Ski trips day by day: which part of the mountain to ski when, where to stay, and the day off the slopes.
A ski trip is planned from one base, so every plan here is a day-by-day guide rather than a route: which part of the mountain suits each day, where to stay in town, where to eat when the lifts close, and one day off the slopes for when the legs need it.
The plans are grouped by country below. Each one has a map of the pistes in their difficulty colors, so you can see before you go which side of the mountain suits the way you ski.
One base, one part of the mountain a day, and a day off the slopes.
A box-canyon mining town with a steep mountain behind it. Four ski days, one day off, honest notes on expert terrain, passes and flights.
Bases: Telluride, Mountain Village
Vermont's biggest peak, a small ski area with a big reputation, and honest notes on ice, wind holds and weekend crowds.
Bases: Stowe village, Mountain Road, Spruce Peak village
A Colorado ski town with real cowboys and real Olympians. Four ski days in the trees, one day off in the hot springs.
Bases: Mountain Base Area, Old Town
California's high Sierra ski mountain, where the season runs into June. Four ski days, one day off, and honest notes on the drive.
Bases: The Village at Mammoth, Main Lodge, Town of Mammoth Lakes
Four ski days in the Cottonwood Canyons and one in the city, with honest notes on passes, the ski bus and parking reservations.
Bases: Downtown Salt Lake City, Cottonwood Heights and Sandy, Snowbird, Alta
A gold-rush town with a ski mountain behind it. Four days on the five peaks, one for history, honest notes on prices and altitude.
Bases: Main Street, Peak 8, Peak 9 and Beaver Run, Frisco
Montana's big mountain, planned by the part of the mountain. Four ski days, one Yellowstone day, honest notes on the tram and the cold.
Bases: Mountain Village, Town Center, Bozeman
Colorado's biggest ski mountain, planned by the part of the mountain. Four ski days, one day off, honest notes on prices and the altitude.
Bases: Vail Village, Lionshead, Avon
A silver town that became a ski town. Four ski days, one day off the mountain, and the real price of a lift ticket.
Bases: Park City, Canyons Village
Four days on Heavenly and Kirkwood, one day on the lake, and a base where you can walk from the gondola to dinner.
Bases: South Lake Tahoe, Stateline
The steepest big mountain in the lower 48, a cowboy town at its foot and elk by the thousand, with honest advice on who should ski it.
Bases: Teton Village, Jackson
Four mountains on one ticket, a silver town under them and a bill to match. Five days in Aspen Snowmass, planned honestly.
Bases: Aspen, Snowmass Village
250 km of pistes in the larches, France's highest town with its Vauban walls, and hot baths at the end of the valley.
Bases: Briançon, Chantemerle, Villeneuve, Le Monêtier-les-Bains
A village a baroness built for her ski holidays, with nearly 400 km of forest runs, a serious dining scene and a spa town next door.
Bases: Megève, Saint-Gervais-les-Bains
425 km of pistes, two resorts, one cable car. Four ski days and one valley day, with honest notes on where to sleep.
Bases: Arc 1950, Arc 1800, Belle Plagne, Plagne Centre
Twelve villages, two countries and one pass. A five-day plan from Morzine and Avoriaz, with honest notes on snow, lifts and prices.
Bases: Morzine, Avoriaz
250 km of pistes, Europe's longest black run and 21 hairpins. Five days in Alpe d'Huez, with honest notes for beginners and experts.
Bases: Alpe d'Huez, Oz-en-Oisans, Vaujany, Auris-en-Oisans
300 km of pistes, two glaciers and a season from late November to early May. Five days across Val d'Isère and Tignes, one sector at a time.
Bases: Val d'Isère, Tignes
600 km of pistes, 7 resorts and one pass. Five days across Courchevel, Méribel and Val Thorens, with honest notes on prices and snow.
Bases: Courchevel, Méribel, Val Thorens
Four ski areas that don't touch, the highest cable car in France and a glacier you reach by train. Five days in Chamonix, planned properly.
Bases: Chamonix, Argentière
A mining town whose racing mountain ends at the edge of the old town. Four mountains on one pass, a night run and a glacier day.
270 km of mostly blue and red pistes in one valley, with an après-ski scene that starts before the lifts close. Four ski days and a day off.
Bases: Saalbach, Hinterglemm, Leogang
The Harakiri, a sunny Ahorn and a glacier up the valley. Four ski days, one off, and the pass question answered.
Three summits over 3,000 m and two glaciers in Sölden, a quieter, higher area in Obergurgl. Four ski days and a spa day in the Ötztal.
