Ski resort comparisons: head-to-head

Two Swiss legends pull in opposite directions. Zermatt is the car-free pilgrimage at the foot of the Matterhorn, while St. Moritz is the Engadin's old-money playground, where polo on a frozen lake passes for an ordinary afternoon.

This is North America's biggest ski area against its most powerful brand. Whistler Blackcomb stretches across two coastal peaks under deep Pacific snow, while Vail rolls back from its Bavarian village into the legendary Back Bowls.

Two high-altitude French giants take opposite attitudes to the mountain. Val Thorens is the highest ski village in Europe, a pure ski machine with a famous afterparty, while Tignes is a lakefront cluster under the Grande Motte glacier, beloved of freeriders.

These are the two faces of Japanese skiing. Niseko, on Hokkaido, is the deepest powder address on the planet, with a base built for foreign skiers, while Hakuba Happo-One is the steeper Olympic resort in the Japanese Alps, just three hours from Tokyo.

Two of the original Alpine pilgrimages stand under iconic peaks. Chamonix sits at the foot of Mont Blanc, with a freeride pedigree and a hard mountaineering soul, while Zermatt is the polished, car-free shrine to the Matterhorn.

Two Colorado titans take opposite attitudes. Aspen Snowmass spreads four very different mountains around a silver-mining town turned art destination, while Vail is a single massive resort built from scratch in 1962, Bavarian by design and Epic Pass flagship by ambition.

Two villages share one mountain, yet they could not feel further apart. Val d'Isère trades on stone bell towers and old-money supper clubs, while Tignes climbs higher into glacier country. Same lift pass, two completely different evenings.

These two siblings anchor the Trois Vallées, yet the rooms upstairs tell different stories. Courchevel collects palaces, Michelin stars and a Russian-Saudi clientele around 1850. Méribel keeps to wood, stone and a quieter British family rhythm. Same lifts, very different worlds.

Paradiski splits into two halves that trade architecture for acreage. Les Arcs stacks four planned villages up the slope, from 1600 to 2000, with the Aiguille Rouge at 3226 m on top. La Plagne spreads ten villages across a high plateau under the Bellecôte glacier, and the Vanoise-Express links them.

Two Austrian icons run on two different tempers. Saalbach Hinterglemm spins the Skicircus, 270 km of sunny piste linked with Leogang and Fieberbrunn, with evenings built for fun that never scare the families off. St. Anton am Arlberg is the birthplace of modern ski instruction, 305 km of often steep terrain shared with Lech-Zürs and Stuben, and an après-ski reputation everybody already knows.

This is the Northern Rockies showdown. Jackson Hole runs the most extreme inbounds terrain in the US, from the Aerial Tram to Rendezvous Bowl, the mandatory air of Corbet's Couloir and 1262 m of vertical, the biggest in the country. Big Sky counters with sheer size: 5850 acres, the new Lone Peak Tram to 3403 m, and roughly one skier per nine acres on a busy day.

Avoriaz and Morzine share the giant Portes du Soleil, but one is a high, car-free, ski-in resort and the other a charming valley town. Here is how to choose.

Les Menuires and Val Thorens both sit high in the Three Valleys, but one is the value, family choice and the other Europe's highest, snow-sure party resort. Here is how to choose.

Alpe d'Huez and Les Deux Alpes are Oisans neighbours with opposite personalities. One is a sprawling sunny domain, the other a high glacier resort built for vertical and nightlife.

Verbier and Zermatt are Swiss icons that pull in different directions. One is the freeride and party capital of the Four Valleys, the other a car-free village under the Matterhorn with snow that almost never fails.

Verbier and Courchevel both wear Alpine luxury, but one chases steep freeride lines while the other polishes the most extravagant groomed resort in France.

St. Anton and Lech-Zurs share the same Arlberg lifts, but one roars with steep off-piste and wild after-ski while the other whispers discreet, snow-sure luxury.

Two Austrian party giants, two different mountains. Ischgl serves high, snow-sure cruising with mega concerts and duty-free Samnaun, while St. Anton delivers steep Arlberg freeride and slope-side legend.

Two Utah neighbours, two philosophies. Park City is the vast, lively historic town where snowboarders are welcome, while Deer Valley next door is ski-only, pampered, perfectly groomed and upscale calm.

Park City is the largest ski area in the United States, an easy 40 minutes from Salt Lake City, while Vail counters with higher elevation, deeper snow, and its legendary Back Bowls.

Breckenridge is one of the highest resorts in North America, a lively Victorian town with standout terrain parks, while Vail is bigger and more upscale, home to the legendary Back Bowls.

Whistler Blackcomb is the largest ski area in North America, a vast coastal giant with a buzzing village, while Lake Louise trades size for jaw-dropping Rockies scenery and drier, colder snow.

Chile's two headline resorts could not feel more different. Valle Nevado is a modern high-altitude ski-machine an hour above Santiago, wired into the vast Tres Valles, while Portillo is a single iconic yellow hotel marooned above the frozen Laguna del Inca and run as an all-inclusive week.

This is the classic Chile versus Argentina question. Valle Nevado is a high, dry ski-machine an hour from Santiago, while Cerro Catedral, above Bariloche, is the largest ski area in South America, lower and greener but wrapped around a proper lakeside town.

Argentina's two great resorts pull in opposite directions. Cerro Catedral, above Bariloche, is the biggest and most varied ski area in South America, while Las Leñas, alone in the Mendoza high country, is the continent's reference for steep, serious off-piste.

Australia's two biggest resorts sit either side of Kosciuszko National Park. Perisher is the largest ski area in the Southern Hemisphere by lifts, a sprawling four-village network, while Thredbo has the country's longest vertical and a real alpine village at the base.

Queenstown's two home mountains face each other across the valley. Coronet Peak is the closest to town and New Zealand's night-skiing headquarters, while The Remarkables sits higher and drier, with the better parks and the friendlier learning terrain.