The World's Greatest Ski Areas

WHEN it comes to picking areas, some skiers opt for the challenging, while others choose the chic. Lovers of the exotic may insist that Morocco's Atlas Mountains, home of the ruggedly independent Berber tribes, offer the best schussing. Cross-country buffs are likely to feel that mushing through Norway's Jotunheim (Giant's Home) region is nearest to nirvana.

The U.S. has some of the world's best skiing. "Powder" snow, the best of all, is often hip-deep in Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah. The snow is more granular and less plentiful in the East, where the air is wetter and the mountains smaller than in the West. Eastern slopes are also icier and thus harder to negotiate. Yet skiers who practice on this Eastern "boiler plate" learn of necessity to dig their ski edges deeper into the hill and tend to have better control. The quality of the snow at most European resorts lies somewhere in between the West's powder and the East's iciness. European ski areas are generally 5DEG to 10DEG warmer in winter than those in New England.

Air fare to the ski areas varies widely. For example, Chicago to Denver is $115 round trip; the fare from Chicago to Burlington, Vt., is $138. These costs may drop drastically next year if the Federal Aviation Administration approves United Air Lines' plan to halve the price of tickets bought 90 days in advance. Air fare forms a major part of the cost of any European trip. A wintertime flight from New York to Zurich or Geneva is $238 round trip; charter flights can be considerably less.

Any listing of the greatest ski areas is both arbitrary and incomplete. But certain areas must be included in any compilation because they offer unsurpassed skiing or high-style apres-ski atmosphere or low-cost accessibility--or all of that. Among them:

THE U.S.

P: STOWE, VT. Though Mount Mansfield (4,393 ft.) is only a foothill by Alpine or Rocky Mountain standards, it offers what many consider the finest skiing in the East. Novices can stem their way along the four-mile-long Toll Road; experts can plummet down the narrow, twisting chutes of the National or the Goat. Everyone can enjoy the eclectic night life, which runs from fierce rock to folk singing, in the restaurants and hotels of the compact, bustling village. The average cost of a week's vacation, including meals, moderately priced sleeping accommodations* and lift tickets, but not transportation, is around $250.

P: SUN VALLEY, IDAHO. The dowager queen of American ski areas, the val ley has been rejuvenated in recent years. New lifts have doubled the area's up hill capacity and largely eliminated lines; new trails on Baldy's north side have given skiers a place to go when the sun turns the south slope to mashed potatoes. The Lodge, built in 1936, still offers European-type elegance to a wealthy clientele, but new condominiums and medium-priced restaurants are attracting more middle-income families. Cost for a week: $275.

P: ASPEN, COLO. Two hundred tricky miles west of Denver, Aspen-- the world's largest ski resort--has four mountains. Buttermilk (9,720 ft.) caters to novices; Snowmass (10,645) and As pen Highlands (11,665) are for inter mediates; Aspen Mountain (11,212) is for experts. Aspen is a skier's town. People who patronize the area are more likely to spend their money on equipment than on clothing; they ski well and party hard. Long hair and gunfighter's mustaches are de rigueur among the younger men in the old mining town. A week: around $225.

P: VAIL, COLO. Though it lacks the patina of a European resort, Vail, with its well-planned village, is a complete ski area: fine runs, restaurants, rooms. Compared with Aspen, Vail is newer and richer; skiers are generally older and more clothes-conscious; parties are more luxurious but more subdued. A week: about $200.

CANADA

P: MONT TREMBLANT, QUEBEC. Seventy miles north of Montreal, Mont Tremblant makes up in variety what it lacks in size (3,150 ft.). It has some 60 miles of trails, topflight bilingual instructors and hotels that serve food that would do credit to a Lyon chef. Blood-congealing temperatures are common, but Tremblant's well-planned runs and lively atmosphere make it popular with families that appreciate package-price elegance. A week's stay, including full board and lessons: about $150.

P: THE BUGABOOS. In the wilder reaches of British Columbia, the two dozen peaks of the Bugaboo range are unique. No lifts climb the glaciers and forested hillsides. Helicopters airlift skiers to the mountaintops, and guides lead visitors down through deep powder. Good legs and advanced technique are essential; so is a fat bank account. A week, including helicopter lifts, runs about $700.

EUROPE

P: DER WEISSE RING, AUSTRIA. The

White Ring is a complex of four villages (Lech, Zuers, St. Anton and St. Christoph) linked by lifts. Besides visiting all four, serious skiers can sample everything from the vertiginous Kandahar run to the gentle lower Krieger-horn, plus liberal helpings of Gemuetlichkelt. Dances get under way in larger hotels at 5 p.m. A week's stay: around $165.

P: KITZBUeHEL, AUSTRIA. "Kitz" is like Miami Beach with snow, a crowded commercial resort that draws both the packaged-tour trade and the famous. Crown Prince Carl Gustaf of Sweden skis here, as do Jet-Setters Guenter Sachs and Arndt von Bohlen und Halbach, the Krupp heir. Visitors who want to try to ski the multifaceted Hahnenkamm or merely stare at celebrities can get a week's vacation for about $ 150.

P: CHAMONIX, FRANCE. In the shadow of Mont Blanc, Chamonix is one of the largest resorts; some 40,000 skiers pass through each year. The range of accommodations is also vast (110 hotels and three times as many restaurants). The steep, challenging slopes are almost always jammed, and skiers must often wait, not only to get up to the top but also to begin their descents. One week: a bargain at $120.

P: CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY. A great conch-shaped valley surrounded by rosy Dolomite peaks that rise as sheerly as church spires, Cortina is one of the most beautiful ski areas. Site of the 1956 Winter Olympics, it has a confusing abundance of trails, lifts to any surface capable of holding snow, fine shops and restaurants and an Italian brio that keeps the rich, the famous and the fanatic returning. Cost for a week: $200.

P: ST. MORITZ, SWITZERLAND. The world's most famous winter sports center, St. Moritz is a mecca for celebrity watchers interested in spotting, say, the Shah of Iran or Stavros Niarchos. It is also a happy hunting ground for ski instructors seeking to teach Continental techniques to English wives who stay on after their husbands return to the job. A week: about $ 150.

P: KLOSTERS-DAVOS, SWITZERLAND. In these two smug, almost bourgeois towns, there is much night life but more skiing. Davos, described in Thomas Mann's novel The Magic Mountain, is the starting point for one of the world's most enjoyable ski runs--the elevenmile Parsenn. which ends up near Klosters. From there, skiers can take connecting lifts, return rubber-kneed to Davos by nightfall. A week: about $170.

THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

P: PORTILLO, CHILE. Two hours by car from Santiago, Portillo is deeply covered with fine powder from early July to late September. Most of its Andean runs are intermediate, but two are in the hair-raising class. U.S. Skier Dick Dorworth hit 103 m.p.h. down one of them in 1963. Portillo has only one hotel and limited night life, but few skiers complain. A two-week trip (all that can be booked) costs $880, including air fare from Chicago.

P: MOUNT COOK, NEW ZEALAND. Located on the country's alpine South Island, Mount Cook is ideal for American summer skiers who want to avoid mobs. Airplanes carry expert skiers and their guides 7,000 ft. up on the Tasman Glacier, one of the world's largest, pick them up at the bottom of a breathtaking elevenmile run. The exhilaration is expensive. The ski lift costs $15 per person, and skiers, who have to make their reservations at least six months in advance, must spend about $700 just to get to New Zealand from the U.S.

* All other area prices are also for middle-range accommodations.

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