As the summer season continues on the glaciers of Austria, France, Switzerland and Italy, resorts which do not operate snowsports in the summer months are making full use of the time by making improvements ahead of the winter season.

In Austria’s Hochkönig ski area, a new cable car running between Hintermoos and Hinterthal will see the area fully lift-linked for the first time this winter, uniting all 150km of slopes in the area where there was previously a break in the circuit.

A new walking route at CairnGorm Mountain – “The Walk @ the Top” – will offer 140 hikers a day the chance to access the peak’s summit as part of a 6-month trial given the go-ahead by Scottish Natural Heritage and the Highland Council.

Running from 17 July until 31 October, the trail aims to give hikers the opportunity to experience the Cairngorm plateau; the most extensive area over 3000ft in the British Isles and one of Europe’s largest wilderness areas.

The 1984 Winter Olympic venue of Sarajevo which became a war zone in the 1990s during the Balkan conflict has at last seen an upgrade to its life network.

The ski area of Jahorina, which is located in the Republika Srpska sector of Bosnia Herzegovina has installed two new six-seater detachable chairlifts at a cost of 10 million Euros.

The two lifts, which each have uplift capacities of 3,000 people per hour serve the ski slopes between 1531 and 1885m and have comfortable padded seats as well as weather-protection canopies.