50 Ski Resorts Every Snowboarder Should Ride

Grab your gear, it's time to hit the slopes.

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Image via Complex Original
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By Colin Whyte/RedCard
We've all seen lists like these that simply rearrange the same 50 resorts. What we tried to do was pick 50 resorts that hold something special for snowboarders, places that all but guarantee a good time. As for biases, we have ours, too: This list is subjective as all hell and weighted more toward freeriding, natural terrain and powder possibilities than parks or pipes or man-made snow. It's global, but with extra attention paid to North America.(Most riders don't have three grand these days to cross an ocean for snowboarding.) Lastly, rather than picking 10 resorts from Tahoe and another 10 from Colorado and another 10 from Salt Lake, we tried to focus your attention on some great hills that are often overshadowed by similar resorts with massive marketing reach. Get strapped, these are 50 Ski Resorts Every Snowboarder Should Ride.

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50. Mount Cain

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Website:mountcain.com

Community-owned like all these wooly gems, Cain is on North Vancouver Island, and many people who live on "the island" have never even been there. 1500 vert., huge snow-loads, fun terrain, and it's only open on weekends like olden days Mt. Baker. If you aren't scared of adventure, Cain is more than able to satisfy cravings you didn't even know you had. Please tell us you caught that pun (and that you still read out loud...).

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49. Snow Park NZ

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Website:

Sure it's a freeridey list and this is a freestyley Mecca, but Snow Park deserves props for continually giving the world's best riders something to ride in the summer. Oh, and this is where Ken Block jumped his Subaru off massive, snowy park jumps. Piece of piss!

Park and/or Pipe

48. Grand Targhee

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Website:grandtarghee.com

Jackson locs will tell you the terrain here's too tame but the snow speaks for itself. We've never talked to anyone who went here and didn't need a snorkel. Perfect pow, lots of it-that shit sells itself!

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47. Mt. Baldy

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Website:mtbaldy.com

Accessed by a road perfect for a 007 car chase and almost as hard to catch on a pow day, Baldy is legendary in SoCal circles. "Real Mountain, Real Close" is their tagline and it rings true with 2100 vertical feet, great tree runs, and natural quarterpipes. The people deep frying your lunch are, like, 12 years old but, no, we don't know why this is. Tied with Mount Cain for the weirdest spot on our list. We like weird...

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46. Happo-one

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Website:hakuba-happo.or.jp

A comp venue for '98's Olympics in Nagano, Happo puts you right in the mix. Get your ass on a bullet train and enjoy a 450 inch snowfall and Japan's largest above treeline terrain.

Snow Bunnies

45. Sunshine Village

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Website:skibanff.com

Like Bridger, Sunshine has hairy, natural in-bounds terrain (Delirium Dive, Wild West etc.) that requires pieps, shovel, and an equipped partner to ride. Real Rockies riding with some of the best snow in Canada-and that's saying something.

Park and/or Pipe

44. June Mountain

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Website:junemountain.com

June has supported snowboarding since before most of the world had even heard of it, and their parks and pipes are serious points of pride. What we like most is the incredibly laidback vibe, the quality snow, and the near total absence of Cayenne-driving douchebags. Cool drive with great views.

Best-kept Secret Park and/or Pipe

43. Cerro Catedral

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Website:sasnow.com

South America Snow Sessions runs their legendary camps out of Bariloche and Cerro and offers an insider's experience of the "enchanted forests and technical bamboo jungles" that make up only a sliver of the riding possibilities here. Steak, wine, sleep, slash, repeat.

Snow Bunnies Best-kept Secret

42. Eaglecrest

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Website:skijuneau.com

We pretty much just put this snowy little gem in here because pro rider Mark Landvik hails from here. We admit it. But have you seen his method airs?

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41. Taos

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Website:skitaos.org

March 19th, 2008, Taos pried the "No Snowboarding" barriers off with a creak of nails heard 'round the world. We can still hear a few crusty old two plankers grumbling but, whatever: Taos is steep and serious, family owned and gorgeous.

