The most recent overnight snowfalls come just days after publication of a review of snowsports in Scotland in which it is suggested that  the future for Scotland’s skiing industry is to give skiers and snowboarders access to snow higher up the mountains. The independent study said that while conditions can be unreliable at 2,000ft (610m) where all the centre’s base stations are, the snowfields higher have much better quality snow, that lasts for longer each season.

Comparing Scotland to Japan and Switzerland – two counties that have made the move to give skiers higher mountain access – the report makes recommendations for building new chairlifts to snow at greater elevation on Scottish mountains, too.

Still, with the recent dusting of snow in the four Scottish resorts there will be hopes that this year’s skiing season will be just as good as the previous two. Do you have your skis at the ready?

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Skiing in Australia can be simply the best!

But then came August – and one of the warmest Augusts on record. By the end of the month many of Australia’s major resorts were forced to close due to lack of snow, or else slash prices for those who wanted to make the most of thinning snow on tussocky slopes.

In some resorts temperatures stayed higher than average throughout the whole season, and right through June, July and August. In New South Wales, for example, there was a greater than average reliance on snow machines for some “reasonable” snow conditions.

Meanwhile, in New Zealand the Kiwis were experiencing a different deal on the ski slopes. In the middle of August a huge snow storm dumped masses of the white stuff on New Zealand and people where even seen skiing on the beach in Christchurch.

Much like Scotland’s skiing story, when the snow comes and the skies are clear, it’s difficult to think of a better place to be, especially if you’re a resident of the country.

Many skiers and snowboarders will tell you that they have experienced some of the “best days ever” on the slopes, simply because they have been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

For many people, this is half the joy. Yes, there are countries across the world that offer more guaranteed skiing conditions, but when the snow is perfect in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Scotland there is a huge whoop of joy from skiing staycationers.

As one keen Scottish snowboarder remarked: “If you are lucky enough to be on the slopes on a day when there’s a fresh dump of snow and bright blue skies, you just revel in the sheer magnificence of your good fortune. I always feel so smug to know I can ski just an hour or so from my own home and surrounded by fabulous Scottish scenery.”

The days of fantastic skiing in Australia, New Zealand and Scotland stay in your memory for years to come. Just like the one metre dump of fluffy white stuff that came at the beginning of August last year in Australia. And the latest dumping in New Zealand.

These are the days that skiers and snowboarders dream of! Tell us about your best day of skiing…

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The higher Alpine resorts, and resorts where both summer and winter outdoor activities are most popular, are seeing the greatest demand from property buyers. According to the report from leading property agents Knight Frank there are also pockets of sales surges in some of the tradit0onally favoured ski resorts.

French ski resorts on the up

While prices are still up to 6% below the 2008 sales levels, in some resorts, such as Megeve in France, there has been a stronger-than-average property market recovery with a 4.3% growth in the year to June 2011.

It’s thought that the recovery of housing prices in the French Alps can be attributed to a number of reasons, including the fact that many French ski resorts are located at high altitude, which means they have had more reliable snowfall on average in recent years.

A raft of improvements at French resorts, including improved snow cannons and chairlifts, has also seen positive property sales increases.

Ski property hotspots

And while the traditional favourites of Courchevel, Megève and Val d’Isere continue to lead the sales market, there are pockets within these resorts that are well worth checking out if you’re thinking of buying a ski property. Top tips Courchevel 1850, Mont d’Arbois in Megève, and the Belvedere and Routes des Chalets/Le Reynard in Méribel.

If you have the budget, now might be the time to make an investment in a ski property of your own, or to rent out.

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On the other side of the world the USA provides a huge attraction when it comes to skiing, and although it’s a long way for us Brits to go, the money you could save by going in the Spring might be more than you first anticipated.

The most enlightened alpine skiers in the world have some of the most tanned faces, and that’s because they know the best time of year to hit the slopes isn’t in the dead of winter, but rather when most Americans are turning their attention towards baseball, the super bowl and spring break beaches. There are more than a few resorts where spring skiing means good powder, sunny skies and reduced prices.

Last year nearly 70 inches of snow fell at Grand Targhee (Alta, Wyoming) between March 31 and April 7, including 21 inches from one storm on April 2. The late season lift lines were thin, the cost of skiing and lodging relatively low, and the powder was more than waist deep in some places.

These are the types of days ski instructor Mark Hanson dreamed of when he left behind a traditional office job and headed for the Rockies with his wife some two decades ago.

“The days are longer, brighter, warmer, and there’s generally more accumulation than any point in the season,” Hanson said. “The snow is still adding until sometime in April, so chances are very good you’ll have either powder or sunshine and maybe both, and who doesn’t love that?”

