It's Winter in Australia. Here's Where the World's Best Snow Is Waiting

These are the ski destinations that will ruin every trip that comes after them. The places that make you rebook before you've even unpacked. And at the end of this list, we'll tell you how EHG members are already going in the draw to win exactly these kinds of experiences.

1. Niseko, Japan

Australians discovered Niseko before most of the world did, and it's still the best-kept secret hiding in plain sight. Situated on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, Niseko receives an average of 15 metres of snowfall per year, the kind of dry, light powder that skiers fly halfway across the world to find.
Locals call it Japow, and anyone who has skied it understands why immediately.

The four interconnected resorts offer something for every ability level. But it's the off-piste experience that makes Niseko genuinely special: tree runs, backcountry gates, and powder fields that feel untouched even on a busy week. When you're done skiing? You soak in an outdoor onsen hot spring, eat extraordinary ramen in a timber-lined izakaya, and go to bed in a ryokan listening to snow fall outside. From Australia, it's a direct flight to Sapporo. The hardest part is leaving.

Niseko isn't just a dream destination, it's one that EHG members have already won.

Check out our recent winners to our Niseko Winner!

2. Verbier, Switzerland

There are Swiss ski resorts. And then there is Verbier. Perched at 1,500 metres in the canton of Valais, Verbier sits at the heart of the 4 Vallées, one of the largest connected ski areas in the entire Alps, with over 400 kilometres of marked runs spread across four valleys. The terrain ranges from perfectly groomed beginner pistes to some of the most technically demanding freeride runs in Europe.

The Tortin couloir. The face of Mont Fort. These are names that serious skiers say with a kind of reverence. But Verbier isn't just about the skiing, it's the total package. World-class restaurants, a legendary après-ski scene at Le Farinet, and luxury chalets that make you never want to leave. In February and March, when Australian winter is still weeks away, Verbier is at its absolute peak.

3. Whistler Blackcomb, Canada

Whistler is not a ski resort. It's a small city built around skiing, and it happens to be the largest ski area in North America. Whistler and Blackcomb mountains together offer over 8,000 acres of skiable terrain, more than 200 marked runs, and the Peak 2 Peak Gondola an engineering marvel spanning 4.4 kilometres, hanging 436 metres above the valley floor, connecting the two mountains in under 11 minutes.

The village at the base is one of the most thoughtfully designed ski towns on earth. Everything is walkable. The restaurants are genuinely excellent. The après-ski culture is relaxed and unpretentious. And in deep winter, Whistler gets the kind of snowfall that keeps powder hounds coming back year after year. It's the one North American ski destination that every Australian skier should experience at least once and many do it every year.

4. Val d'Isère, France

Val d'Isère is what happens when a French ski village takes everything seriously, the skiing, the food, the wine, the accommodation and refuses to compromise on any of it. Paired with neighbouring Tignes to form the Espace Killy, it offers 300 kilometres of pistes at an altitude that guarantees snow from November through May. A season longer than almost any resort in the world.

The skiing is genuinely challenging. La Face de Bellevarde, which hosted the 1992 Winter Olympics, is a descent that tests even experienced skiers. But what sets Val d'Isère apart isn't the difficulty, it's the total experience. Michelin-starred restaurants tucked into alpine chalets. The particular satisfaction of drinking a vin chaud in a mountain hut at 2,800 metres while watching fresh snow fall on the peaks below. It's the kind of ski holiday that changes your benchmark for everything that follows.

5. Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise, France

Squeezed into the same valley as Tignes and Les Arcs, Sainte-Foy is what the French Alps looked like before the ski lifts and luxury chalets arrived except it has those too, just in far smaller numbers. This is the resort that serious skiers whisper about.
A relatively small ski area surrounded by some of the best backcountry terrain in the entire Alps: sweeping faces, forested couloirs, and long descents you'll have almost entirely to yourself.

The village is genuinely charming. A handful of outstanding chalets, a few excellent restaurants, and a local atmosphere that hasn't been overwhelmed by ski tourism. If Verbier feels like a luxury brand, Sainte-Foy feels like the real thing and the people who've found it tend to return every season.
It's the destination that makes you feel like you've discovered something, because you kind of have.

6. Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

The 2026 Winter Olympics brought global attention to Cortina d'Ampezzo, but the locals will tell you they didn't need it. Nestled in the heart of the Italian Dolomites a UNESCO World Heritage landscape of rose-pink limestone peaks that look, frankly, impossible.  Cortina has been a destination for discerning travellers since the 1950s. Audrey Hepburn skied here. Some things are classics for a reason.

The skiing covers 140 kilometres of runs across one of the most visually spectacular landscapes in the world. When the afternoon light hits the Dolomites at golden hour, the mountains turn a deep amber and pink that stops you mid-run. The village has Michelin-starred restaurants, high-end Italian boutiques, and a relaxed sophistication that is entirely Italian in character. For those who've done the Swiss and French Alps and want something different, Cortina is the answer.

7. Amirsoy, Uzbekistan

This one requires an open mind, and it will reward you for it. Amirsoy is a brand-new, world-class ski resort built in the mountains above Tashkent and it may be the most exciting emerging ski destination on the planet. The infrastructure is modern and impressive. The terrain is genuinely challenging. And the surrounding culture the ancient Silk Road cities, the extraordinary Islamic architecture of Samarkand and Bukhara, the legendary Uzbek hospitality is unlike anything else in the skiing world.

This is the destination that people will be talking about in five years, the place early-adopter travellers are going right now before the crowds arrive. Combining a week of skiing at Amirsoy with a few days in Samarkand is the kind of itinerary that genuinely doesn't have a comparison. It's ski travel and cultural travel and adventure travel all in one trip and it costs a fraction of what Switzerland charges.

Before You Go: Gear Up With Your EHG Member Rewards

A ski trip demands proper gear and EHG members don't pay full price for it.
Through the EHG member rewards platform, members access exclusive discounts across hundreds of retail partners. That includes 4% off at Kathmandu one of Australia's leading outdoor retailers along with other savings on clothing, luggage, and travel essentials that add up fast before a big trip.

With up to 80% off across 12,000+ retail partners, 5% off at Coles and Woolworths, and 40% off dining, the average EHG family saves around $5,500 a year. That's a meaningful contribution toward the holiday you're working toward. Browse the full rewards library here.

Australian Winter Is a Gift, If You Know What to Do With It

Most Australians spend June, July, and August waiting for summer to come back. The travellers who've figured it out use those exact months to be somewhere the rest of the world is clamouring to reach, slopes that are perfectly in season, mountain villages at their peak, and snow conditions that most people only see in photographs.

Trips like these are the reason Exclusive Holiday Getaways was built.
We created EHG because we believed Australians deserved a membership that did three things at once: helped them win extraordinary holidays, saved them real money every day, and gave back to the causes that matter most to them.

Every week, EHG runs a draw where members win luxury holidays the kind of experiences on this list. Packages worth up to $35,000, and quarterly mega-prizes reaching $100,000. And 20% of every membership fee goes directly to your chosen charity from Vision Australia and Beyond Blue to WWF and Ronald McDonald House Charities. See all our charity partners here.

Join EHG access thousands of everyday savings, support a charity you care about, and go in the weekly draw to win a luxury holiday. The snow doesn't wait.