Snow Bunnies Park and/or Pipe

40. Vail

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Website:vail.com

Based on snow, terrain (seven miles wide!), and a rich role in snowboarding history, Vail should be much higher on this list. But that "$102 Vail/Beaver Creek adult ticket at window" knocked them down a few pegs. (Get one of the Beav's legendary cougars to pay for you, maybe?) Head into the woods to find some of unusual/off-map features Vail's famous for. Stay out of the OB East Vail Chutes, though, unless geared up and experienced.

Snow Bunnies Decent Nightlife Park and/or Pipe

39. Powder Mountain

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Website:powdermountain.com

It has powder right in the name. And that's not false advertising...

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38. Red Mountain

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Website:redresort.com

There's a bit of a Red renaissance going on. Get here now before the hoards do for super steep, super deep riding that's as laid-back as it gets. Think ŎCanadian AlpentalŎ and you'll be getting close.

Best-kept Secret Park and/or Pipe

37. Whitewater

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Website:skiwhitewater.com

Love powder? Hate people? Dad's a draft dodger? Look no further... Whitewater gets 40 ft. per year. And the town of Nelson might be one of the sweetest small cities anywhere.

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36. Mt. Hood Meadows

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Website:skihood.com

Milk the numbered bowls until they're tracked out and then head high or wide to access Super Bowl, Heather Canyon, or the Private Reserve. Lineups can get a little frustrating when that stupid Portland news van reports on big dumps (430 ft. annually) but Meadows delivers much more challenging riding than that flat name might suggest.

Park and/or Pipe

35. Brighton

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Website:brightonresort.com

SLC has more pro snowboarders than any other city in the U.S., which means the level of riding at Brighton is routinely off the charts. Prepare to be schooled, son.

Park and/or Pipe

34. Lake Louise

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Website:skilouise.com

It's big and it's burly and, when it gets the snow, it's incredibly fun, but we'll admit that the Lake made it mainly for that view. One of the most scenic resorts in North America, hands-down. Eye-rapingly beautiful.

Park and/or Pipe

33. Mt. Bachelor

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Website:mtbachelor.com

This volcano in the middle of Oregon might be one of the coolest resorts to drive up to on earth. It looms like the Mother Ship. In big snow years, it can get a little flat but the undulating terrain is 100 percent unique with berms, gullies, and little BMX gaps all over the place. Great snow, and maybe share a chair with surf legend Gerry Lopez or local legend Josh Dirksen, both nice guys who rip.

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32. Stowe

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Website:stowe.com

Stowe has a culture all its own that includes secret backwoods trail cutting, red herring routes, and stony conspiracy theorists. It catches more snow than surrounding areas, holds some legit (viz. "Western") freeriding, and produces riders more versatile than a Skeletool. Plus, you might get to take a slash next to Jake Burton himself.

Park and/or Pipe

31. Crystal Mountain

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Website:skicrystal.com

The largest ski area in Washington (a state with more than its share) and about as close as you'll ever come to riding 14,410 ft. Mt. Rainier. 2600 acres with great variety and a lot of backcountry...assuming you're worthy.

Park and/or Pipe

30. Treble Cone

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Website:treblecone.com

With cool, undulating runs and gullies just made for snowboarders, Treble Cone is solid. Warning: The view down to the lake might make you yearn for Lembas bread and a foot razor.

Park and/or Pipe

29. Breckenridge

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Like Lake Tahoe, we could have picked a dozen Colorado resorts as legit listers, but Breck makes the grade for having it all: High-altitude cold smoke; high-speed freeriding over varied terrain; great lifts; legendary parks and pipes; a gorgeous town...and more girls than they used to have. Download the EpicMix App and be a nerd and cool at the same time!

Decent Nightlife Park and/or Pipe

28. Stevens Pass

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Website:stevenspass.com

When you picture NorthWest snowboarding in your mind's eye, chances are you're seeing Stevens. With 1800' vert on two different mountains and numerous aspects, you can test your luck booking through snow-blasted Pacific Silver Fir and Mountain Hemlock like you invented that shit.

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27. Alpental

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Website:summitatsnoqualmie.com

Steep, stormy, and storied, this NW resort's on the other side of the highway from the other three Summits at Snoqualmie hills and has the best freeriding by far. Plus, the I-90 from Seattle means you can be there before you even run out of coffee-or crappy music. Cheap tickets, especially for those in the military. Serious fun for any rank.