Bases: Sölden, Obergurgl
Tyrol's loudest après-ski town under a high ski area that crosses into Switzerland. Four ski days and one off, planned for confident skiers.
Austria's biggest ski area, where alpine skiing was taught for the first time. Four ski days and one off, planned for good skiers.
Bases: St. Anton, Lech
A medieval town under the most famous downhill in the world. Four ski days and one town day, with the snow question answered honestly.
A car-free glacier village, planned day by day: the Allalin, Hohsaas, a long sledge run and a thermal-bath day, with real pass prices.
Three ski areas under the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, planned day by day with prices, trains and one day off the skis.
Bases: Grindelwald, Wengen
216 km of pistes, the biggest superpipe in Europe and a lift pass that changes price every day. Flims, Laax and Falera, planned day by day.
Bases: Laax, Flims, Falera
The town that invented the Alpine winter holiday, planned day by day: three big mountains, a train to Italy, and ways to keep the bill down.
Bases: St. Moritz, Celerina, Pontresina
Five mountains on one pass, a 12 km run to Küblis and a town that sells itself in January. Davos and Klosters, planned day by day.
Bases: Davos, Klosters
A car-free village under the Matterhorn, planned day by day: four ski days, a day in Italy, the Gornergrat train and fondue.
A freeride legend with 410 km of linked slopes and a lot of raclette. Five days in Verbier, four of them on skis, planned from the village.
Four ski days across three valleys, a World Cup night slalom and the resort where Sissi came to walk. Five days in the Brenta Dolomites.
Bases: Madonna di Campiglio, Pinzolo, Folgarida, Marilleva
An old spa town with one of the World Cup's hardest downhills, three ski areas on one pass and hot springs the Romans knew.
Bases: Bormio, Santa Caterina Valfurva, Valdidentro
Four ski days from Corvara to Lagazuoi, a World Cup slope and star chefs in the huts. Five days in a Ladin valley of the Dolomites.
Bases: Corvara, Colfosco, La Villa, San Cassiano
A duty-free valley at 1,816 m with two ski sides, one pass, an Olympic freestyle past and a tunnel you have to wait for.
Four ski days, one lap around the Sella massif and a valley where Ladin is the home language. Five days in the Dolomites.
Bases: Ortisei, Santa Cristina, Selva
Three ski areas that don't quite join up, an Olympic past that just got a second chapter, and one very expensive main street.
North America's biggest vertical, a railway town at the bottom. Four ski days, one day off, and an honest word on how steep it is.
Bases: Downtown Revelstoke, Revelstoke Mountain Resort
North America's biggest ski area, one mountain at a time. Four ski days, one day off, and honest notes on passes and the highway.
Bases: Whistler Village, Upper Village, Creekside, Squamish
Three ski areas, one national park. Four ski days, one day on foot, and honest notes on prices, buses and cold.
Bases: Banff, Lake Louise, Canmore
One mountain, a pedestrian village and a very cold, very French weekend. Three days in Quebec's biggest ski resort.
Bases: Pedestrian Village, Old Village and Lac Mercier, Saint-Jovite
Montenegro's highest town, 18 glacial lakes and Europe's deepest canyon, planned for summer hiking and winter snow alike.
Montenegro's unfinished ski town: cheap lift passes, no snow cannons, a primeval forest and a 13th-century monastery down the road.
Bases: Kolašin, Kolašin 1600
Serbia's biggest ski resort, planned sector by sector: red runs, a few blacks, kafana lunches, night skiing and a day off the snow.
Bases: Konaci, Vikend Naselje, Brzeće
Pine-covered hills, a gondola nine kilometers long, and the cheese, kajmak and pršut Serbs drive for hours to buy. Five days in the west.
Breckenridge puts the lifts, the bars and the free bus close together, so the question is which of the three you want closest.
Bases: Main Street, Peak 8, Peak 9 and Beaver Run, Frisco
In Vail you pay for walking to the lift, so decide how much that is worth before you look at beds.
Bases: Vail Village, Lionshead, Avon, Beaver Creek Village
Pick the base by the pass in your pocket, because Epic skis Park City Mountain and Ikon skis Deer Valley and the Cottonwoods.
Bases: Park City, Canyons Village, Deer Valley, Kimball Junction, Salt Lake City
Pick the shore by the mountains you will ski all week, because the drive between them is longer than it looks on the map.
Bases: South Lake Tahoe, Stateline, Olympic Valley, Tahoe City, Truckee, Incline Village
