mountains that provide serious black, north-facing runs.
6. Champoluc, Italy
1,640m
If Champoluc, Gressoney and Alagna had the sense to promote their extensive lift network as the Italian Three Valleys, you might have heard of it. But Monterosa Ski? No, quite. It offers two very different experiences: super-smooth cruising on well-groomed easy pistes (crowd-free during the week), and superb off-piste terrain accessible from the high points of the lift systems. Alagna and Champoluc are the more attractive bases, but, for the moment, the runs to and from Alagna are off-piste.
7. Andermatt, Switzerland
1,445m
At weekends, when the coaches roll in from Zurich and Lucerne, you can face long queues for Andermatt's modest cable car. At other times, you may have to wait for a cabin-load to accumulate; most of the people on the mountain are soldiers billeted here, and they are obliged to walk up. For competent skiers, it's worth the wait to get up the Gemsstock, which offers two superb, high, north-facing bowls that get exceptional snowfalls. Drinking in the Café Sternen is all you should expect to do in the evening.
8. Flims-Laax, Switzerland
1,100m
Two hundred and twenty-two kilometres of pistes puts Flims in the second division, ahead of Les Arcs but behind Flaine. So you really should have heard of it, but you probably haven't. What's striking about the place is how those kilometres are spread over a broad mountainside - about twice as big as the Les Arcs area - giving a great sensation of travel. The varied slopes are sunny, but go up to glacial heights so the slush factor isn't too worrying. The villages of Flims and Laax are unremarkable - consider staying in rustic little Falera instead.
9. Big Sky, USA
2,285m
The main hill at this Montana resort is called Lone Mountain, and it certainly is alone - miles from any other resort, which no doubt helps to explain its low profile in Britain. Make the trip for the exceptional snowfall (in the Jackson Hole league); the big vertical (by US standards) of more than 1,100m, and the steeps on the upper slopes. (There's plenty of cruising, too, but you don't have to go to Montana for that.) There are slope-side lodgings, plus apartments dotted around the golf course.
10. Winter Park, USA
2,745m
Until a couple of years ago, Winter Park in Colorado had an accommodation problem: it didn't have any - well, not at the slopes, anyway. Now, it has the first phase of a smooth pedestrian 'village' around the lift base, though it has to be said that downtown Winter Park, a shuttle-bus ride away, is still rather limited in its attractions. Aspen it ain't, but it's a serious resort, with everything from a world-class beginner area to world-class bump runs and lots of smooth cruising in between - and the best snowfall record in Colorado.
Chris Gill is editor of Where to Ski and Snowboard 2002: The Reuters Guide (published by Norton Wood, £15.99).