Bargain

26. Sugar Bowl

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Website:sugarbowl.com

Many Bay Area "Tahoe locs" have never ridden Sugar Bowl. Their loss. This place, started by Walt Disney, gets pounded by storms (500+ inches/year), has four peaks, bucket-loads of "mini extreme" lines, and a fantastic, laid-back, old school vibe. The very definition of "underrated."

Best-kept Secret Park and/or Pipe

Alyeska

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Website:alyeskaresort.com

Alaska has surprisingly few lift-serviced ski resorts but Alyeska kills it. God-like ocean views, some interesting steeps and a mid-mountain that's like a skatepark tilted on its side. Plus, where else is "first chair" @ 10:30 am?! Buy some Xtra Tuff boots since any (rare) woman you pick up might not take you seriously if you're wearing anything else and/or can't field strip an AR-15.

Snow Bunnies Best-kept Secret Decent Nightlife Park and/or Pipe Bargain

24. Kicking Horse

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Website:kickinghorseresort.com

Located on the other side of the pass from Revelstoke, KH recently opened up Super Bowl, their fourth alpine bowl. Fifteen chutes and a legit backcountry feel keep the experts happy while your sister's boyfriend can go "haul total ass" on the groomers. God, we hate that guy.

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23. Revelstoke

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Website:revelstokemountainresort.com

Revelstoke used to be a hush-hush area where hardcore powderhounds went to cat or heli-board. Now you can roll up on North America's highest lift-serviced vertical (5620 ft.) and access that same snow for less money. The resort is only 4 years old so watch it moving up lists like these soon. Epic glades with even better names like "Iron Glaiden."

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22. Gulmarg

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Website:ski-gulmarg.co.uk

You know that hot girl down the street who has been saving up for five years to go train with a yogi in India blah blah blah? Drag her to Gulmarg instead: Himalayan powder; legit Kashmiri culture; hot tea at the ready. And, oh yeah, tons of dudes with guns since it's on the disputed Pakistan-India border. This place has been moving up the hype list every year with guests bragging of 20 powder days in a row (a life's worth for many).

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21. Portillo

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Website:skiportillo.com

From the weirdo "slingshot" lifts to the views of 20,000 ft. mountains all around, Portillo would be an epic place to take your girlfriend for an original late summer/fall holiday. Underrated Chilean wine, great riding when the snow and wind cooperate, and friendly staffers who've often worked here for 40 years or more. Plus, they limit the number of people on-hill so it's not such a NASCAR race at the end of the day.

Snow Bunnies Decent Nightlife

20. Mayrhofen

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Website:mayrhofen.at

This large zone is pro-rider Wolle Nyvelt's stomping ground and it's becoming more of a snowboarder destination every year. You'll have fun all day and night whether it's surfing the plentiful pow, goofing off in the park or, if you show up March 12-19, 2011, watching the Aesthetikers and other top euro riders compete in the Wangl Tangl contest. Double umlauts, dude; double umlauts...

Snow Bunnies Decent Nightlife Park and/or Pipe

19. Aspen-Snowmass

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Home of the Winter X Games and foxy silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen also has a rep as being prohibitively posh and pretentious. But look past the moneyed cougars dripping in silver fox and see the cool mountain town behind them. From the dude at the Post Office to nice girls like Gretchen to Hunter S. Thompson who almost became sheriff 'round these parts, the Aspen area has a lot to offer and their parks and pipes win awards every year. If you have your own Gulfstream, that's cool too.

Snow Bunnies Decent Nightlife Park and/or Pipe

18. Mammoth Mountain

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Website:mammothmountain.com

Mammoth got 17.4 ft. of snow last...month. No joke. Add crazy storms to the clear-day views of the Minarets, their legendary man-made terrain offerings, and their long season, and you can see why Mammoth has been such a big part of snowboarding for over a decade. Check out the new art park on-hill and skate the Volcom Brothers Skate Park in town.

Decent Nightlife Park and/or Pipe

16. Big Sky

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Website:bigskyresort.com

Big Sky's Moonlight Basin interconnect makes this spot the biggest in the US with 5,512 shreddable acres and a beyond-legit 4,350 ft. of vertical drop. You won't wait in any day-wrecking lift lines, you'll make friends easily, the snow will be way better than where you're from, and, let us guess, you're "going back to school" in Bozeman next year.

