The art of lashing planks to one’s feet and gliding over snow-covered countryside dates back millennia, arguably to as early as 6000 BCE in Russia and China. Primitive Scandinavian carvings and rock drawings from 6,000 years ago depict skiers (usually with a pole in one hand and an axe in the other), and some Neolithic Russian hunters are reputed to have forgone poles altogether in favor of spears – all the better to take down your average Siberian mammoth, should one cross your path. (If you’ve spent any time watching the Arctic-circle seasons of Alone on Netflix during the last few couch-bound months, you’ll find that feat very impressive. (Too niche?))

Fast forwarding 5,850 years or so (aka approximately the amount of time we’ve been in lockdown) brings us to the mid-1800s, when Norwegian sailors jumped ship in San Francisco to try their luck in the California gold rush, and brought their skis along, no doubt strapped to the Thule racks atop their covered wagons (ed. note: our fact checker is on vacation). One of these early Norwegian immigrants was Jon Torsteinsson Rue, better known as “Snowshoe Thompson,” who spent 20 years delivering the mail on ten-foot skis, through more or less the same terrain that had proved rather problematic for the Donner Party a decade prior.

All of this is to say that skiing has come up in the world. Appropriate for a sport named for the Old Norse phrase fara á skíðum (literally, “to travel, to move fast on skis”), technological developments in equipment, transportation, snow-making machinery, and lifts over the last century and a half have turned it into an accessible diversion, an annual highlight, or a flat-out obsession, depending on who you ask. As we crank that late-August AC and start dreaming about winter getaways, we’ve rounded up the best spots to base yourself to get your snow fix, whether you’re a powderhound or the local mountain’s après-ident (you ski what I did there?) (this is going downhill fast.)

Snow Day Option 1 - the bunny slope

“I want the option to strap my feet to some fiber glass and maybe take selfies on the ski lift, but mostly I’m here for the hot chocolate.”

Twin Farms

Location: Barnard, Vermont

Set the Scene: Picture the iconic covered bridge sparkling with icicles, ruby-red cardinals alighting on fresh drifts of powder, and fueling up for adventures with fat stacks of pancakes doused in local Vermont maple syrup.

Ski Scoop: Six private groomed downhill trails – accessible only by chauffeured snowmobile – snake through the 300 acres of trees in this rural Green Mountain paradise. Snowfall can be unpredictable here though, so snowshoeing, skating on the frozen pond, sledding, and a wooden Japanese hot tub are also on offer. Vermont has one of the best craft beer scenes in the country, so end the day at the property’s pub, where you can sip a world-class hazy DIPA by the fire and ogle a Cy Twombly at the same time.

The Point Resort

Location: Lake Saranac, New York

Set the Scene: Lumberjack plaid, log cabins, and hot toddies are the name of the game at this former Rockefeller family escape – except for Wednesdays and Saturdays, when the black-tie dress code for dinner means it’s time to trot out your most fabulous capes and cloaks.

Ski Scoop: Downhill demons won’t be able to satisfy their need for speed on property, as this is cross-country territory. But what The Point lacks in slopes, it makes up for with other winter diversions – remember during the PyeongChang Olympics, when you unintentionally got super into curling? At The Point you can put your dreams to the test, and toast your future gold medal with champagne kept icy in a snowdrift. Plus, ice fishing.

Lake Placid Lodge

Location: Lake Placid, New York

Set the Scene: The best spots on property are the cozy lakefront cabins, which were built in the 1920s and boast epic stone fireplaces, sumptuous textiles, and hand-hewn wood details. Wrap yourself in a Pendleton blanket and settle into an Adirondack chair around the nightly bonfire, while smores are built with fresh-made ‘mallows and the moon’s reflection flickers in the lake.

Ski Scoop: 30 minutes’ drive will bring you to Whiteface Mountain, which has the longest vertical drop of any ski peak on the Eastern seaboard. And if you’re the member of the pub trivia team who knows the answers on all things Olympics, Lake Placid is a gold mine of novelty sights, as the city has hosted the Games twice – speed skate on the Olympic Oval, pay homage to the Miracle on Ice at the Olympic Museum, or take your adrenaline to a ten by joining a pro for a ride in a bobsled.

Inn of the Five Graces

Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico

Set the Scene: Santa Fe’s sobriquet is “City Different,” and the city itself is fittingly anchored by the Five Graces, an adobe Oz lushly layered with pieces collected in India, Tibet, Uzbekistan, and Iran. Every room has a cozy wood-burning stone fireplace, and it’s basically local law that you order New Mexican huevos rancheros (Christmas style, with both red and green chile) to your room for the world’s coziest breakfast in bed.

Ski Scoop: Ski Santa Fe is a 20-minute drive from downtown, and home to more than 80 runs – mostly blues and blacks – making this a perfect destination for couples who might need to balance the priorities of, say, a culture vulture and a ski bunny. On your way back to town, stop for a soak at Ten Thousand Waves, a surreal Japanese onsen tucked into the New Mexican foothills that appears like a mirage in the southwestern winter landscape.

