WinterStores report · 2026/27 season
Ski Shop Ratings by Resort
Where are ski rental and gear shops rated best? We grouped 970 shops by the resort they serve and ranked 63 resorts on 187,742 public customer reviews.
- 63
- Resorts ranked
- 970
- Shops rated
- 187,742
- Reviews counted
- 4.61
- Average rating
Data as of . How we ranked · Download the CSV
Key findings
- 01
Crested Butte has the best-rated ski shops of any resort we cover
Its 6 rated shops average 4.87 out of 5 across 754 reviews. Bansko (4.86) and Fernie (4.85) follow.
- 02
Only 0.49 stars separate first place from last
Bariloche is lowest of the 63 ranked resorts at 4.38, which is still a good score. Ski shops are well reviewed almost everywhere: the average across all 970 rated shops is 4.61. Read this table as a guide to where a good shop is easiest to find, not as a list of places to avoid.
- 03
The most famous resorts are not where shops are rated best
Vail (20th), St. Anton (30th), Whistler (34th), Aspen (39th), Chamonix (41st), Zermatt (48th) and Niseko (54th) all sit outside the top ten. The top of the table is mostly smaller or less expensive resorts, where a handful of shops serve a loyal clientele.
- 04
Eastern Europe leads by area, Scandinavia trails
Shops around resorts in Eastern Europe average 4.78 (54 shops), against 4.41 in Scandinavia (46 shops). North America averages 4.64 and Pyrenees & Iberia averages 4.64.
- 05
In 4 resorts, every rated shop scores 4.5 or higher
Crested Butte, Fernie, Revelstoke and Steamboat Springs have no rated shop below 4.5. Across all ranked resorts, the typical share of shops at 4.5 or above is 73%.
The full ranking
Score is the average customer rating of the shops closest to each resort, out of 5. The bar shows where it falls between 4.0 and 5.0.
Not ranked: 19 resorts without enough data
A resort needs at least 5 rated shops and 500 reviews between them to be ranked. These fall short, usually because our directory does not yet list enough of their shops, so we publish no score for them rather than a misleading one.
- Courchevel2 shops
- Courmayeur5 shops
- Hemsedal5 shops
- La Clusaz0 shops
- La Plagne1 shop
- Madonna di Campiglio2 shops
- Megève3 shops
- Méribel2 shops
- Nozawa Onsen3 shops
- Portillo0 shops
- Ruka2 shops
- Rusutsu0 shops
- St. Moritz4 shops
- Sunday River3 shops
- Thredbo4 shops
- Trysil5 shops
- Valle Nevado0 shops
- Wengen5 shops
- Yongpyong3 shops
By area and country
The same shops, grouped more broadly. Countries with fewer than 5 rated shops are left out.
| Area | Score | Shops | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Europe | 4.78 | 54 | 14,678 |
| North America | 4.64 | 323 | 59,470 |
| Pyrenees & Iberia | 4.64 | 54 | 11,517 |
| The Alps | 4.59 | 388 | 74,773 |
| Scotland | 4.55 | 10 | 1,031 |
| Japan | 4.49 | 47 | 5,399 |
| Southern Hemisphere | 4.45 | 45 | 8,976 |
| Scandinavia | 4.41 | 46 | 10,482 |
| Country | Score | Shops | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | 4.86 | 24 | 7,546 |
| Romania | 4.75 | 20 | 4,106 |
| Canada | 4.68 | 80 | 11,612 |
| Andorra | 4.65 | 21 | 5,270 |
| United States | 4.63 | 243 | 47,858 |
| Italy | 4.63 | 60 | 9,184 |
| Spain | 4.63 | 33 | 6,247 |
| Poland | 4.63 | 10 | 3,026 |
| France | 4.61 | 106 | 20,009 |
| Austria | 4.59 | 100 | 20,618 |
| Switzerland | 4.59 | 76 | 10,074 |
| Norway | 4.58 | 10 | 715 |
| New Zealand | 4.57 | 23 | 2,889 |
| Germany | 4.56 | 31 | 11,299 |
| United Kingdom | 4.55 | 10 | 1,031 |
| Japan | 4.49 | 47 | 5,399 |
| Slovenia | 4.43 | 15 | 3,589 |
| Sweden | 4.40 | 21 | 3,355 |
| Argentina | 4.38 | 18 | 5,910 |
| Finland | 4.37 | 15 | 6,412 |
How we ranked
- 1
The shops
WinterStores lists 1,439 ski and snowboard shops: rental shops, gear retailers, boot fitters and workshops. Each carries its public customer rating and review count, taken predominantly from Google reviews and re-checked on a rolling schedule.
- 2
One shop, one resort
Every shop is counted once, for the nearest of the 82 resorts we cover, and only if it lies within 25 km of it. 1,125 shops qualify. Neighbouring resorts therefore never share a shop, which is why this table can differ from the longer shop lists on our resort pages.
- 3
Enough reviews to trust
A shop needs at least 20 reviews to count. Listings whose name identifies them only as a ski school are left out (12 of them). That leaves 970 rated shops with 187,742 reviews.
- 4
The resort score
A resort's score is the average rating of its rated shops, weighted by each shop's number of reviews. A shop's weight is capped at 500 reviews so that one very large store cannot decide a resort's result on its own.
- 5
Who gets ranked
Only resorts with at least 5 rated shops and 500 reviews are ranked: 63 of 82. Ties are broken by review count.
What this does not tell you
- It is not a test of the shops. We did not rent skis in 63 resorts. The scores summarise what customers wrote publicly.
- Small gaps mean little. Resorts a few hundredths apart are effectively level. The top and bottom of the table are the robust part.
- Reviews cover the whole shop. A rating reflects rental, retail, repairs and service together, and some listed businesses also run a ski school.
- Coverage is not complete. We do not list every shop in every resort, and review habits differ between countries.
The 10 best resorts for ski shops
The top of this table in detail, with the shops behind each score.
All resorts
Every shop near each of the 82 resorts we cover.
Best ski shops by country
The highest-rated individual shops, country by country.