A few years ago, skiers began flocking to major ski resorts accepting the EPIC Pass, which saw explosive growth from its inception in 2008 when it was only valid at Vail resorts to today's mega ski pass that works in over a dozen resorts in eight different countries. But the tides are turning, and many skiers are looking for resorts that don't accept EPIC, or another mega pass called Ikon.
Rather, they're looking for smaller, mom-and-pop, indie ski resorts that are easier to navigate, often cheaper (sometimes up to 75% less), and have fewer crowds and more local color. After years of thinking big and pursuing the powder of mega-resorts, many skiers — from piste-shredding powderhounds to beginner snow bunnies — are admitting that when it comes to winter sports and ski resorts, bigger is not always better.
Since the 1960s there's been an ongoing conglomeration of ski resorts that have been merging and linking up via shared lifts and gondolas like France's Les 3 Vallées, the world's largest ski resort, and Japan's ever-trending Niseko United. To many, it seems like the big resorts keep getting bigger and the small ones increasingly get ignored — or, in the case of 10 recent ski resorts in Japan, go bankrupt and shutter for good.
"The 'mega pass' has been commonly referred to as both the best and worst thing to happen to skiing," says Dan Sherman, CMO of Ski.com, a ski travel agency based in Aspen, Colorado. "If customers [use] them correctly, they make skiing more affordable and accessible. The flip side is that it has also made some resorts more crowded." Many of Sherman's clients still seek out big resorts, but he's also noticed a lot of requests from people looking for resorts that are not crowded. "We advise our clients to consider resorts further away from airports, encourage weekday, off-peak skiing, and try to promote the idea of ski safaris — instead of skiing at just one ski resort, choose a destination with many resorts like the Dolomites."
But as skiing becomes more popular and forecasts predict robust growth in the global ski market, will simply avoiding the crowds be enough?
"The big congloms are all starting to feel the same," says Swiss native Joe Herger, who owns and operates mountain guide outfitter The Alps by Joe. "It's great that ski resorts can support fashion collabs, Michelin-starred pop-ups, and entertainment events, but it's started to feel like skiing and enjoying the mountains are secondary activities to everything else going on."
These events, which are typically held at bigger resorts, can have a positive economic impact on bigger ski resorts, but can also draw people away from smaller, more independent resorts that have fewer distractions and infinitely more mountain solace. And isn't that the very reason we trudge all the way up a snow-covered mountain in the middle of winter?
Read on for our list of five ski destinations that offer smaller resorts with fewer crowds, more affordable prices, and local experiences you're less likely to find at the mega resorts, such as relaxing cinemas, snow-aged sake tastings, and night sledding.
Ishiuchi Maruyama, Niigata, Japan
Niseko United in Hokkaido and Hakuba Happo One in Nagano are two of Japan's biggest ski resorts, both dominated by foreign skiers. However, in Niigata Prefecture, Joetsu Kokusai, or "Jo-koku", as it's nicknamed, stays under the international radar but is still quite robust with 22 kilometers (13.6 miles) of slopes and 20 lifts. Just a 10-minute drive from Jo-Koku is Minami Uonuma City and the neighboring 800-year-old Yuzawa onsen town, together home to over 20 individual ski areas, including Ishiuchi Maruyama with its 14 lifts and 23 runs.
Just 15 minutes by car from these lifts is Satoyama Jujo, an upscale ryokan hotel concept, whose main lodge is a refurbished 150-year-old house with 13 spacious, art-filled rooms and an open-air hot spring bath offering uninterrupted views of Mt. Makihata. It also has a constellation of newer satellite villas and individual units to rent that are ideal for families or groups.
Aprés-ski options abound in the "Snow Country" of Niigata, which is no stranger to winter. Yuzawa, the inspiration for the famous Nobel prize-winning novel "Yukiguni" ("Snow Country") by Japanese novelist Yasunari Kawabata, is home to a late March snow festival and seven hot springs with mildly alkaline, mineral-rich onsen known for healing muscle and neuralgic pain, ideal for lactic legs. The recently restored merchant town of Uonuma City is lined with businesses like Kakurei Sake Brewery, established in 1717 and famed for its snow-aging sake method and Yeti label design.
Ehrwalder Alm, Tirol, Austria
Perched atop the alpine seams of Bavaria, Germany, and Tirol, Austria, Ehrwalder Almen ski area is home to 27 kilometers (16.7 miles) of snow piste and seven lifts, all overlooking the scenic and storied Zugspitze, Germany's tallest mountain. The resort is a favorite of Dutch skiers because it's the first ski resort they reach when driving from the Netherlands. But it's also a favorite of families from both the German and Austrian sides of Zugspitze, who come for winter snowshoe hikes, Friday night sledding, and wide and gentle blue and green slopes. What's more, skiers here love the affordable speck knödel soup and apple strudel at the cozy Gasthaus Ehwalder Alm, located atop the lift.
