Industry News
Last weekend the World Ski Awards were presented for the 10th time, with awards given to ‘Best Resort’ as well as ‘Best Hotel’ with a few sub-categories, both on the international as well as national levels. The awards were launched in 2013 by the brains behind World Travel Awards. World Ski Awards uses a voting system with votes sourced from ski tourism industry professionals, such as senior executives, travel buyers, tour operators and media as well as the public, aka actual ski tourism consumers.
The overall winner of the World’s Best Ski Resort 2022 goes to Switzerland’s Verbier. Verbier is located in the French-speaking part of Switzerland in the southwest bordering France, about 2 hours from the Geneva airport. Verbier is part of the Four Valleys or ‘Quattre Vallées’ Ski Area, which is the biggest ski area in Switzerland with 256 miles (410km) of groomed runs serviced by 75 ski lifts. Aside from its massive groomed area, the Four Valleys also have an incredible lift-accessed freeride area. Verbier hosts not only many FIS Alpine World Cup events but also the Grand Final of the Freeride World Tour, the ‘Bec des Rosses’ competition. The village still holds the old-time charm of a Swiss mountain village, while catering to a cosmopolitan clientele of all generations. Verbier was awarded ‘World’s Best Ski Resort’ in 2021 as well.
- Related: Top 9 European Ski Resorts
The World’s Best US ski resort goes to Deer Valley for the 10th year in a row. The competition was stiff and the list was long, including US resorts like Steamboat, Alta, Vail, Mammoth, and Aspen. Deer Valley is located in the Wasatch Range in Utah, which is home to 11 ski resorts. Deer Valley is a fairly young resort, opening its ski lifts to snow enthusiasts only 41 years ago in 1981. The resort spreads out over 3,000 ft (910m) of vertical and receives an average of 300 in (>7.5m) of annual snowfall. The resort has 105 ski runs on approximately 2,000 acres of terrain serviced by 21 lifts. In 2002, Deer Valley hosted the freestyle mogul and aerial and alpine slalom events for Salt Lake City’s Olympic Winter Games and the resort is the annual host to FIS Alpine World Cup events and also FIS Freestyle World Cup events.
In the category of World’s Best Ski Hotel, the award went to W Verbier, which is a luxury hotel in the heart of Verbier, Switzerland. The stylish hotel features 123 rooms and suites with fireplaces and private balconies. The hotel offers a 1,300 square meter spa, two heated pools, steam rooms and saunas, jacuzzis, and a gym as well as six bars and restaurants.
The award for Best Ski Hotel in the US goes to the Stein Ericksen Lodge which also wins World’s Best Ski Boutique Hotel. The 170-room luxury lodge was named in honor of famed skier, Stein Eriksen, and is located in Deer Valley. The resort offers ski-in/ski-out access to the Deer Valley Mountain Resort and boasts a gorgeous spa, two restaurants, a coffee shop, a 56-seat movie theater, an entertainment center, and game room, a pool with a waterfall feature and hot tub, and a gorgeous outdoor aprés terrace with fire pits.
- Related: Top 9 North American Ski Lodges
The Best Canadian Ski Resort award went to the resort of Lake Louise. The best Canadian hotel was awarded to the Pan Pacific Whistler Mountainside. The World’s Best Freestyle Resort Award went to another Swiss resort, Laax, which has an incredibly fun park, dubbed ‘The Stomping Ground’, as well as unlimited freeriding opportunities. The ‘World’s Best Indoor Ski Resort’ went to Ski Dubai, which is Dubai’s only indoor skiing venue, located in the Mall of the Emirates.
Sion Rapson, Managing Director of World Ski Awards, commented: “Our winners represent the finest brands in global ski tourism and my congratulations to each of them. The 10th annual World Ski Awards programme received a record number of votes from ski consumers across the world, and serves as a barometer on the eve of the upcoming season. This shows that the appetite for ski tourism has never been stronger.”
Awards were also announced on a country level, featuring the best resorts and hospitality providers from the world’s best ski tourism destinations. For a full list of winners visit the World Ski Awards Website.