Those who decided to embark on a trip from March and through mid-April got considerably more for their money and conditions which almost matched the more `popular` time frames over December and January.

Meanwhile, those who took a day off from the slopes to cruise the shops found enormous discounts, particularly on clearance items such as parkas or other ski apparel and accessories that were bound to get good use for many ski seasons to come.

At higher elevations in spring, it’s common for temperatures to get cold enough overnight to bring fresh snow, and for days to warm up comfortably when the sun comes out. The heaviest outer layers of ski clothes often are no longer required. Sunglasses might replace goggles and sunscreen is often required, particularly with the intensity of the sun at high altitude, combined with the reflection of sun rays off the snow.

An added bonus of skiing during Spring is that the prices of flights and car rentals drop massively, thus enabling you to have a cheaper holiday, and at the same time enjoy the sun and bright conditions which very rarely come along in December and January where the slopes are often packed with tourists and enthusiasts.

Large amounts of snow tend to fall at the back end of the year and at the start of the following one, which is why people understandably think this is the best time to book a trip.

In the states, ski areas respond by fighting amongst themselves to get a few ribbons of man made snow down in time for Thanksgiving, when people start thinking about winter sports, but those same resorts have trouble justifying staying open into April when snow coverage is often superb.

“It doesn’t really match up with the quality of our experience or our product,” Hanson said. “It seems like once March is ending, people get out of winter mode, start riding bikes, playing golf and watching baseball.”

The true ski enthusiasts, however, know that the best days of the season might be still be ahead. Trips are still readily available, and in certain parts of the world snow is still falling so you still have opportunity for a skiing holiday if you’ve been delaying one since the festive holidays.

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But does size really matter, or are there other things you should think about? Caroline Deacon looks beyond the hype, and gives some pointers to choosing the ideal resort.

Many of today’s ski areas evolved from simple beginnings. When downhill skiing was in its infancy, ‘resorts’ were no more than rope tows installed on unused summer pastures by an entrepreneurial farmer. When I started skiing in what is one of today’s giants, St Anton in Austria, I was taught by farmers who were just “filling in” the winter months for extra cash.

There were lifts, but we had to buy different books of tickets for each section of the mountain as they were independently operated.

The concept of the huge, integrated ski area really began when economically unproductive north facing slopes in regions like the Tarentaise in France were turned almost overnight into vast ski playgrounds, designed around the mountain terrain, independent of existing communities. Lift companies in rural villages like St Anton responded to these developments by banding together to create bigger areas, and thus the giant ski area was born.

So, in choosing your destination, bear in mind that many purpose built French resorts may offer convenient, doorstep skiing, but accommodation will be in massive apartment blocks rather than in traditional, community run hotels. You can ski your socks off, but won’t get much sense of a holiday abroad. The Austrian alternative can be more traditional – you can find farm house B&Bs, family run hotels, charming pubs etc., but you might have to hike to the slopes.

Not all big ski areas are actually skiable. Neighbouring villages banding together may make sense economically, but unless they have invested in good cross tow links, it can fail to work geographically.  A good indication to this sort of set up is if you read the words “ski bus”. Do you want to clamber on and off a bus in ski gear to get to different parts of the resort?  If there are inter resort links, there should be lots of them, to avoid hours of queuing.  Height is another important factor in making an area workable. How many of those hundreds of miles of pistes will actually be open? Early in the season when the big dumps are happening, you could find links between resorts closed; late in the season and the lower runs might have run out of snow. Make sure you are in the resort with lots of interesting skiing for its own sake in case vital links are closed.

One thing is for certain, though, wherever you go, you can expect to pay more in a large ski area, not only for lift passes but also for hotels, restaurants, shops  – everything. There should be a new Law of Economics, “the price of a cup of coffee will increase directly in proportion to the number of ski lifts available”. Before you sign up for miles of pistes and an empty wallet, you should ask yourself whether your standard of skiing merits it. If you are a beginner, or an early intermediate (i.e. less than four weeks skiing experience) it almost certainly doesn’t. Go for a smaller, less well-known resort, and hopefully you won’t find such inflated prices.

Also consider the needs of other party members – especially if there are non-skiers or children. Are you planning to meet up each day for lunch? Have you got to get back to meet ski schools? Then more than one hundred kilometres of piste are a waste – you won’t be able to cover them in a holiday broken up into half-day excursions.

The other problem with huge areas is that the powder gets skied out almost as soon as it falls, whereas the smaller, less known resorts, attracting smaller crowds, can hang onto virgin snow for much longer.

Above all, don’t be tempted by the hype. You can have a brilliant time skiing in the smallest of resorts if conditions are right. Choose wisely and you’ll choose well.