A five-minute snowmobile ride away is adults-only (13+) eriro, an all-inclusive nine-suite chalet that opened in summer 2024 with a spacious spa, a lounge-cinema lined with haystacks, and three onsen-like pools overlooking the surrounding snow-capped peaks, including a silent meditation bath. Stays include free lift passes and use of amenities like snowshoes and Swarovski binoculars for spotting ibex and owls, not to mention unlimited pours of excellent Austrian wines and Chef Alex Thoss's locally sourced cuisine like chamois with smoked celeriac puree and pickled and candied pine cones.
Plose, Brixen, South Tyrol, Italy
Looming above Brixen — a small, medieval German-speaking city in South Tyrol, Italy — is Plose-Brixen ski resort, which is often overlooked for the bigger Dolomiti ski resorts like Val Gardena. It's seven lifts and 42 kilometers (26 miles) of piste corkscrew and twist under the watch of the sunny, honey-hued Dolomites to many a snowhounds' delight. Here, non-skiers are spoiled for options too, as they can sled, snowshoe, and ice skate, or attend immune-strengthening silent winter hikes, forest bathing excursions, and Qi Gong sessions with local guide Karin Kini Gadner. Located atop the Palmschoss chairlift is the iconic 62-room Forestis, a former tuberculosis sanatorium designed for Austrian royalty that reopened as a ski-in/ski-out resort in July 2020 and has been visited by the likes of Brad Pitt, Justin Bieber, and legendary local alpinist Reinhold Messner. Its 21,528-square-foot spa is ideal after a day of shredding snow.
But epicures may want to stay in Brixen itself, whose restaurants and food spots have garnered a constellation of culinary accolades, including everything from the Brixen Farmer's Market and cheesemonger Degust, to Michelin-starred Finsterwirt. This historical restaurant is attached to the 16th-century Adler Historic Guesthouse, which once hosted Emperor Maximilian I and Cosimo de' Medici but re-opened in 2023 with a sleek rooftop thermal pool and sauna.
Purgatory, Colorado
Colorado has some of the largest ski resorts in the U.S., including Snowmass, Vail, Breckenridge, and Beaver Creek. If you want to escape the crowds there, follow the San Juan Skyway to the state's sunny arid, southwest to Durango in the rugged San Juan Mountains. Just 25 miles away from town is Purgatory, known for its midweek lift pass deals and as one of the 11 member resorts of the GEMS Card program, which provides discounts and savings at Colorado's smaller and mom-and-pop ski areas. Purgatory's 50 miles of piste on 107 trails and 11 lifts include steep tree skiing trails and a vertical drop of 2,029 feet.
Swap your Moon Boots for cowboy boots while bunking down at the historical Rochester Hotel, a former boarding house turned boutique hotel that re-opened in Durango's historical downtown in 2022. Don't miss a dip in Durango Hot Springs Resort and Spa, built into a hillside in the arid Animas Valley with 32 thermal pools, a hot rain tower shower, and reflexology footpaths with native landscaping that attracts colorful hummingbirds and butterflies you can admire while soaking.
Grindelwald, Switzerland
Better known as a summer alpine hiking destination, Grindelwald-Wengen has 45 lifts and 214 kilometers (133 miles) of piste, which sounds big, but it's the 17th largest resort in Switzerland and retains an intimate vibe. Skiers and boarders can base themselves in the storybook village, where ancient wood chalets, gushing waterfalls, and postcard-like views of Eiger Mountain's iconic north face delight. There are numerous blue and red runs for beginners and intermediates, but advanced skiers will want to find a bluebird day to ride the Eigernordwand chairlift up 2,320 meters (7,611 feet) to the Eiger Glacier, where the black diamond, white knuckle Oh-God and Black-Rock trails run parallel to the Fallboden lift.
Non-skiers can take part in Grindelwald's sights like the 83 kph (52 mph) First Flieger Zipline and the Velogemel snow bikes. Some of the 28 rooms at the Michelin-keyed boutique Hotel Glacier feature balconies with private whirlpools, while a log-lined sauna, heated outdoor whirlpool, steam room, and relaxation area with warm waterbeds ensure a heavy dose of aprés-ski coddling. They also have 600 Swiss and French wine labels, 160 available by the glass, not to mention a newly opened Japanese restaurant, Umami, at their Japanese-themed sister property, Grindel Lodge.