The World Snow Awards: the best ski resorts, gear and tour operators

From kit to resorts, tour operators to travel agents, the sixth annual World Snow Awards, hosted by Telegraph Ski and Snowboard, honours the very best in snow sports.

The best ski resorts

Decided by a judging panel of snow-sports experts, who voted on a shortlist of entrants drawn up by The Telegraph Ski and Snowboard testing team.

Resort of the Year

Arlberg, Austria

There was a clear winner for Resort of the Year, although we did stretch the definition to cover a ski area. Austria’s Arlberg encompasses the resorts of Stuben, St Christoph, Warth, Schrocken and world-class St Anton and Lech-Zürs. The latter two were connected by a new lift last season, making the Arlberg a sure-fire winner at this year’s awards. The €45million investment has created the largest lift-linked area in Austria – more importantly, it means you no longer have to catch buses to get from one area to the other. It’s turned an already appealing destination into one of the world’s very best.
skiarlberg.at

Family Ski Resort of the Year

Steamboat, USA

Resorts are becoming ever more innovative in their quest to attract families. Steamboat has gone above and beyond to claim the title this year by opening a roller coaster on its slopes. Operating all year round, the Outlaw Mountain Coaster descends more than 120m on 1,800m of tracks, built with dips, waves and 360-degree circles that rise up to 12m above the ground. For a different kind of high, the resort has also built a new 12m climbing wall in the base area. There are three routes, ranging from beginner to expert, and auto-belay systems provide state-of-the-art fall protection and a comfortable ride back to the bottom.
steamboat.com

Ecological Resort of the Year

SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental, Austria

As with the Resort of The Year, we stretched the definition of this category to cover an area. Comprising 284km of runs and 90 ski lifts accessed from resorts such as Ellmau, Hopfgarten, Scheffau and Westendorf, the giant SkiWelt area in Austria has a host of eco policies that impressed the judging panel. For example, water for its snowmaking comes from 15 reservoirs which are automatically filled in summer; at every construction project, an ecological inspector is on site to monitor any environmental impact; one of the lifts is exclusively solar powered; and customers who buy a lift pass can recharge their electric cars free of charge.
skiwelt.at

The best clothing and equipment

Decided by a judging panel of snow-sports experts, who voted on a shortlist of entrants drawn up by The Telegraph Ski and Snowboard testing team.

Best Safety Equipment Manufacturer

Mammut

The judges were particularly impressed with the company’s Barryvox S transceiver, which represents the latest advances in avalanche safety technology. It’s much easier to use than previous models and has a longer range of up to 70m, considerably narrowing a rescue team’s search. It’s capable of solving single, multiple or even complicated multiple burials. It retails for £330.
mammut.swiss

Runner-up: Scott

The judges were impressed by Scott’s new Symbol 2 Plus D helmet (£170) which incorporates the latest technology to protect you from impacts large and small.
scott-sports.com

Best Eyewear Manufacturer

Atomic

In its own words, Atomic “has gone to town” on the lenses in its Revent all-mountain range of goggles. The judges were particularly impressed by the larger than normal field of vision and by how good the goggles are in giving high-definition contrast, whatever the conditions. The Revents come in a large frame size.
atomic.com

Best Clothing Manufacturer

Ortovox

Ortovox is a firm believer in the benefits of wool, using it in its clothing since 1988. This year, the company particularly impressed the judges with its Naked Sheep Collection of lightweight, waterproof garments combining wool with innovative high-tech fabrics, designed for ski touring. The judges felt the garments didn’t compromise on protection, functionality or styling despite their light weight.
ortovox.com

Runner-up: Arc’teryx

The company has a reputation for obsessive, precise design, which is clearly embodied in its Shashka pant (£380) and Airah jacket (£460) for committed female ski tourers.
arcteryx.com

Best Technological Innovation

Völkl

Ski manufacturers are truly ingenious in their use of new materials and designs to give their models the edge over their rivals. The latest innovation to catch the eye of the judges is Völkl’s use of multiple layers of folded glass – officially called 3D.GLASS – in the construction of some of its skis. It makes the skis particularly lively, with an impressive edge grip, especially where you really need it on hard and icy pistes. It’s used in Völkl’s RTM and Flair range of piste-orientated skis.
voelkl.com

The best ski companies and organisations

All service provider awards were decided by public vote, with two exceptions. Best Specialist Travel Agent was assessed by an independent researcher. The Travel Innovation Award was decided by our judging panel of snow-sports experts, who voted on a shortlist drawn up by The Telegraph Ski and Snowboard testing team.