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The snow in the UK may have dried up since the turn of the year, but that’s no reason to abandon thoughts of an early skiing venture in 2011, and Simply piste has put together a comprehensive weather report on where the snow is and where you can expect an enjoyable, and above all white, skiing trip.

If you’re intent on staying close to home then Scotland is still enjoying some colder conditions but there isn’t enough snow to trouble the weather men and without any reported heavy snow in the past few days there may not be enough for a decent run. Conditions are still cold though so within the next week there may be time to get a few days in before   it begins to dry up completely.

According to snow-forecast.com it’s Italy that are likely to have the whitest weekend (22nd-23rd Jan) with between 65-70cm of snow due to fall before dawn on Sunday. Ussita is the resort reported to be receiving the most snow, so if you are a fan of Italy then in the short term it is likely to be the best place to go for a weekend trip, although if you’ve perhaps visited the resort already and looking for a change then Sarnano Sassotetto is further up the road and due a similar amount in the coming days.

If you fancy making a trip of it and would like to go somewhere a bit different then Macedonian resort Popova Sapka is reportedly getting 67cm of snow in the next few days and with it having 1400m of vertical descent there’s certainly no shortage of space.

Currently most of the European pistes are icy which provide precarious skiing conditions. However snow is predicted imminently (as I type that I’m reading on Twitter that snow has just started falling in the Alps) which would massively improve the chances of some top quality skiing.

Austria is also starting to enioy more snow after a quiet period of late, and they’re expecting more snow before the weekend and indeed during it which would make it an ideal spot for a short trip. Be sure to make it short though as the sun is due to shine early on Monday.

However the places to be are seemingly the US and Scandinavia. Colorado in particular has received a lot of snow in the last 48 hours, and the signs are that its unlikely to let up until early next week. Norway has received the most snow in 2011 to date with a reported two metres having fallen since the 1st of January, which to put into perspective is nearly double the amount of anywhere in the Alps during the same time period. Val D’Iseres ironically is still enjoying a generous amount, although the forecast does suggest it will begin to die out during the middle of next week.

Just across the border from Norway is Sweden where they have also enjoyed happy skiing conditions, with even more snow expected within the next seven days. It might be a bit of a journey but with the amount of snow due to fall its likely to be worth the trip!

Of course the weather is changing constantly and over the weekend new patterns will emerge which may mean resorts in other countries suddenly get their fair share of snow, but for the time being the place to be is in the States, the Alps or in Scandinavia where the white stuff continues to fall.

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Being such a popular myth the Yeti has popped up lots of films over the years, here are 10 that we found:

1. Harry and the Hendersons – 1987 On returning from a family hunting trip the henderson’s hit a mysterous animal which they fear to be a man, it turns out to  be a Yeti… the story unfolds from there. ‘Harry’ the Yeti is played amazingly by Kevin Peter Hall who also played the alien hunter in both “Predator” movies.
2. Monsters Inc – 2001 The Yeti appeared in Monsters Inc living in a cave on a mountain side in the human world after the two main charectors Sully and Mike are banished there. The Yeti also appears during the end credits of Cars as a snowplow when Mack is at the drive-in movie theater. Performer:  John Ratzenberger
3. Star Wars V – The Empire Strikes Back – 1980 The shooting script of Empire included a wampa sub-plot that was ultimately edited out of the final film due to difficulties in shooting the creature. The Rebel’s Echo Base was to be the victim of chronic wampa attacks, wherein sections of the ice caverns were infiltrated by wampas attracted to the tootling of R2-D2 and his fellow astromech droids
4. Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon – 2008 The opening scene of the movie the screen states “Himalayas”, and that the elevation is 19,000 feet. However, there should be no trees at this elevation. The tree line for vegetation is 14,800 max for this region of the world.
5. Yeti: A Love Story – 2006 Five college students go on a camping trip that leads them to a horrible secret. With no way home after the brutal murder of one of their friends, the group must battle an evil cult and a ravenous gay yeti. But the yeti might not be so bad after all… During the campfire scene and subsequent peeing scene, Adam Malamut is really drunk and actually peeing.
6. A Goofy Movie  – 1996 Goofy takes Max fishing and performs the Perfect Cast fishing technique, which ultimately lures the legendary Yeti (Frank Welker) to their camp. Seeing the approaching Bigfoot, Pete and PJ flee, leaving the two to spend the night with Bigfoot.
7. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor– 2008 In the Far East, Alex O’Connell, the son of famed mummy fighters Rick and Evy O’Connell, unearths the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin — a shape-shifting entity cursed by a witch centuries ago. The Yeti in this story are summoned by Lin one of the key charectors to help fight hte mad Emporor Qin.
8. Dr Who – TV – The Abominable Snowmen The TARDIS lands in the Himalayas. For once The Doctor has landed near his intended destination, a Tibetan monestary. The Yeti features highly in the mostly lost first series of Dr Who.
9. The Abominable Snowman – 1957 Scientist John Rollason with his wife Helen (Peter Cushing & Maureen Connell) & Dr. Tom Friend (Forrest Tucker) ignore warnings of the High Lama (Arnold Marle) & set out to find a Yeti.
10. To Catch a Yeti – 1995 Bob Keen’s made-for-tv comedy To Catch a Yeti (1995) stars rock singer Meat Loaf as a big game hunter who heads to the Himilayas to hunt a Yeti, but ends up sooner than expected tracking one that got loose in Manhattan.

