The Best Ski Resorts for Christmas and New Year 2026/27

25 October 2023, updated 8 October 2026

The best ski resorts for Christmas are the ones where the snow can be relied on in the last week of December, and that is decided by altitude more than by reputation. In the Alps, Zermatt, Val d'Isère, St. Moritz, Verbier and Courchevel ski high enough to be safe choices; in North America, Vail, Whistler Blackcomb and Aspen Snowmass are all open from November. Gstaad and Kitzbühel are the well-known exceptions: Gstaad's glacier opens early but its village mountains only from 18 and 19 December, and Kitzbühel lies at 761 metres and relies on more than 1,260 snowmaking machines.

This guide was first published in October 2023 and has been rewritten for the 2026/27 season. Every altitude, opening date and event below comes from the resort, the lift company or the organiser, and links to its source.

The resorts at a glance

The table compares the resorts in this guide by altitude, size of the ski area and the date the lifts are planned to open for the 2026/27 season. Opening dates are the resorts' own plans and depend on snow.

What makes a resort right for Christmas week?

Three things decide it: how high the skiing is, whether the lifts that matter are running before the 24th, and how you arrive when roads and airports are at their busiest.

On snow, two property advisers publish rankings that look decades ahead rather than at a single season. Knight Frank ranks Val Thorens, Val d'Isère and Zermatt highest for long-term snow reliability. Savills puts Vail first in its resilience index, followed by Zermatt, Val d'Isère, Aspen and Breuil-Cervinia, and shows how quickly a lower resort can slip: Gstaad fell 35 places after its snowfall dropped from 1,100 cm to 335 cm in the 2024/25 season.

Altitude is not a guarantee either. Zermatt's lift company suspended summer skiing on the Theodul glacier for visitors in July 2026, and Vail cancelled its New Year’s Eve torchlight parade in 2025 for lack of snow.

Opening dates matter as much as altitude. Most resorts in this guide open in November, but some of the areas people picture when they book only link up in December: Verbier's 4 Vallées on 12 December, Kitzbühel's full network on 11 December and Gstaad's village mountains on 18 and 19 December.

The Swiss resorts

Zermatt

Zermatt is the safest choice for snow in Switzerland. Its ski area runs from 1,620 to 3,899 metres, which makes the Matterhorn Ski Paradise the highest ski area in the Alps; the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise station stands at 3,883 metres. Together with Cervinia on the Italian side it has 360 km of pistes, up to 200 km of them on the Zermatt side. The 2026/27 season starts on 1 November 2026, with Sunnegga and the Gornergrat following on 28 November.

The village has always been car-free. Guests arriving by private aircraft land in Sion, about 15 minutes from Zermatt by helicopter, or in Geneva, about 45 minutes, according to Air Zermatt.

St. Moritz

St. Moritz combines altitude with the fullest winter calendar of any resort in this guide. The village lies at 1,856 metres; Corviglia has 38 runs over 155 km, the Engadin as a whole 330 km, and the Corvatsch lifts climb to 3,303 metres. Corvatsch opens on 21 November 2026 and Corviglia on 28 November, according to Engadin Tourism.

Private aircraft land at Engadin Airport in Samedan, at 1,707 metres Europe’s highest-altitude airport. The Christmas market is a single evening, on 2 December 2026 from 16:00 to 20:00. New Year's Eve is quieter than elsewhere, because the municipality has banned fireworks since June 2022. The season's best-known fixtures come afterwards: the Snow Polo World Cup from 22 to 24 January 2027 and White Turf on 7, 14 and 21 February 2027.

Verbier

Verbier is the choice for skiers who want range. The resort lies at 1,500 metres, the top station on Mont Fort at 3,330 metres, and the 4 Vallées add up to 410 km of slopes. The lifts open on 5 December 2026 and the full 4 Vallées on 12 December, according to Téléverbier. Heliskiing is permitted on the Rosablanche and the Petit Combin (Verbier Tourism).

Gstaad

Gstaad has the highest property prices in the Alps according to Knight Frank and UBS, and a glacier that guarantees snow, but its village slopes start late. The ski area covers more than 200 km between 1,100 and 3,000 metres. Glacier 3000 opens on 7 November 2026, while the Eggli and Wasserngrat lifts only start on 18 and 19 December, according to the lift company’s winter timetable.

Saanen airfield has customs and passport control for Schengen and non-Schengen flights and offers refuelling. The winter's cultural highlight is the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad from 29 January to 6 February 2027.

Crans-Montana

Crans-Montana will be busier than usual this winter: it hosts the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships from 1 to 14 February 2027, with eleven races in fourteen days. Sion airport lies in the immediate vicinity.

France and Austria

Courchevel

Courchevel has the largest connected ski area in this guide. The resort's own 150 km are part of Les 3 Vallées, 600 km in all. Much of Courchevel lies above 1,800 metres, and 85 per cent of Les 3 Vallées does. The season runs from 4 December 2026 to 18 April 2027, according to Courchevel Tourism.

The resort's altiport accepts only propeller aircraft up to 5.7 tonnes and helicopters, and pilots need a mountain rating or an altiport authorisation: the runway is 536 metres long with a gradient of up to 18.66 per cent, according to the French aeronautical information service. Before Christmas, Courchevel hosts a women’s World Cup night slalom on 22 December 2026; the torchlight descent and fireworks are recurring parts of the festive programme, with the 2026 dates still to be published.

