A survey by ski holiday specialist Heidi has revealed the No.1 ski bucket list experience for UK skiers. Topping the list by a considerable margin is skiing under the Northern Lights, voted the must-do adventure across all age groups.
Participants rated 30 iconic ski experiences they’d love to tick off at least once in their lifetime. The magic of gliding across snow while the aurora dances overhead scored almost twice as highly as the average activity – making it the undisputed favourite.
In second place was another nocturnal thrill: night skiing under the stars, followed by tackling the world’s longest on-piste run – the legendary 22km descent from Klein Matterhorn to Valtournenche in the Zermatt-Cervinia ski area, crossing the Swiss-Italian border.
Interestingly, skiers aged 46 to 65 proved the most determined to chase the Northern Lights, while night skiing showed consistent appeal among all generations. While the aurora’s beauty lies in its unpredictability, the good news is that night skiing is far easier to tick off.
Resorts such as Sölden and Zell am See (Austria), Courchevel (France), Trysil (Norway) and Zermatt (Switzerland) all offer unforgettable after-dark sessions. Nature-led adventures dominated the rankings overall, with Italy’s UNESCO-listed Sella Ronda and Norway’s majestic fjords also landing in the top tier of dream ski experiences.
Marcus Blunt, co-founder of Heidi, said: “Ski holidays offer a unique mix of experiences you can’t find anywhere else. Heidi’s purpose is to help people find their freedom in the mountains, so we wanted to ask UK skiers what they dream about experiencing the most. Whether that’s chasing the Northern Lights in Scandinavia or night skiing in the Alps, Heidi makes it easy to book your bucket list ski holiday. We offer fully customisable packages to more than 350 resorts across Europe, so skiers can tailor their trip around the experiences that matter most to them.”
For those determined to chase the Northern Lights on their ski holiday, the best chances lie further north – including the following resorts, all available with Heidi:
- Riksgränsen, Sweden: the northernmost ski resort in the world, above the Arctic Circle.
- Levi and Ylläs, Finland: famed for long, dark nights and reliable aurora sightings.
- Narvik, Norway: where fjord views and Northern Lights can combine for a double bucket-list experience.
Heidi has a customisable ski holiday package to suit, including these live examples:
- Northern Lights in Finland: £1,326pp for 5 nights in Ylläs (24-29 January 2026), staying at the 4-star Lapland Hotels Saaga, two sharing. Includes breakfast, return London Stansted-Rovaniemi flights, and private airport transfers.
- Night skiing in Norway: £816pp for 7 nights in Trysil (3-10 January 2026), staying at the 4-star Radisson Blu Resort Trysil, two sharing. Includes breakfast, return London Gatwick-Scandinavian Mountains Airport flights, and airport transfers.
- Ski the longest on-piste run in the world – the 22km Klein Matterhorn to Valtournenche: £990pp for 7 nights in Cervinia (12-17 December 2025), staying at the 4-star White Angel Hotel, two sharing. Includes breakfast, return London Stansted-Turin, and airport transfers.
Top 30 ski bucket list experiences
These are the results from a survey conducted in September 2025 by Boxclever on behalf of Heidi, polling 450 UK skiers.
- Ski under the Northern Lights in Norway, Finland, or Sweden
- Go night skiing under the stars
- Ski the longest on-piste run in the world – the 22km Klein Matterhorn to Valtournenche, from Zermatt to Cervinia
- Ski the stunning Sella Ronda circuit in the UNESCO Dolomites
- Stay at the highest hotel in the French Alps – Le Refuge de Solaise (2,551m)
- Ski the fjords in Norway
- Ski three countries in a single day – Austria, Italy, and Switzerland
- Eat at the highest restaurant in Europe – Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, in Zermatt
- Ski the longest off-piste run in the world – the 23km Vallée Blanche in Chamonix
- Ski all of the Three Valleys in one day
- Ski on Christmas Day
- Go night sledding on the Jungfrau Eiger Run in Grindelwald
- Ride the highest gondola in Europe – on the Klein Matterhorn in Zermatt
- Go heli-skiing
- Try the highest zipline in the world (La Bee) – from Orelle to Val Thorens
- Do a ski season
- Go to a ski festival
- Ski in the summer (Europe, glacier, or in the southern hemisphere)
- Zoom down an Olympic bobsleigh track in La Plagne
- Try paraskiing (combining skiing and paragliding)
- Be a spectator at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina
- Whizz down Europe’s longest toboggan run in Val Thorens
- Go on a gourmet ski safari in Alta Badia
- Have a ski lesson with an Olympian
- Tackle the famous Streif World Cup downhill course in Kitzbühel
- Take literally the first ski lift of the day
- Ski on a glacier
- Take part in a ski competition
- Get air with a ski jump
- Dance on a table at La Folie Douce après-ski skiers-man-and-woman-jumping
For more information see heidi.com