10 cheap ski resorts: in the shadow of giants

1. Söll, Austria

Söll may not share the fame of Kitzbühel but it does share its ski area. The Kitzbüheler Alpen AllStarCard covers 10 Austrian ski areas including Kitzbühel, St Johann in Tirol and the newly formed Ski Jewel area of Alpbachtal and Wildschönau – more than 1,000km of piste – for £188 for six days. Right in the centre of all that terrain lies Söll, where a double room with breakfast at the Apartments Sport Mayr (sportmayr.info) costs from £23 a night. The town itself has a lively après-ski atmosphere, but you will need a car or to brave the ski bus to get to the slopes, which are around 1km away from the centre. A small price to pay.
Fly Thomas Cook (thomascook.com) has flights to Innsbruck for £103 return. Crystal (crystalski.co.uk) is offering free lift passes for kids (up to 15 years old) with every adult pass purchase

2. Montgenèvre, France

Think of the Via Lattea and the most obvious resorts are Sestrière and Sauze d'Oulx. But one of the more humble destinations in the linked Italy/France ski area is Montgenèvre, on the French side. It's a little powder pocket, family-friendly and good for beginners and intermediates, with access to the Milky Way's 400km of piste. Go Montgenèvre (go-montgenevre.com) has a week's accommodation in a self-catering apartment, plus a six-day lift pass, standard ski and boot hire and transfers from Turin airport (1½ hours) for £360pp in January.
Six-day Via Lattea pass £185. Ryanair (ryanair.com) flies to Turin from £69 return

3. La Tzoumaz, Switzerland

Chalet Auriane in La Tzoumaz

Verbier looms large on the list of must-ski resorts, with spectacular off-piste terrain, efficient lifts and 410km of runs – but the cost of skiing there can be absurdly expensive. Drop over the Savoleyres ridge in the Four Valleys, however, and while you still have access to Verbier's enviable ski area, you get to take advantage of La Tzoumaz's prices (and north-facing, crowd-free slopes). Piste-side Chalet Auriane (chaletauriane.com) is a five-star lodging, costing from £825pppw fully catered, with spectacular views and comes complete with its own funicular.
Six-day Four Valleys lift pass £234; six-day Savoleyres lift pass £222. Swiss Air (swiss.com) flies to Geneva from £98 return

4. Avajan, French Pyrénées

The French Pyrénées have long languished in the shadow of the Alps, but do yourself a favour and pop it on your list as a potential because you'll find small villages, traditional (and good-value) restaurants and plenty of powder being skied mainly by French and Spanish holidaymakers. L'Ancienne Poste in Avajan (ancienneposteavajan.com) is 10 minutes' drive from three resorts – Peyragudes, St Lary and Piau Engaly, just on the edge of the Pyrénées National Park. Half-board Christmas week will set you back £614pp, and that includes two days' guiding with the owner James who, conveniently, is a qualified ski instructor and mountain guide.
Six-day St Lary lift pass £192. EasyJet (easyjet.com) flies to Toulouse for £74 return

5. St Martin de Belleville, France

Chamois Lodge in the Three Valleys

St Martin is in the Three Valleys ski area (Méribel, Courchevel and Val Thorens) but because it's not slap bang in the centre of Méribel, you'll find incredibly reasonable prices for really quite outstanding accommodation while still being able to ski 600km of piste. Guests at Chamois Lodge (thealpineclub.co.uk) get kingsize beds, six-course meals, handmade furniture, deeply lavish soft furnishings, British plug sockets and an in-resort chauffeur, all for the rather unexpected sum of £579pp per week. Well worth sacrificing a convenient stagger home for.
Six-day Three Valleys pass £207; six-day Méribel pass £170. BA (britishairways.com) flies to Chambéry for £75 one-way

6. Hochfügen, Austria

When it comes to skiing in the Zillertal region, the obvious choice is Mayrhofen: immense terrain, immense après-ski. A week's Zillertal SuperSki pass comes in at £173 for 671km of pistes, and because it includes the Hintertux glacier you're pretty much guaranteed snow all season. But you can still have access to all of that at a cheaper price if you stay in Hochfügen. The resort itself has 38 lifts plus a free bus to take you to other areas on the pass.
Half-board double rooms at the Berghotel (mountain-hotel-tirol.com) cost from £67 per night. EasyJet (easyjet.com) flies to Innsbruck from £113 return

7. Les Houches, France

Les Houches, with its breathtaking views of Mont Blanc. Photograph: Alamy

Think of Alpine skiing at its most extreme and there's only one place to go: Chamonix. But the Chamonix valley is home to a number of little towns, each with its own resort. If you want guaranteed open lifts on a powder day, complete with a local feel and prices to match, head to Les Houches, at the bottom of the valley. Boutique Hotel Slalom (hotelslalom.net) has rooms from £80 a night within two minutes' walk of the lifts, while at the Vieilles Luges (vieillesluges.com), a beautiful piste-side restaurant, a huge lunch of duck thigh with porcini sauce passionately crafted and served by Julie and Claude will cost £12. Feel smug as you watch everyone from the rest of the valley queueing in their cars to get to Les Houches when none of the other lifts are open.
Six-day Mont Blanc unlimited pass £212; six-day Les Houches pass £147. British Airways (britishairways.com) flies to Geneva from £45 one-way

8. Andermatt, Switzerland

Andermatt is within shouting distance of big-name Swiss resorts including Saas Fee, Zermatt and Verbier. But at £165 for a week's pass, it is one of the cheapest Swiss resorts, and it's difficult to understand why it has remained relatively under the radar for so long. With its top lift soaring 2,963 metres and north-facing slopes staying powder-sure and untracked for days, it's a great option for confident skiers looking to get away from the crowds.
Basecamp Andermatt (basecamp-andermatt.com) is an ecolodge and hostel with double rooms from as little as £26 per night. EasyJet (easyjet.com) flies to Zurich £79 return

9. Jay Peak, Vermont, USA

The East Coast resorts of America languish in the champagne powder shadows of the Rockies, despite having a pretty good season last year while the Western resorts suffered. On top of that, the big names of Killington and Stowe tend to dominate. But in the past four years, while our backs were turned, Jay Peak (jaypeakresort.com) invested $200m in its infrastructure, snowmaking and amenities, transforming itself into a top-class contender for US ski destination 2013. But because it's a fair drive from Boston, prices tend to be lower than most. It's worth the effort – with its annual snowfall of 279in it is consistently the snowiest resort on the East Coast.
Ski Safari has a seven-night holiday to Jay Peak, staying at the four-star Hotel Jay and including a seven-day lift pass, return flights to Boston, car hire and a two-hour daily ski lesson for £1,399pp (skisafari.com)

10. Ogden, Utah, USA

If you're thinking of skiing Stateside, by all means head to Utah, but instead of making a beeline for Park City, try Ogden (visitogden.com), a place which quite simply should be on every skier's list of amazing-value destinations. It is close to Salt Lake City airport, and within 20 minutes' drive of your hotel you will find yourself in either Snowbasin, Wolf Creek or Powder Mountain – the latter with 7,000 acres of skiable terrain and a budget cat-skiing operation where for £11 a trip you can find yourself staring at 700 acres of pristine powder snow. On top of that a day's lift pass is £40, and a shuttle bus will take you from the city to either mountain, so you can save even more money in Ogden's budget accommodation.
The Alaskan Inn (alaskaninn.com) has Arctic-inspired rooms from £50pppn including breakfast. KLM (klm.com) flies to Salt Lake City from £559 return