Best Chalet Company, in association with Chalet Manager

Le Ski

Founded in 1982, this company is renowned for offering great value for money holidays to France’s top resorts – Val d’Isere,Courchevel and La Tania. Over 77 per cent of Le Ski’s customers are repeat bookers or have been recommended to the company. Extras that come as standard include British Airways flights, a champagne reception on arrival, and ski passes waiting on your pillow. The company puts its success down to an honest and genuine approach with immaculate attention to detail from a dedicated, well-trained staff. Voted for by the public, it was runner-up in last year’s awards, but this time round it claims the top spot.
leski.com

Runner-up: Treeline Chalets

Treeline won this award for the previous three years running and was only narrowly beaten to the top spot this time round. This French specialist offers 11 catered and three self-catered chalets around Morzine.
treelinechalets.com

Best UK Tour Operator

Crystal Ski Holidays

The company was voted to the top spot for the second year running, no doubt helped by Crystal’s efforts to increase engagement with its customers via social media. The company’s hashtag #GetMoreWinter was created so that customers could share their winter experiences on Twitter and Instagram – over 3,000 tagged photos have been added to a gallery on Crystal’s website. The company’s Facebook community has grown to 94,000, and the average response time to queries on Twitter and Facebook was under two hours. Founded in 1981, Crystal is the UK’s biggest ski and snowboard operator, with over 130 destinations across Europe, North America and Japan.
crystalski.co.uk

Runner-up: Interski

Founded 34 years ago, Interski specialises in offering holidays to the Aosta Valley in Italy. It caters to families, individuals and groups but is especially renowned for its programme for schools.
interski.co.uk

Best Snow-sports School

Mint Snowboarding

This is a fiercely contested category, but for the second year running the public has declared Mint Snowboarding the winner. The school was founded in 2006, running classes and camps in the French resorts of Morzine, Les Gets, Avoriaz and Châtel, and only uses English-speaking staff who are certified by the British Association of Snowsports Instructors (BASI) or equivalent. It also offers private tuition, gap courses and off piste guiding.

Olympic snowboarder Jenny Jones is a fan, describing founder Tammy Esten as “an incredibly passionate snowboard instructor. Combine this with her technical knowledge and years of experience and there’s no doubt you will come away having noticeably progressed your snowboarding and had a flippin’ rad day!” It’s a winning ethos that clearly runs through this Morzine-based snowboard school.
mintsnowboarding.com

Runner-up: BASS Morzine and Les Gets

The British Alpine Skl School (BASS) was founded in Morzine and Les Gets in 1999 and continues to offer students a collaboration between pupil and coach to provide the best learning experience possible.
britishskischool.com

Best UK Snowsports Retailer

Snow+Rock

What a result! Snow+Rock has claimed this highly sought accolade for an unprecedented three years in a row. It’s one of the biggest retail names in the snowsports industry and has expanded from one shop in Kensington High Street in 1982 to 26 outlets across the UK. Recent developments include opening a new branch in Covent Garden in 2015 and renovating its Chertsey store last year. Snow+Rock prides itself on stocking top-quality kit and was responsible for introducing Eider, Arc’teryx and Toni Sailer to the UK. The company also has an excellent reputation for its professional boot fitting service and in-store service. It’s a formula that’s clearly continuing to work as far as voters are concerned.
snowandrock.com

Runner-up: Absolute Snow

Merit was awarded to the independent adventure sports shop based in Hemel Hempstead.
absolute-snow.co.uk

Travel Innovation Award

Cool Bus

This transfer company, operating in the French Alps since 2001, invested in its first electric van despite it costing three times as much as an equivalent diesel vehicle. One year on, the Tesla Model X SUV has completed 150 CO2-emission-free airport transfers, representing five per cent of the distance covered by the company’s fleet of 24 vans. The company has already taken delivery of a second Model X in time for the coming season – ultimately, the plan is to phase out all of its diesel-powered vehicles.
zeat.vip

Best Specialist Travel Agent

The Oxford Ski Company

This was a close contest but Oxford Ski Company took the top spot, thanks partly to its attractive, uncluttered website. It has bold enticing photos and an impressive Inspire Me section featuring exciting designer chalets and new offerings for the coming season. An independent researcher judged the category by telephoning shortlisted agents with a specific holiday enquiry – the researcher found the online chat to be efficient and friendly, and advice given over the phone was equally impressive. Despite Oxford Ski Company specialising in high-end holidays, there was no reluctance to help with lower-budget requests.
oxfordski.com

Runner-up: PowderBeds

PowderBeds was commended for its clear and easy-to-navigate website and its instructive online chat.
powderbeds.com

The best skis and snowboards

The best ski results are based on reviews from our 14-strong testing team, headed by Olympic skier Martin Bell, who put hundreds of models through their paces in Kühtai, Austria, last season. The best snowboard results are based on the Spring Break snowboard test in Kaunertal, Austria, and compiled by snowboard equipment editor Ewan Wallace.

