France and Austria voted best ski destinations in Europe: survey

For the ranking, ski travel outfit SnowTrex looked at votes cast by 40,000 skiers from eight countries gathered over the last five seasons.

Topping the list is La Plagne, located in the Savoy area of the Rhone-Alps, where skiers can swoosh down 225 km of ski slopes including a 15 km descent that starts at 2,000 m above sea level from the Bellecote glacier to Montchavin.

Rounding out the top three spots on the list are Les Trois Vallees, also in France, and Soelden, Austria, which served as the dramatic backdrop for a dramatic action sequence in the latest James Bond film “Spectre.”

The ranking is nearly evenly split between Austria and France, with Austria taking up half the list, and France four of the top 10 spots.

Meanwhile, over the weekend winners of the World Ski Awards were announced, which gave Austrian ski resort Kitzbuehel the title of World’s Best Ski Resort 2015, and Park City, Utah’s Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley the title of World’s Best Ski hotel.

Here are the top 10 ski resorts in Europe, according to SnowTrex:

1. La Plagne, France

2. Les Trois Vallees, France

3. Soelden, Austria

4. Silvretta Arena, Austria

5. Tignes, France

6. Zillertal, Austria

7. Val di Fiemme-Obereggen, Italy

8. Avoriaz, France

9. Stubaier Gletscher, Austria

10. Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang, Austria