Snow Day option 2 - the blue square

“I like to spend a week or so each winter sliding down a hill at high speed (and sampling the après scene – responsibly, of course.)”

The Little Nell

Location: Aspen, Colorado

Set the Scene: Aspen + ski in/ski out. Need we go on? (Okay, we will.) Soothing and contemporary interiors – a rarity in the world of ski hotels, which often feel like the set for a non-union touring production of the Country Bear Jamboree – and the best location around make the Little Nell the center of Aspen, and by extension, many peoples’ winter calendars.

Ski Scoop: The hotel can help you with every aspect of your mountain time, from first tracks to patrol sweep. There’s CAT skiing, if you want to hit untouched powder; there are also CAT rides without any skiing involved, in case you’re just into those big treads and want to sip bubbles while you assert your dominance over the winter landscape. Plus, the après at Ajax is legendary, and there’s no better feeling than being close to home when you say yes to another round.

Lake Tahoe - Private Homes

Location: Lake Tahoe

Set the Scene: Sure, there are some big, full-service hotels in Lake Tahoe that may fit the bill, but we think the best way to enjoy the truly epic Sierra Nevada terrain and scenery is by gathering a group of friends or family and carving your own path. There’s no sharing the jacuzzi or hotel-restaurant dinner on tap here – just your own private chef waiting with a custom menu when you get back from a day on the slopes.

Ski Scoop: The Tahoe ski and snowboard scene is an embarrassment of riches: Heavenly’s 4,800 acres let you choose whether you’d prefer to spend the day planking through California or Nevada, Squaw Valley offers runs that will challenge even the most experienced skier in your group, and Northstar is home to truly awesome snowboarding Terrain Parks to practice your tricks (or just gape others as they defy gravity).

Caldera House

Location: Teton Village, Wyoming

Set the Scene: We’re gonna call these pitch-perfect interiors Mid-Century Mountain. It’s the type of place where even the stack of wood next to the fire looks editorial, and every time you’re feeling chilly, a sheepskin is just in reach. It’s so idyllic here, even the iconic Big Red aerial tram wants in on the action, coming home to roost just next door.

Ski Scoop: Jackson Hole is known as “The Big One,” so you know the terrain is going to be tops (including the infamous Corbet's Couloir, among many other world-class runs.) There’s also a great ski school, snowmobiling, sleigh rides (in the National Elk Refuge, because of course), and a western town with so much character it will have you tipping your beanie like it’s a ten-gallon Stetson.

Snow Day option 3 - the Mogul Mogul

“I’m here for the skiing, and the rest is just details. Give me off-piste, fresh pow, first tracks, and all your CATs and helis – the gnarlier, the better.”

Scarp Ridge Lodge

Location: Crested Butte, Colorado

Set the Scene: A former saloon in the old mining town of Crested Butte, Colorado, you know they’re serious at Scarp Ridge because they pump in oxygen-enriched air for out-of-towners who need help acclimating to life at 9,000 feet. With a rooftop hot tub and a live-in chef, the prospectors that used to frequent the Croatian Hall in its previous life could only dream of an experience this golden.

Ski Scoop: Let’s just cut to the chase: Buyout the seven bedrooms at Scarp, and you get access to your own private CAT, and by extension, 1,000+ acres of pristine Colorado terrain. Meow.

The Lodge at Blue Sky

Location: Just outside Park City, Utah

Set the Scene: The Lodge at Blue Sky has somehow distilled the vast potential energy of the American West and plopped it down 40 minutes from Salt Lake City airport. Alpine-zen suites nearly disappear into the surrounding landscape, and there’s a focus on yoga (for balance) and an on-property distillery (for imbalance.)

Ski Scoop: The 3500-acre ranch is a playground in any season, but winter is magic – guests have access to a full-service private Park City ski lounge, where your warmed boots await. But you’re here for the heli skiing – the chopper picks you up on property, and in 10 minutes you’re in the middle of 200,000 acres of private ski area in the Uinta and Wasatch Mountains. And there’s a private yurt with a bar in it, because of course there is.

Sheldon Chalet

Location: Denali National Park, Alaska

Set the Scene: You better bring the party with you to Sheldon Chalet, because no one’s making any new friends in Hoth – sorry, we mean Denali. A stay at this exclusive-use, 5-bedroom property, perched on a rock and dwarfed by the surrounding glacial amphitheater means it’s just you and endless snow. (Don’t worry though, they’ll fly in your favorite champagne by helicopter so you can toast to ripping the Last Frontier.)

Ski Scoop: The landscape in Denali will mess with your sense of scale and proportion because everything is so epic, and you may have to navigate ice falls and avoid hidden crevasses as you trek miles to get to your runs – and that’s why this is among the world’s most epic destinations. Ski resorts boast about their first tracks access, but in Denali, chances are many of your runs will not only be first tracks, they’ll be first-in-history descents.

Where to Next: Take a Snow Day