IF LESS IS REALLY MORE, it appears that many of the most popular ski resorts haven't heard the news. So busy are they enticing skiers (successfully, in many cases) with over-the-top amenities and luxury pampering services that they seem to have almost forgotten about the sport on which their businesses are built. Multi-hour gourmet lunches. Concierges who will put your boots on for you (and then remove them at the end of the day). Spas that let schussers ski in and out to take a break from the slopes. It’s a wonder that people have any time left for skiing.  Fortunately, some destinations are sticking to what they do best: serving up world-class powder and ski runs in a relaxed atmosphere. The only extras are rituals that have traditionally surrounded the sport, like stick-to-your ribs meals and simple, old-fashioned après-ski beer-drinking sessions around a fire.  Here are a few very recommendable, off-the-beaten-path snowy spots that still focus on offering the things that made the sport popular to begin with.  Powderhounds who want deep snow to themselves head to Red, a ski area in British Columbia’s Monashee Range, just over the border from Washington state, with an impressive 4,200 acres of skiing with nearly 3,000 feet of vertical drop. For a mild dose of civilization, the nearby historic mining town of Rossland has a few fun bars and restaurants (lift passes about $60 a day, lodging from about $170 a night; redresort.com).  Popular but not overrun, Taos Ski Valley is set in a pristine, high-elevation niche in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Its slopes will satisfy adrenaline junkies but accommodate all skill levels. Skiers come here to slow down and soak up a healthy dose of the unspoiled mountain vibe. Taos, the artsy little enclave, and the colorful New Mexican desert are a short drive down the mountains (lift passes $86 a day; skitaos.com).  Deep in the remote Bitterroot Mountains, a snowy pass between Idaho and Montana hosts a tiny ski area that's legendary among those in the know. Lost Trail Powder Mountain has lonely slopes ranging from greens to treed double blacks, no lift lines and plentiful powder. As many ski areas go luxe, Lost Trail offers a refreshingly authentic Montana ski experience; the day ends with beers in the lodge by the fire with locals. Nearby lodging ranges from rustic cabins to the posh Triple Creek Ranch (triplecreekranch.com), where rooms run about $950 a night (lift passes $40 a day; losttrail.com).  Utah’s secluded Sundance Mountain is just the opposite of the famed film festival of the same name. For guests, it’s the slopes that are the stars at this serene, well-heeled skiers’ retreat about an hour’s drive from the bustling ski resorts that ring Salt Lake City. Instead of après-ski cocktail marathons and shopping sprees, Sundance offers post-ski art classes and spa treatments, Native American-inspired décor and limited slopeside lodging (lift passes $65 a day, lodging from about $255 a night; sundanceresort.com).  This gem of a world-class ski resort in the French Alps is often overlooked by Americans, who lean toward Europe’s glitzier resorts. But this tiny village has produced some of France’s most decorated skiers and (though it no longer sustains itself through sheepherding) retains its genuinely rural charm, with tiny meat and cheese shops, good restaurants, festive après-ski options and a welcoming community. The majority of its visitors come from inside France, allowing for an authentically French ski adventure very different from the more interchangeable experiences at most large resorts (lift passes from about $40 a day, lodging from about $200 per person a night; laclusaz.com).
These off-the-beaten path ski resorts off classic, no-frills skiing that’s free of crowds—and free of gimmicky luxe amenities