It's hard to believe that winter is already almost over. But with the arrival of March comes some of the best ski conditions of the year, meaning a piste full of powder from the Alps and across North America. While everyone pays top Dollar, and Euro, to enjoy December holiday skiing in St. Mortiz and Jackson Hole - they should really be planning those trips later in the year as late-season snowfall becomes increasingly more the norm in the Northern Hemisphere. Nowhere is that more evident than in Courchevel where posh new Six Senses Residences (pictured) and White 1921 suffered through horrible first year conditions until early-February when French ski areas from Chamonix to Val Thorens enjoyed best conditions that continue to improve into spring.
In St. Moritz this spring, you can get a dose of Ibiza come mid-March with the 3rd Annual Music Summit, bringing together the top names in house and electronic dance music. Carlton Hotel will even host Santhosh Retreats for a 5-day fill of yoga, dance classes and snowshoeing with optional neon neckwear. A bit West, celebs from Kate Moss to Lindsay Lohan have made Gstaad hip again this winter season, thanks much in part to the season's best parties thrown inside the new penthouse suite atop Gstaad Palace. In demure Canada, Whistler benefits from bar-none the best ski conditions this season and new on-mountain Rendezvous Lodge brings a bit more panache to what many consider the world's top ski destination. Across the Canadian Rockies in Banff, a new ski village is opening downtown, anchored by a ho-hum Moose Hotel and Suites that further affirms the once-glittery ski town's emphasis on family travel.
In the US, you can thank El Niño for delivering a powerful powder year that finally gave resorts like Mammoth Mountain and Park City a worthy ski season. New brands like The Landing emerge in Lake Tahoe and The Bivouac brings a sexy spin to the hipster lodge concept. But it's Aspen that once again proves the ski star with The Little Nell improving its already 'best in category' guest rooms and base offerings like new Nello Alpine and epicurean Element 47 that's truly the best restaurant in town. Let's also not forget the Nell's proximity to Aspen Mountain, the only true ski-in ski-out resort in town, nor it's 5-star ski concierge, ready and able to score you that hard-to-get table at Matsuhisa at a moment's notice. It's, however, David Burke’s Aspen Kitchen, which took forever to open, that disappoints within a single meal. Luckily its bar is still a scene as well as its basement, Rec Room, that's a perfect addition to the town's dance scene and helps solidify it as the best American ski town.