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16. Bridger Bowl

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Website:bridgerbowl.com

A high-res trail map from Bridger is kind of like snowboard porn. See that shaded area? That's the raw dog Ridge Terrain where you need an avalanche transceiver to even ride. Incredible stuff. Bridger has been churning out super solid all-mountain riders for decades and all of them are impervious to cold. BB is a non-profit community resort so adult day tickets are under $50. (On this entire list only Mt. Baker competes with Bridger for straight bang-for-buck.)

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15. Courmayeur

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Website:courmayeur.com

Located on the Italian side of Monte Bianco, the highest peak in Western Europe, Courmayeur is tough to describe. On weekends you'll feel like a slob as the moneyed fashionistas from Milan blow smoke in your face for wearing neither fur nor leather to shred, but they'll bring the party. Hit it mid-week and you can ride some of the raddest steep trees on earth, open it up in the alpine, and basically have Chamonix-quality pickings with way fewer rippers competing for it. Amazing food in town, and French, English, and Italian all do the trick here.

Snow Bunnies Best-kept Secret Decent Nightlife Bargain

14. Snowbird

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Website:snowbird.com

Utah's never been short on epic riding, and Snowbird offers much of what's best in state. The SLC airport is a mere 29 miles away and, with 500 inches annually, "The greatest snow on earth" ain't just a license plate. The Bird offers serious steeps, moto style cat track gapping, long tram laps, crotch-deep turns over 2,500 acres, and ripping locals. With such solid natural offerings, it's no wonder the North Face Masters has a stop here. Alta's right next door and still doesn't allow snowboarding in 2011 so, well, fuck them.

Park and/or Pipe

13. Krasnaya Polyana

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Website:kraspol.ru

With somewhat more westernized standard for lifts and overall amenities than some of the scrappier CCCP resorts, "KP" as it's known, has been a go-to spot for magazine shoots for over five years now. But it's still scrappy... Split a heli with Vladmir Putin, explore those leg-burning tree runs with a quick hike, hit the pow in the back bowls, or wait for the sure sign that climate change is no conspiracy theory: The 2014 Winter Olympics here and in Sochi.

Snow Bunnies Decent Nightlife

12. Les Arcs

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Website:lesarcs.com

This massive, French "station de ski" should really be called a "station de shred" since the godfather of European snowboarding, Regis Rolland, put it on the map in the '80s with his still-rad riding. The powder here is notoriously light and easy to find, and Les Arcs would be rated much higher if it weren't for the mile-long flats you encounter moving between base areas. At least a lift ticket is cheaper than calf implants...

Best-kept Secret Decent Nightlife Park and/or Pipe

11. Las Leñas

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Located in the heart of the Andes, Las Lenas can be super hit 'n' miss with weather but, if you hit it, you'll never stop talking about it. Score the never-open Marte lift after a fresh dump and you might actually lose the ability to talk after riding South America's steepest lift-accessed goods. Gorgeous, original and, hey, it's August and you're riding powder!

Snow Bunnies Decent Nightlife

10. Squaw Valley

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Website:squaw.com

It hardly needs our help (and know that we could have picked any number of Tahoe resorts for this list), but Squaw is a classic for a reason. Huge dumps, incredible local riders and skiers, and, of course, KT-22: The most revered lift in America. Chances are you won't get into the Fingers before they're tracked to shit but watching the likes of Jeremy Jones, Ralph Backstrom, or Ryland Bell take them apart can be an enjoyable exercise in humility. Pow day? Show up reeeaaalllyy early. Sleep when you're dead.

Snow Bunnies

9. Lech Zürs

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Website:lech-zuers.at

Eighty-four lifts at your disposal with half the runs designated "advanced"... The stats alone explain why Lech Zurs is a freerider's paradise. The best place on earth to get stranded with a long board and a few bottles of Umblachter, an 85 percent alcohol ass-kicker.