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One form of challenge is surely any piste that just goes on and on and on till your legs turn to jelly. Two resorts lay claim to having the longest black run in the world: Alpe d’Huez near Grenoble and Les Arcs in the Tarantaise (nearest airport Chambery).

The Sarenne in Alpe D’Heuz is a lovely 16 km run. It starts at Pic Blanc, 3,330m above sea level. The first, fairly short part is on a mildly demanding piste, and then the track disappears away from lifts, over the back of the mountain into an undeveloped valley before returning on a long scenic path to the main resort (1860m). The run is worth doing simply for the length and for the sense of being well away from the crowds, but we would hesitate to label it challenging overall. The other problem with is that snow conditions often close the run off. A shame to go all that way and not be able to access the best run of the resort all week, although Alpe D’Heuz does have plenty of fairly interesting skiing, and is a good all round family resort. Aim for mid season for the best chance of skiing the Sarenne.

Les Arcs’ claim for the record book starts at 3226m Aiguille Rouge ending in Villaroger at 1200m, and although only 7 km, it has a longer vertical descent than the Sarenne, and is certainly more challenging. The top half is steep and exposed, and can develop some pretty intense moguls. Snow cover usually lasts fairly well, and even when thaw has set in, you can still ski the top half of the run and feel you’ve worked hard. And of course Les Arcs is now linked to La Plagne to form the immense Paradiski area with plenty of other challenging skiing, including the 70o flying K, where competitors reach speeds of up to 250 km per hour. You can book a timed trial on this slope, conditions permitting. Our suggestion is to stay in Arc 2000 if you want the quickest access to the most challenging skiing the area has to offer, and to catch any virgin powder. The most challenging piste in Europe is probably the Wall in Avoriaz underneath the Chavanette chair. Though short, the top in particular is intense, and just standing looking down the 55 degree slope, trying to see the lee of the huge moguls, puts many people off – the down chair is always busy! Avoriaz itself is at the heart of the Portes du Soleil, an immense area, and an interesting challenge can be trying to ski as far as you can in one day without missing the connections home (or face a very expensive taxi ride.).

If you do choose Portes du Soleil you could also just about squeeze in a day trip to Chamonix (about 1 ½ hours drive away) and experience one of the most awesome runs available in Europe – the Vallee Blanche, Mont Blanc’s glacier. Approx 20km long, it starts at the Aiguille du midi (3812m) and finishes 2800m lower at Montenvers train station. Entirely off piste, you cannot ski this without a mountain guide due to the danger posed by crevasses. Skiing is of a mild blue run sort – the scariest part of the day is walking out of the cable car at the top –  but the scenery is out of this world, and the experience of skiing across this immense glacier, miles from lifts or any signs of civilisation, has to be experienced. The glacier is not always open; best times of year are probably mid season, late Feb through March. And if that gets your appetite going, Argentiere, higher up the valley, has some pretty challenging itineraries – almost back country but not quite..

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The list includes some of the country’s best ski locations that provide travellers with a wide range of holiday rental choices.

For holidaymakers looking to spend more than a week at a resort, rental homes offer the ideal accommodation. They can sometimes be much cheaper than hotels if one home is shared by a group of four or more people. They can also provide the comforts of a home.

Some rental homes even have well-equipped kitchens, spacious living rooms, a number of bedrooms and fireplaces.

Hank Hudepohl, director of vacation rentals, TripAdvisor, said. “During the winter ski season, vacation rentals really shine due to their great value and the extra space they provide to guests.

“After a long day on the slopes, travellers can make dinner in fully stocked kitchens and warm up around the fireplace with friends and family. At these top ski destinations, travellers can expect to have a blast without giving up any of the comforts of home.”

The top 10 ski rental home destinations in America, according to TripAdvisor are: 1. Mammoth Lakes, California, 2. Lake Tahoe, California/Nevada, 3. Breckenridge, Colorado, 4. Big Bear Lake, California, 5. Park City, Utah, 6. Killington, Vermont, 7. Taos, New Mexico, 8. Winter Park, Colorado, 9. Vail, Colorado, 10. Jackson Hole, Wyoming

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