Val d'Isère

Val d'Isère is among the most snow-reliable resorts in the Alps by both Knight Frank's and Savills' measures. The skiing runs from 1,550 metres to over 3,400 metres, together with Tignes there are more than 300 km of slopes, and the season lasts from 28 November 2026 to 2 May 2027, according to Val d’Isère Tourism.

The Critérium de la Première Neige races take place on 12 and 13 December 2026. The resort's Magic of Christmas runs from 21 to 27 December, and on New Year's Eve there are fireworks at midnight.

Kitzbühel

Kitzbühel is the lowest of the Alpine resorts in this guide and makes up for it with technology. The town lies at 761 metres, and the resort counts 233 km of pistes served by more than 1,260 snowmaking machines (Kitzbühel Tourism). The season starts on 6 November 2026 on the Resterkogel, and the full network is linked from 11 December (Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel).

There are no New Year’s fireworks in Kitzbühel. The town's great weekend comes later, with the Hahnenkamm downhill on the Streif on 23 January 2027, one of the events named on our events page.

Lech Zürs

Lech Zürs is part of Ski Arlberg, with 301 km of pistes up to 2,811 metres and an average of nine metres of natural snow. The season opens on 2 December 2026. Lech limits the number of lift passes it sells, and apart from the Sound Fireworks show in Zürs on 1 January 2027 at 22:00, fireworks are banned in Lech and Zürs.

North America

Aspen Snowmass

Aspen Snowmass is four mountains with 5,758 acres of skiing (about 2,330 hectares) and a summit of 3,813 metres on Snowmass; the town itself lies at 7,908 feet, about 2,410 metres. The season runs from 26 November 2026 to 18 April 2027, and Aspen/Pitkin County Airport is three miles from town.

Aspen does not list a fixed lift ticket price on its ticket page; it offers up to 25 per cent off for booking 30 or more days ahead. Over the 2025/26 holidays, The Aspen Times reported a one-day ticket at $279 at Aspen Snowmass and $356 at Vail.

Vail

Vail has 5,317 acres, 32 lifts and 278 runs, with the summit at 11,570 feet, about 3,527 metres. It is the first of the North American resorts here to open, on 13 November 2026.

Eagle County Airport is about 35 miles away and clears customs at its FBO (Eagle County Airport). On New Year's Eve 2026, Golden Peak has a torchlight parade at 18:15 and fireworks at 18:25.

Whistler Blackcomb

Whistler Blackcomb is the largest ski resort in North America, with 8,171 acres between 675 and 2,284 metres and an average snowfall of 1,072 cm. It opens on 20 November 2026. Vancouver International Airport is about two hours away by road, and helicopter transfers are available.

Which is the most expensive ski resort?

Worldwide it is Aspen. In the Alps, Knight Frank and UBS put Gstaad first, while Savills' asking prices put Val d'Isère ahead of it. The answer depends on who measures and how, so the three most cited studies are set out below.

Savills compares asking prices for prime property across resorts worldwide. In its December 2025 report, Aspen led for the fifth consecutive year at over €35,000 per square metre, ahead of Val d'Isère at €32,500 and Gstaad at €30,700. In the ultra-prime segment Aspen reached €68,900 per square metre, followed by Val d'Isère at €52,100, Gstaad at €51,500 and Courchevel 1850 at €42,600.

Knight Frank and UBS look at the Alps only, and both put Gstaad first. In Knight Frank’s Alpine Report 2026, Gstaad remains the costliest Alpine destination, ahead of St. Moritz and Courchevel 1850, and one million euros buys about 22 square metres there. UBS puts upscale holiday homes in Gstaad at around CHF 25,000 per square metre in 2026, ahead of the Engadine and St. Moritz at CHF 24,000 and Courchevel at CHF 18,500.

Christmas and New Year calendar 2026/27

These are the dates the resorts and organisers have published so far. Several resorts have not yet released their programmes for 24 and 31 December 2026; where a resort has banned fireworks, the table says so.

Arriving by private jet or helicopter

The airfields differ in what they accept and in how close they are to the slopes.

• St. Moritz: Engadin Airport in Samedan, at 1,707 metres.
• Zermatt: Sion, then about 15 minutes by helicopter; from Geneva about 45 minutes.
• Crans-Montana: Sion, in the immediate vicinity.
• Gstaad: Saanen airfield, with customs and passport control.
• Courchevel: the altiport, for propeller aircraft up to 5.7 tonnes and helicopters only.
• Aspen: Aspen/Pitkin County Airport, three miles from town.
• Vail: Eagle County Airport, about 35 miles, with customs at the FBO.
• Whistler: Vancouver International, about two hours by road, or by helicopter.

Whether to charter or to own an aircraft is a separate question, which we look at in Buying a Private Jet, or Chartering One.

Winter without skis

For a winter that is not built around the slopes, our guide to luxury winter destinations covers Lapland, Advent in Vienna and winter sun from Dubai to the Caribbean. For more on the Alps, read Skiing in the Alps, and for how we plan private holidays, see our travel service.