If you’re a dedicated skier or snowboarder, summer can feel like a long, hot wait until winter’s glorious return. Sure, you could fly to South America or Australia to find some snow, but it doesn’t have to be a slog to grab some turns during the year’s warmest months. We rounded up the best—and easiest—places to pretend it’s winter in the thick of summer.
Timberline
Mount Hood, Oregon
never really closes. This ski area on the flank of Mount Hood, an hour from Portland, Oregon, has extensive winter operations and continues to run its Palmer Express chair all summer long. Race and freestyle camps take up much of the space—Timberline is an official summer training site for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team—but there’s a groomed public run and terrain park in the Palmer Snowfield on the mountain’s south face. Tickets cost $71. Stay on-site at the historic (from $250), or grab a bunk or private room (from $22) at down the hill.
Hintertux
Tux, Austria
Each summer, , Austria’s only year-round ski resort, keeps open a whopping ten lifts, two on-mountain restaurants, and plenty of steep terrain. You’ll top out at 10,600 feet, with views of the Dolomites in the distance. Lift tickets start at $27, and there’s plenty to do here besides skiing. You can swim or kayak through an ice cave, mountain bike nearly 2,000 vertical feet below the snow line, or hire a guide to climb the 11,404-foot Olperer Mountain, which towers over the Zillertal Valley. Fly into Innsbruck, 50 miles away, and book a room at the aptly named (from $90), where a ski bus stops right outside.
Saint Mary’s Glacier
Arapaho National Forest, Colorado
If you’re craving snowy turns in July, you can usually score them at , an hour west of Denver, off Interstate 70, near the town of Idaho Springs. This high-elevation backcountry zone holds snow well into summer. There are no chairlifts, and backcountry knowledge is a must. You’ll be rewarded with views of Saint Mary’s Lake just below the snowfield and James Peak in the distance. It’s free to ski here; parking costs $5. There are lodging options in Idaho Springs, but we recommend booking a stay at the Forest Service’s , an hour away, for $80 a night.
Beartooth Basin
Beartooth Pass, Montana
doesn’t even operate in winter. This summer-only ski area, located outside Red Lodge, Montana, on the Beartooth Highway, opens every year around Memorial Day with a raucous party. This year, it’ll close down on July 8. There’s no lodge, and you’ll buy your $45 lift ticket from an old bus. Two Poma lifts powered by a biodiesel generator bring skiers to the Twin Lakes Headwall for 600 acres of above-tree-line bowl skiing, including cornices to huck and rails to slide. The terrain is steep enough to host freeskiing competitions each summer. Bring a grill to tailgate in the parking lot, and grab a beer afterward at the Red Lodge Ales Brewing Company.
Blackcomb Mountain
Whistler, British Columbia
You can grab some of North America’s coolest T-bar-accessed glacier skiing until July 15 at . In midsummer, it’s mostly kids and teens here for summer camp, but there is one public lane with jumps and rails, plus a groomed slope. Lift tickets cost $51, and don’t miss the outdoor barbecue at the mountaintop Horstman Hut. You can make it a multisport weekend by riding Whistler Bike Park, lower on the mountain, before or after you ski. Stay at (from $114), located a short walk from the gondola, and you’ll get a free bike rental and a tasty breakfast spread.