Where to Find the Best Powder Skiing in the World

Scroll through the hashtag #japow on social media and you’ll see skiers plowing through a sea of seemingly perfect white snow. But, does Japan powder live up to the hype? Most definitely!

Japan backcountry skiing is epic, and if you nail the right conditions, you’ll be floored with how deep and light the snow is. Most of the well-deserved praise comes from destinations on two of Japan’s four islands: Honshu and Hokkaido. It’s probably worth two trips or one long one, because there is a distinct difference between the mountains of the north island, Hokkaido, and the main island, Honshu.

Hokkaido — deep, over the head powder

What’s the best spot for backcountry skiing adventures in Japan? Arguably, Hokkaido. It’s known for its fluffy powder, which I can attest to, but the mountains are not as steep as you’ll find on Honshu. I had a blast shredding around here. Niseko, which lies just west of Sapporo, may just be the powder capital of the world. Not only is the snow light and dry, you’ll be floored by the sheer volume — it never seems to stop dumping here. Rusutsu was my first stop in Japan, offering fun tree skiing around large, leafless birch trees. A must stop is Mt. Yotei, one of the highest peaks on Hokkaido, offering you the chance to ski into the crater of a semi-active volcano.

Kiroro is the other often talked about hot spot. The resort offers excellent off-piste, sidecountry and backcountry opportunities if you’re willing to skin. The terrain can be tricky, avalanche prone, and it’s uncontrolled which is why it’s required that you register to explore backcountry terrain. If you’re looking for “true” no-lift access, non-resort options, Daisetsuzan National Park is the place to go.

Honshu — big lines and steep mountains

In general, it doesn’t snow as much on Honshu as it does on Hokkaido, but it does have bigger, steeper mountains, more couloirs and jagged peaks. There are literally hundreds of ski resorts on Honshu, with many offering excellent off-piste opportunities for skiers looking for first tracks off groomers. Hakkado on the north part of the island is a ski resort that’s a powder skiing paradise. It’s easily accessed backcountry terrain is the exception to the rule that you’ll find more powder on the north island. Hakkado gets over 17 meters of snow a season and though it’s becoming increasingly popular, there’s plenty of space to spread out and you can’t beat the cable car access.

Come for the skiing, stay for the onsens

Regardless of which island you end up on, you will be immersed in a beautiful culture, driving on geothermally heated roads, relaxing in onsens after skiing, and enjoying sushi in its birthplace.
An onsen is a naturally occurring hot spring that has a bathhouse built around it; it’s an incredibly peaceful way to end a ski day.

Definitely spend some time in Tokyo on your way through, visit the world’s wildest intersection, the Shibuya crossing, wander through the imperial gardens or explore the endless other interesting tourist things to do.

If you’re looking for more information on Japan, read ski guide Tracy Lenard’s article on the best places for backcountry skiing in Japan.

British Columbia hosts the most diverse and endless backcountry powder skiing which is what makes it the best place for backcountry skiing in Canada. There is almost always powder somewhere in this province. The challenge with B.C. is deciding where to go. I am obviously biased since I live in Revelstoke but I have also skied all around B.C. in equally amazing conditions. If you want to find the best snow in B.C., here are some of my top spots.

Finding powder on the west coast

Side by side, Whistler and Blackcomb mountains are a world famous pairing, but they both offer quite different skiing. Just off the well known resort, you’ll find incredible alpine access. It’s a coastal snowpack that tends to be a little heavier snow but much more stable than the interior. The Spearhead Range has enough ski lines to last a lifetime. There’s laid-back powder skiing off Flute Backside, then, there’s the Apostle, on the east flank of Oboe, and classic lines on Cowboy Ridge. For those looking for something more extreme, the glaciated Fissile Peak offers a challenge on its alpine terrain.

Just up the road from Whistler about an hour, Duffy Lake Road holds a ton of goods. Known as “The Duffy,” the area is super rewarding, not too crowded and well worth the trip. This is true backcountry skiing with great access off the road. You’ll gain 4000 feet on the road alone!

The world-famous snow of the Selkirks

The interior of B.C. has the lightest and deepest snow, yet the avalanche hazard can be a challenge. The famous Selkirk powder is some of the best you’ll find anywhere in the world. Revelstoke — with the biggest vertical drop in North America at 5,620 feet (1,713 m) — and Rogers Pass host the bigger alpine peaks, plus lots of tree skiing when the storms roll through. Use the Revelstoke Mountain Resort lifts to access some epic backcountry spots or gain road access to one of the hundreds of lines in the expansive Rogers Pass. One of my favorite spots, and my ultimate recommendation, is the Illecillewaet Glacier, where the imposing Sir Donald mountain towers above the skin track.

Escape crowds in the Kootenays

The Kootenays have the same powder as Revelstoke, with less people and smaller mountains. The elevation can sometimes be a little low, and if the storms are coming in warm, sometimes the conditions aren’t as consistent as the rest of B.C. Still, it’s definitely worth a trip if you’re touring around the province or looking for less crowded areas.