Snow Bunnies Best-kept Secret Park and/or Pipe Bargain

8. Silverton Mountain

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Website:silvertonmountain.com

High altitude (13,487 ft!), high consequence "resort" with none of the usual resort trappings. There's one chairlift, you'll hike to most of your runs, but you'll watch your nose floating through blower pow and share it with almost no-one. This place has to be experienced to be believed, right down to the re-purposed UPS "shuttle bus" we hope is still operational. Silverton can be seriously hardcore (like AK hardcore) so we strongly recommend hiring a (cheap) guide such as San Juan loc Skylar Holgate. You might very realistically have the best day of your life with this guy. Unless, of course, you suck...

Best-kept Secret Bargain

7. Laax

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Website:laax.com/en.html

Like windlips? Want to ride like Nicolas Mueller? Check into Laax...You might just have your horizons expanded at this Swiss spot that has it all and is home to the Burton European Open.

Snow Bunnies Park and/or Pipe

6. Niseko United

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Website:niseko.ne.jp

Japanese snowboarding culture is arguably the strongest one out there today and Niseko is the go-to spot, at least for gaijin. You'd probably be better off learning a few Aussie or Kiwi slang words than trying to master Japanese as the fun-loving Antipodeans roll deep in Niseko. Whatever your lingua franca, a run through the shadowy birch and larch trees in some of Niseko's special brand of deep, light, airy powder will let you know why this spot makes the Top 10. Legendary.

Snow Bunnies Park and/or Pipe

5. Mt. Baker

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Website:

Every year, snowboarding's best and beardiest riders roll into Baker for the Legendary Mt. Baker Banked Slalom. And, every year, they find out that, yes, they still have souls. Baker holds the record, from 1998 to 1999, for the most snowfall in a season: 1,140 inches. And some guy in the parking lot surely holds the record for most large dogs in a van. Just go there. You're not a snowboarder if you don't. Hint: try to rent the Method Cabin if it's available.

Bargain

4. Jackson Hole

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Website:jacksonhole.com

Jackson Hole, like Whistler, gets a lot of hype but man, does this place deserve it. Steep as all get out and with the lightest, coldest powder you can imagine, JHMR should be on every solid shredder's must-ride list. The new Stash park means that hardcore locs like Rob Kingwill, Travis Rice, and Bryan Iguchi can ride it all, Wyoming-style. We just wish they'd bring back the Natural Selection contest-easily the coolest shred contest we've ever seen. If you truly love mountains, you truly have to get your ass to Jackson. Just leave your attitude and the beginners at home.

Decent Nightlife Park and/or Pipe

3. Verbier

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Ten years ago, Verbier was considerably less known and, therefore, better. But it's still astounding. Swiss quality permeates this massive place to the point where even the powder seems a step up from regular peasant powder. The unfortunate increase in hardcore, pow-pillaging locals over the last decade should not deter you from all the Verbier area offers, whether that's fall-and-die chutes, meaty cliffs, or wooly runs that involve jumping stone fences and jibbing farmer's roofs before cracking a cold beer on the train ride home. Your legs have never been this tired, your smile never so big.

Snow Bunnies Decent Nightlife Park and/or Pipe

2. Whistler-Blackcomb

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Website:whistlerblackcomb.com

Co-host to the 2010 Winter Olympics, Whistler-Blackcomb offers serious vertical (5280 ft.) on both mountains and a November-to-August season (including summer glacier riding). It's also one of the few resorts where hardcore steeps freaks, park rats, pipe jocks, beginners, intermediate groomer losers, and experts can all roll into town together and have a stellar experience. Powder is plentiful and the village offers everything from fine dining to routinely rowdy nightlife, even on weeknights. And, if that famous pow's tracked out (highly possible), Powder Mountain Catboarding's right down the road. Done and done.

Snow Bunnies Decent Nightlife Park and/or Pipe

1. Chamonix

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Website:chamonix.com

Situated on the French/Swiss/Italian border, Chamonix isn't one resort, it's a grip of them, all scattered around 15,782 ft. of Mont Blanc. Most hold serious shred bounty. A pow day on Les Grand Montets or Le Brevent will make your life worthwhile here in the town nicknamed "The death sport capital of the world," also home to the first Winter Olympics. If the snow sucks, the ambiance, nightlife, talent, food options, and truly shocking mountain views will still guarantee you a solid trip. P.S: Be careful.

Snow Bunnies Decent Nightlife

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