Best ski resorts for freestyle and snowparks

At 2,300 m, no village in Europe sits higher, and few hold their snow this dependably. Val Thorens is the roof of Les 3 Vallées, the world's largest linked ski area, and the lifts keep turning from late November to early May.

Thirteen four-thousanders form a wall around the village, and the glaciers below them hold snow from July to April. Car-free Saas-Fee is where half the World Cup circuit comes to train through the summer.

Duty-free prices, a national-park setting and a long high-altitude village that holds snow into May. Livigno will host the freestyle and snowboard events at the 2026 Olympics, and the freeride scene already knows the way.

The only resort in the Alps where you can ski every single day of the year, Hintertux climbs to a 3250 m glacier at the head of the Zillertal. Snow-sure, high and a serious freeride draw.

Ski over the border to Samnaun for duty-free shopping, then ski back for a concert. Ischgl runs the Silvretta Arena like a festival, with stadium-scale après-ski and big names playing the opening and closing weekends.

Home to one of the largest skiable glaciers in Europe, Les Deux Alpes guarantees snow on top and serves up a famously big party at the bottom. Summer skiing too, when the glacier reopens for freestyle camps.

Home to the Kitzsteinhorn, Salzburg's only glacier, Kaprun offers snow-sure skiing to 3029 m from autumn into late spring. A quiet village paired with Zell am See on one pass.

Austria's largest glacier ski area, the Stubai climbs to 3210 m a short drive from Innsbruck. Snow-sure from autumn to late spring, with gentle glacier cruising and grand high-alpine views.

Ten villages, one Olympic bobsleigh track and a glacier at Bellecôte that holds snow into spring. La Plagne is the other half of Paradiski, and one of the surest family bets in the whole Tarentaise.

Once the favourite of the Habsburg court, Madonna di Campiglio still carries that imperial polish. The pearl of the Brenta Dolomites draws crowds each December for the 3Tre, a World Cup slalom run under floodlights.

A car-free, ski-in/ski-out village of striking timber towers, Avoriaz is the French heart of the cross-border Portes du Soleil. Snow gets around on sledges, not cars.

The Harakiri drops at a brutal 78%, the steepest groomed piste in Austria, and every April the Snowbombing festival takes over town. Mayrhofen is the loud, young heart of the Zillertal.