Best Men’s Ski

Line Supernatural 100

Designed for advanced skiers, the Line Supernatural 100 (£470) was the best-scoring ski of all the models we tested. “They are light, agile and adaptable, epitomising what makes a great freeride ski,” says our lead tester Martin Bell. “They make bouncy turns in steep, deep powder a cinch, yet still remain stable at high speed. With easy turn initiation, they’re quick to get on edge on the piste, adapt well when making short or long turns, and are playful in trees or bumps.”
lineskis.com

Best Women’s Ski

Head Absolut Joy

This was a tightly contested category, and the The Head Absolut Joy (£430) only won the accolade by a whisker. These all-mountain models for advanced skiers are described by our Martin Bell as “light, bouncy and fun, with ace grip and hold on hardpacked snow. Off piste, they cut through crud and powder well. The areas where they really set themselves apart are for smoothness, liveliness and responsiveness.”
head.com

Runners-up

Blizzard Alright 6.9 (£680) is a piste ski for experts that makes even rock-hard pistes fun to ride. Nordica Astral 84 (£440) is an all-mountain model for advanced skiers that provides excellent stability, whatever the speed.
blizzard-ski.com; nordica.com

Best Ski Manufacturer

Rossignol

In another hotly contested category, French manufacturer Rossignol came out top thanks to a wide range of well performing, competitively priced skis. Our test results showed Rossignol had more Best Value skis (eight) than any other manufacturer, and a significant number of Best on Test winners. The breadth of their success is especially impressive, winning in categories as diverse as piste skis for advanced skiers to all-mountain women’s skis for experts. The company was founded in 1907, and has since become one of the world’s largest ski manufacturers.
rossignol.com

Runners-up

Head and Völkl were close runners up, winning seven Best on Test titles between them and 13 Best Value accolades.
head.com, voelkl.com

Best Men’s Snowboard

Yes The Greats

Versatile and responsive, The Greats (£470) features an innovative asymmetric design, with a deeper sidecut on the heel edge. “It cleverly balances up the naturally weaker heelside turn and gives extra grip and more natural carving on both edges,” says our lead tester Ewan Wallace. “It’s ridiculously stable even at high speeds.”
yesnowboard.com

Best Women’s Snowboard

Burton The Story Board

It’s billed as “the ultimate freeride machine”, and the results from our test indicate that The Story Board (£525) is more than able to live up to the hype. “Precise, responsive and endowed with next-level float in deep snow,” says Ewan Wallace. “It’s a no-brainer for advanced level freeriders and is super sturdy and chargeable.”
burton.com

Best Snowboard Manufacturer

Jones

Lead tester Ewan Wallace says this company was an easy choice for this year’s award, thanks to some truly innovative designs and an absolute slew of glowing reviews. “It may have the freeriding and big mountain sectors on lockdown, but boards like the Mountain Twin and the Hovercraft demonstrate that it can more than hold its own against the freestyle heavyweights.”
jonessnowboards.com

Special mentions

Lifetime Achievement Award

Fiona Young

This award is chosen by the Telegraph Ski & Snowboard editorial staff, and when one of the judges suggested Young as a worthy contender for this award, the team swiftly agreed. The award was made for her pioneering work with Disability Snowsports UK (DSUK).

The charity enacts its vision of equality and opportunity by providing access to snow sports for people with a wide variety of disabilities. Programmes include affordable lessons, group sessions and fun races at UK snow centres, plus weeks away to ski resorts. It also provides specialist training for ski and snowboard instructors and a fleet of volunteers.

Young started working with the charity 35 years ago. She was instrumental in founding a dedicated adaptive ski school in Cairngorm, Scotland – the first facility of its kind in Europe. She became CEO of DSUK in 2001, and under her watch the charity has founded four more adaptive ski schools in snow centres across the UK. Last year alone, DSUK provided over 3,000 hours of lessons and ran nine activity weeks to Europe and North America.

Young was awarded an OBE in 2015. “My passion has always been to get people with disabilities into snowsports and to enhance their lives,” she explains – and she’s certainly done that.