One thing about B.C. is that there is always the potential for a little bump up; take a helicopter to go ski touring, or perhaps ride a snowmobile deep into the mountains, the options are endless, and the adventure guaranteed. Obviously, I am a little biased because I live here!

Backcountry skiing in Jackson Hole is some of the best in the world, and all the pros know it. This place has blown my mind quite a few times now. The storms that roll through leave behind deep snow and amazing skiing. There are some efficient backcountry runs off the resort that require very little effort and have lots of reward. Grand Teton National Park has some of the best ski mountaineering objectives in the country. The scenery is dramatic and lots of steep uptracks will lead you to incredible glades where you’ll ski back to your car, or to deeper descents that drop off the backsides.

The Tetons offer skiing for all abilities

I have always been impressed by where the local guides will ski with clients. The terrain they ski is as extreme as the client wants. That’s not to say that there’s not beginner touring to be had, there certainly is, and it’s some of the best I have seen. Wide open glades where confidence in powder skiing can be gained.

The town of Jackson Hole is magical and has a great friendly feel to it. It has this cowboy vibe, where you feel like you could walk into the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar and start square dancing with some locals. There are lots of hotels and Airbnbs and Jackson has some of the most diverse cuisine and incredible restaurants I’ve seen in a ski town — there are so many great places to eat fantastic food from all around the world.

My advice: Plan a trip to Jackson and you will not be disappointed.

I have visited Norway three times to ski, and each time I have been blown away. Where else in the world can you backcountry ski and surf on the same day? And, do so above the Arctic Circle? It’s almost a fantasy to see the way the mountains crash into the fjords.

You can stay on sailboats and ski tour directly off of them. There is also a system of ski huts amongst the mountains that you can travel between, all the while skiing great runs and summiting beautiful peaks. Finally, there aren’t that many locations where you can find both great skiing and great surfing within miles of each other. It’s not the best surfing in the world, but it’s cool nonetheless.

Since the Norwegians were the first Europeans to develop skiing it is deeply ingrained in the roots of the country, from their myths to their lifestyles. Due to this the ease of access, information and availability of options are endless. Norway’s hut-to-hut ski touring options are plenty, and there are many places that offer accommodation and guides, such as the Lofoten Ski lodge.

Where to find the best skiing in Norway

It’s really tough to say where to start skiing in Norway, from Jotunheimen and Sunnmøre in the south to the Lyngen and Lofoten areas of the north and everywhere in between, there are incredible skiing spots all over the country. The mountains are very skiable and you may find yourself randomly stopping on the side of the road to go ski touring. And don’t forget about skiing and sailing in Svalbard — that’s a whole other level of epic adventure.

Go electric in Norway

Thinking of more sustainable ways to adventure, Norway is a great place to rent an electric car. They have an incredible charging infrastructure so go rip around the country climbing and
skiing off some amazing summits, electrically..

The size and variety of the ski resorts in France make it a must visit. Even the little resorts dwarf most resorts in Canada or the US. If you can be nimble, there will always be good skiing somewhere. Every resort town seems to host their own flair and the apres is just as good as the day out on the slopes.

Obviously, skiing in Chamonix sits pretty high on the list as the birthplace of ski mountaineering. Taking the cable car up the nearly 4000-meter Aiguille du midi offers an incredible view of the Alps and gives you an up close and personal view of Mont Blanc. As the highest mountain in the Alps, if you have the fitness and skill it’s also a must do!! La Vallée Blanche is more of an intro descent that will wow the most experienced skier.

There are so many other amazing places to visit: Les Trois Vallées (Three Valleys), Val D’Isere, Alpe D’huez, Courchevel… the list goes on. There always seems to be some great tours that you can do off the resorts. France has a very strong ski and tourist scene that can be a little too much, but there are always places off the beaten path. La Grave has a special place in my heart; it has huge mountains without the extensive tourism found in the other places.

There are so many wonderful places that I cannot say where you should start, but I can say that you will not be disappointed regardless of where you end up. While traveling around France, don’t forget to eat raclette, tartiflette, and of course fondue!

Ski touring in Iceland is very unique; the terrain is raw and rugged and the people are incredibly welcoming. There are 130 volcanoes in Iceland, which amounts to more potential ski lines than you could tackle in a lifetime. Reykjavik and the Blue Lagoon get most of the hype, but in the north, you’ll find vast terrain and exceptional conditions. One of the north’s best gems is the Troll Peninsula, which offers 1000-meter lines that run right to the ocean’s edge.

Northern lights and endless days

The terrain is large, wild and without trees and there are plenty of hot thermal pools to hang out in after the day is done. Powder skiing can be found in the months of March and April, which coincides with more northern lights. May through June is when the endless day skiing can happen. If bad weather comes through, just wait it out and ski at 10 pm. The almost endless alpenglow makes for such a beautiful time in the mountains.

