Discover The 3 Highest Ski Resorts In The World

Key Points

• A ski resort is a town or village near a skiing destination with amenities like hotels, shops, and lodging. A ski area is merely a place to ski that may be served by lifts but lacks the amenities of a resort.
• The Telluride Ski Resort is the highest ski resort in the world.
• The Lijiang Ski Resort was once considered the highest ski resort in the world but the area had very poor skiing opportunities and was shut down.

Companies develop ski resorts just about anywhere with a good slope and plenty of snow. Ski resorts allow skiers to conquer trails without having to forsake comfort, lodging, safety, and entertainment. While most ski resorts are high in the mountains, some of them are higher up than others. Looking at the three highest ski resorts in the world, a few things become apparent.

First, being high up does not necessarily make for the best skiing conditions. Also, the developers who made these ski resorts were bold, and so are the people that go to them. Without further ado, let’s look at how high up these resorts are found and where they’re located in the world.

For the sake of clarity, a ski resort is a town or village near a skiing destination with amenities like hotels, shops, and lodging. Meanwhile, a ski area is merely a place to ski that may be served by lifts but lacks the amenities of a resort.

Also, this list considers the highest lift-accessible skiable elevation at a resort, not a ski area, as the utmost height of the resort. Furthermore, this list does not count heliskiing as being a part of the resort’s skiable area since it’s not widely accessible to visitors.

1. Telluride Ski Resort, 13,150 Feet

The Telluride Ski Resort is the highest ski resort in the world. Other ski areas have taller mountains, like Silverton Mountain, but they lack the elements that make a ski place a resort.

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Tucked away in the Rocky Mountains, the Telluride Ski Resort is a tall, picturesque resort. The base elevation of the resort is 8,725 feet, and the highest elevation is 13,150 feet. That makes this taller than Zermatt in Europe and other places as well.

This resort offers high-elevation skiing as well as numerous amenities. One of the intangible benefits of Telluride Ski Resort and the nearby towns is the beauty of the land in the area. While rugged, this resort offers some great skiing in Colorado.

The resort has a total of over 2,000 skiable acres, 3,845 feet of lift-served elevation, and 127 runs! The area sees about 330 inches of snow per year, plenty enough for a long skiing season. Also, Telluride is home to one of the longest ski slopes in Colorado. The Galloping Goose runs for a total length of 4.6 miles! This ski run takes advantage of the high elevation and allows skiers to meander down the path at a comfortable pace with few obstructions.  

Where Is Telluride Ski Resort Located on a Map?

Telluride Ski Resort is located 46.8 miles from Portland and can be reached from the town by car in slightly over one hour. Cyclists, however, will have to experience a much longer trip of about 5 hours.

2. Gulmarg Ski Resort, 13,057 Feet

The Gulmarg Ski Resort is located in India, and it’s in the Himalayas Mountains. For reference, that’s the same mountain range where Mt. Everest is located. The ski resort is home to the world’s highest skiable gondola, topping out at 13,057 feet, the measure used as the utmost elevation for this mountain.

The ski resort doesn’t have much in the way of skiable terrain, though. According to the resort’s website, they only have 3 acres of skiable area, but they also claim to have 18.64 miles (30 kilometers) of slopes available to ski on.

While that is a small area compared to the other ski resorts on this list, Gulmarg is also more remote and somewhat prone to avalanches in the mountains.

Still, the resort has the shopping, lodging, and lessons that one would find at any other high-quality resort.

Also, people that want to go higher at the Gulmarg Ski Resort can seek out heliskiing opportunities. Starting in 2011, the resort began to facilitate heliskiing to the most dedicated, thrill-seeking skiers. Using a helicopter, skiers can reach heights of about 14,400 feet at Apharwat Peak, about 4,390 feet above the base elevation.

Where Is Gulmarg Ski Resort Located on a Map?

Gulmarg Ski Resort is located to the west of Srinagar. It is also located at a distance of 59 kilometers from Srinagar International Airport and can be reached from that point following a drive of one hour and 47 minutes.

3. Breckenridge Ski Resort, 12,998 Feet

Lastly, the Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado, United States is the third-highest ski resort in the world. According to the resort’s website, the highest lift height is 12,840 feet with a summit elevation of 12,998 feet.

The ski resort is home to a 3.5-mile-long run called the Four O’clock, and it has a variety of different difficulty levels. In fact, over a quarter of its runs are ranked expert level.  

Like Telluride, the Breckenridge Ski Resort is located in the Rocky Mountains. The resort has about 2,900 acres of skiable area, and roughly 3 million people visit the resort every year.

The nearby town of Breckenridge, Colorado is a vibrant area. The downtown section has restaurants, shops, places to stay, and a lot to learn. After all, this was a historic mining area where people can still pan for gold!

Where Is Breckenridge Ski Resort Located On A Map?

Breckenridge Ski Resort is located 8.5 miles from Frisco, a closeby neighboring town. It can be reached by car in 13 minutes, by train in just over an hour, and by bike in 55 minutes.

The Former Highest Ski Resort In The World And Other Potential Resorts

At some point, the Lijiang Ski Resort was once considered the highest ski resort in the world. Located on the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, this resort reached an elevation of 15,419 feet or 4,700 meters. However, the area had very poor skiing opportunities with just 0.6 miles of a ski slope available to skiers.

According to one website, the ski resort shut down and skiing is no longer allowed in the area. For that reason, the Lijiang Ski Resort has been left off the list of the highest ski resorts in the world.

Other major ski areas also have impressive heights but still lack the amenities and access required to be called a resort. Some places have such little known information about them that it is difficult to put them on the list.

For example, the Dagu Glacier was apparently one of the highest places to ski in the world. However, some sources indicate skiing is no longer allowed and that it’s not much of a resort.

The same goes for Maoke Mountains in Indonesia and Mérida, Venezuela, places with very little information available. New information about high ski resorts could alter this list in the future. Keep an eye out for updates!   

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