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French ski station voted ‘best in the world’
The ski resort in Savoie received the award for the 11th time
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A French ski station in Savoie was voted the best in the world for the fourth consecutive year at the 2026 World Ski Awards.
Val Thorens, in the French Alps, has now received the title for the 11th time since 2013, missing out only in 2015, 2021 and 2022.
“We’ll have been named the World’s Best Ski Resort 11 times before GTA 6 [a long-awaited video game] even comes out, and that’s quite an achievement!” the resort wrote in a post on Instagram after the announcement.
It came just ahead of Deer Valley Resort in the US and Kitzbühel in Austria, which finished second and third respectively.
The French ski resort is at an altitude of 2,300m and is the highest ski resort in Europe. It forms part of the Three Valleys (Les 3 Vallées), a ski area linking around 600km of pistes.
It is set to open for the 2026-2027 season from November 21 until May 2.
The wider Three Valleys ski area, which includes Courchevel and Méribel, is scheduled to open on December 5 and close on April 18.
The World Ski Awards are now in their 14th year. Winners are chosen through votes from both ski industry professionals and members of the public.
France also received recognition in other categories. Pashmina Le Refuge in Val Thorens was named the World's Best Ski Boutique Hotel, while Le Fitz Roy in the resort of Val Thorens was among the finalists for the world's best ski hotel.
You find out more about the openings of French ski resorts for the upcoming season in our article here.