Volcano skiing in Chile

To satisfy that mid-summer skiing urge, head to South America, specifically Argentina or Chile. There is plenty to do here, but let’s start with Chile. There is a lot to access off the resort of Portillo, while a visit to Chillan is well worth it. In Chillan, you can climb a 10,000-foot volcano, ski down into a remote valley, and take a dip in a hot river. Pop your skins back on and go for another run. It’s incredible! Like so many of these places, it is practically endless. I recommend renting a van in September and start climbing and skiing the volcanoes. You can summit one, spot your next day’s mission, head south, visit another hotspring and summit another beautiful volcano. Some like Villarica are still active. For summer volcano skiing, you won’t find another spot that tops this one.

Find giant peaks and ski mountaineering in Argentina

Argentina has a better ski resort infrastructure than Chile, with Las Lenas, and Bariloche being my two favorites. Las Lenas has 13,000-foot mountains surrounding the resort with some real ski mountaineering to be had. If you are lucky, you may find a fossil near the top of these peaks, which at some point were on the bottom of the ocean! Bariloche is a beautiful resort on the edge of an incredible lake, much more to do and see while not skiing. Yet it also hosts lots of backcountry potential nearby. The Frey Hut is a must visit, where you can stay and tour from a European-style hut. The skiing around Ushuaia looks endless, while being as far south as you can go.

Essentially, there are two places to ski in the North American summers: South America and New Zealand. Of the two, New Zealand is more of an adventurous ski mountaineering zone. Yes, there are some mellower places to ski around Queenstown and there’s some fun resort shredding to be had as well (in the 90’s, I snowboarded at The Remarkables and had an incredible powder day), but the ski mountaineering objectives are where it’s really at.

New Zealand skiing is split mostly between two main islands, the North Island and the South Island, with plenty of alpine terrain on both of the islands and if you are lucky, it can be really good. Getting between ski zones is easy and there is a lot of access to abundant backcountry terrain as well as a great alpine hut system. For even more convenient access into the alpine areas, New Zealand has plenty of terrain accessed by helicopter, so hitch a lift and save your legs for the big descents.

Aoraki-Mount Cook for ski mountaineering

For ski mountaineers, Aoraki-Mount Cook is a highly prized objective, with some very extreme and wild lines that grace its flanks. This big, glaciated mountain and the area surrounding it is in the Southern Alps on the South Island of New Zealand. With a large network of alpine huts, this area has endless options for ski touring and mountaineering, with Tasman Glacier being one of the highlights.

The main thing to contend with in New Zealand is the weather. Since it’s a narrower island, it is really affected by the weather off the ocean, with powerful winds that blow across this range. From what I have seen online and heard through friends, it is not often covered in soft shreddable snow, but with more wind blasted, challenging snow. My friends that have backcountry skied here, mentioned that lots of approaches are over rocky trails and that they wore their soles of their boots down and then the alpine they accessed was amazing but their gear took a bit of a beating.

St. Anton in Austria is known as the birthplace of alpine skiing, so it’s no surprise it makes the top ten list of the best backcountry ski locations in the world. My ski friends are always posting deep powder shots and images of incredible overnight snowfall. My friend and pro skier Chris Rubens has always raved about skiing in Austria, and although I have skied here myself, it was only in the fall and there was very little snow. But from what I’ve seen, the mountains are very skiable and they seem to get lots of snow. With a thriving ski scene and an even more thriving apres scene, a ski trip to Austria is sure to leave you longing for more.

The land of ski resorts and apres

A quick Google will tell you that Austria is home to 436 ski resorts! There are lots of powder stashes off these areas, but it also means that much of the best backcountry skiing has been taken up by resorts.

Chris raves about the apres scene and the incredible skiing in St. Anton. You can be dancing on the bar at 5 p.m., asleep by 8 p.m., and skiing great powder the next morning at 7 a.m. The apres scene keeps people off the slopes early in the morning, letting those that are there to ski get ahead of the crowds and into the untracked.

Austria may have the most active ski touring scene in the world, so be prepared to have people everywhere you go. Which also means there is a lot of information available to plan and access adventures.

Skiing in Antarctica should be a dream trip for any serious backcountry enthusiast. It represents everything ski touring stands for — remote wild adventure far from the reaches of society. Accessed by boat, sea lions dot the shores where your ski tracks start. Complex terrain, heavily glaciated, and no one else around except you and the group you sailed in with.

My friend Andrew McLean, an iconic ski mountaineer, has been skiing here nearly every year (except this one) for a long time. He goes with Ice Axe Expeditions, a company that runs a boat down there every year. Andrew told me, “Skiing in Antarctica is like making turns in a wildlife refuge on the moon where a typical run might involve penguins, seals, icebergs, towering ice cliffs, crashing surf and maybe a whale or two. With the bright white snow and deep blue sky, it is easy to feel humbled by the massive landscape and eternally grateful to be able to slide around on it. It’s the best trip ever without a doubt.”

Advanced skiers only

You won’t find any backcountry skiing for beginners here, Alaska is more of a testing ground for intermediates and above. Sometimes just getting off the inflatable onto the land is a challenge. One must be familiar with crampons, ice axes, and rope work. Most of the terrain is glaciated and you will be wandering around crevasess and seracs constantly.