As the small village of Cortina in Italy’s Ampezzo Valley is bathed in rosy pink light at sunset, it truly becomes magical. As evening falls, the passeggiata begins, and scores of locals and visitors fill the Corsa Italia on their evening promenade. You?re likely to see as many mink coats as you do skiwear; part of the fun of a winter vacation in this upscale resort is being seen.

The dramatic landscape surrounding the village of Cortina enchants visitors who come back year after year. The Dolomite Mountains are unique and beautiful. Steep stone walls and jagged peaks provide a backdrop different than any in Europe. In 1956, Cortina hosted the Winter Olympics, bringing world-wide attention to the resort.

Cortina has five ski areas connected by lifts or ski buses. There’s 140 kilometers (87 miles) of slopes with 101 downhill runs. Intermediate skiers have the advantage at Cortina with 62 percent of the trails designated for them. Thirty-three percent are beginner runs and five percent are for experts. Experts, though, will find challenging runs on Tofana, and over 100 advanced runs in the surrounding Dolomiti Superski Region. Cortina is one of twelve ski areas that make up the Dolomiti Superski Region. This vast ski region opens up 1,220 kilometers (762 miles) of trails to skiers of all skill levels. And better yet, all of these areas are included in one Dolomiti Superski lift pass.

If you are interested in ski tours there are several good ones to choose from. The Olimpia Skitour takes you down the trails used by the 1956 Winter Olympians including Pista Olimpia and Pista Vitelli, used for the downhill and slalom races. The Sella Ronda Skitour is the longest in the Dolomites at 26 kilometers (16 miles). This tour takes you through the Falzarego, Gardena, Sella, Pordoi and Campolongo passes. A very unique ski tour is the First World War Tour taking you along the Dolomites on a trail that shows you remnants of World War I, including emplacements, loopholes, and tunnels where soldiers on both sides endured freezing temperatures. This tour through history takes about seven to eight hours.

Snowboarders are welcomed on all of Cortina’s slopes and there’s a funpark with a half-pipe, as well. Beginning snowboarders find the resort a great place for learning with wide, gentle slopes. Seventy-three miles of trails are dedicated for cross-country skiers. Every year the resort hosts the Dobbiaco-Cortina race on a 30-kilometer (19-mile) track.

Cortina offers some of the best ski schools in Italy. More than 250 instructors work in the resort area and classes range from basic skiing and telemark skiing to carving and snowboarding. Some of these instructors are qualified to teach disabled skiers, as well. Lessons are available for both groups and individuals. The Alpine Guides offer assistance with off-trail skiing for the more adventurous.

Cortina has much more to offer than just skiing. In fact, some visitors come for the dining, shopping, and the aprés-ski and never even hit the slopes. Non-skiers find adventure speeding down the Olympic bob-sleigh run (with the help of a trained driver), snow rafting down the Olympic ski jump, sledding, snowshoeing, riding a horse-drawn sleigh, or being whisked along on the snow by a team of sled dogs.

There are more than enough activities to keep you busy should you decide to take a break from winter sports. Shoppers delight in the Corso Italia’s designer boutiques. Shops offer everything from handmade wooden toys to the latest fashions and jewelry of Italian and international designers. Side trips to Venice and Salzburg are a fun option, also.

In the aprés-ski category, this upscale resort has earned its glamorous image. Cortina has an international atmosphere with party makers coming from near and far to join in what is some of the most spirited aprés-ski fun in the world. From discos and wine bars to pizza parlors and Bavarian-style pubs, Cortina celebrates the good life. The Enoteca wine bar alone serves over 700 different wines.

As you might expect, delicious Italian cuisine abounds in Cortina. Most of the area’s 80 restaurants serve traditional Italian cuisine but a few do offer international dishes. Many of the more popular restaurants are located a little bit away from the village. El Toul, one of the pricier favorites, is located in an attractive, remodeled barn on the edge of Cortina. Another fun choice is to stop for a meal at a rifugi, once a mountain refuge, but now just a great place to get a good meal right on the slopes.

Everyone should visit Cortina at least once. The combination of the area’s distinctive mountains, its vast array of slopes, and la dolce vita of Italy, makes a winter vacation in Cortina d’Ampezzo a special experience.

Snowfalls of up to a metre (over three feet) have been reported from ski resorts across Europe. More than 200 ski areas will be open this weekend.

The Pyrenees mountains dividing Spain and France, with Andorra sandwiched between, continue to receive their best snowfall for many years, the best since skiing began in the region according to some reports. Top snow depths have now reached 150cm (five feet) on upper slopes at most resorts.

There has been two days of continuous snowfall bringing from 30 to 80 cm (12 – 32 inches) of fresh powder in the Pyrenees. A new cold front is expected for the next few days bringing more huge snowfalls.

In Andorra both the principality’s ski areas GrandValira and VallNord are open.

To the north, the Alps are similarly blessed and have also seen some spectacular snowfall over the past week.

More resorts in France will open this weekend including Alpe d’Huez. In France 300 very lucky competition winners will enjoy exclusive use of the Espace Killy on Friday (November 28th) which links the resorts of Tignes and Val d’Isere. During the weekend there’ll be special new season gear testing to start the season at Val d’Isere, which has some of the deepest snow in the country waiting – two metres (nearly seven feet) on upper slopes.

Val Thorens, which opened last weekend, reported the biggest powder alert of the week yesterday when 75cm (30 inches) of snow was reported falling. Les 2 Alpes and Les Gets are amongst other major resorts opening this weekend.

Many of Italy’s leading resorts will be open this weekend, including Cortina d’ Ampezzo (10 – 70 cm), Madonna di Campiglio (10 – 45cm), Alta Badia (5 -25 cm) and Sestriere (60 -120 cm). Most have special deals on early season lift passes.

Italian resorts which are already open have some of the greatest snow depths in Europe on their upper slopes. For example the Presena glacier above Passo Tonale has 250cm (over eight feet) and Cervinia 220cm (over seven feet), the Monterosa region with Alagna and Gressoney has 180-200cm, or 6-7 feet. Some of the biggest falls reported over the past seven days were at
Abetone (70 cm/28 inches), Cervinia (55cm/22 inches) and Livigno (45 cm/18 inches).

In Switzerland and Austria up to a metre (over three feet) of snow fell over the weekend allowing more resorts to open, and those that have been open for a while already, to open more terrain.

Zermatt probably has the most piste open of any resort at present with over 160km (100 miles) of groomed piste.

Crans Montana, Champery and Leysin are amongst new Swiss openings due on Saturday 29th, along with Samnaun, which will stage the eighth annual Santa Claus World Championships and open its cross border Silvretta Pass link to Austria’s Ischgl, which also opens with a major pop music concert.

Several other leading Austrian ski area resorts are opening too, including the Arlberg region, again with deep snow waiting. The best snow depths are on Austria’s glaciers where Solden, Pitztal, Hintertux, Kaunertal and Molltal each have between 135cm (4 feety, 6 inches) and 150cm (5 feet) of snow on upper slopes. The biggest snow accumulation of the past week has however been at Wildschonau, with 80cm (2 feet, 8 inches), of fresh snow falling.

To the north many resorts in Germany have also already opened, once again with great early season snow. The Kleinwalsertal region has some of the best with a metre of snow (3.3 feet) on upper slopes. Balderschwang and Garmisch have similar totals and again there have been falls of up to a
metre of new snow on Germany’s mountains in the past week.

In North America most ski areas that can possibly open, are open, for the Thanksgiving Holidays. However the picture is mixed. New England and the East Coast have cold temperatures for snowmaking and have also had healthy snowfalls with up to a foot of fresh snow getting resorts in the region off to a great start to the winter. To the north Canadian resorts Mont Ste Anne
and Tremblant are amongst those open.

On the Western side of the continent the picture is less good in Colorado where warm temperatures have delayed some resorts opening and meant limited terrain at others. Mammoth in California, with over 1.2m (four feet) of snow on upper slopes is one of the best performers.

In Western Canada conditions are still good at Banff and Marmot Basin which opened early at the start of the month following heavy snowfalls. Sun Peaks has opened with Whistler due to open later today (Wednesday 26th November), a day earlier than planned.

Further huge snowfalls at the start of this week has brought fantastic early-season conditions to ski resorts across Europe.

Resorts in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Switzerland have reported falls of up to a metre (3.4 feet) in the past five days and more than 200 ski areas across the continent expect to be open this weekend.

The Pyrenees are having their best start to the season for many years with snow accumulations passing the two metres (6 feet, 8 inches) mark at several resorts – great news for Andorra as well as resorts on the French and Spanish sides of the range.

Zermatt has more than 160km (100 miles) of piste open, probably the most in Europe at present.

Espace Killy in France opens on Friday, which offers 300km (187 miles) of piste shared between Tignes and Val d’Isere. On opening day, 300 lucky winners of an online competition will have the area
to themselves.

In North America, Alberta in Canada continues to have the best of the snow at present.

New England has had nearly a foot (30cm) of fresh snow in time for the important US Thanksgiving holidays. In the West however warm temperatures have limited resorts opening.

Still more snow is expected across Europe over the next week.