At least a dozen ski areas in six countries have opened earlier than expected because of heavy snow, or consistent low temperatures to allow snow making, or a combination of both.

Austria saw the most of the heavy snowfalls in the latter half of last week with the glacier ski area of Tux claiming the biggest accumulated snowfall of an incredible 1.8 metres (six feet) over the past week on its posted snow report at www.skiinfo.co.uk , with the Molltal glacier not far behind with 1.4m (nearly five feet).

Although many regular Austrian resorts have reported up to two feet (60cm) of snow on their slopes, only one is reported to have started running their lifts early as a result: the Planai above Schladming had its earliest ever opening this weekend.

Cross-country skiers as well as those prepared to hike up hill have been taking advantage of the snow though, the Austrian biathlon team were reported to be enjoying training on two feet of new snow at Seefeld in Tirol.

In Scandinavia resorts have opened in Finland, Norway and Sweden thanks to now and cold weather. Ruka in Finland claimed to be the first non-glacier resort in Europe to open for ‘winter’ 2009-10 last Wednesday. A number of resorts in Norway and Sweden opened today (Saturday 17th October) including Funadalen, one of Sweden’s leading resorts.

Across the Atlantic at least five resorts have opened in the US on both East and west costs. Sunday River was the first to open on the East and Mammoth Mountain was the first of the big guns to open on the West, both offered free skiing on opening day. They join Loveland and Arapahoe Basin in Colorado and Donner Summit in California, which have been open a week now.

Elsewhere fresh snow has been reported in Japan, Canada and the Indian Himalayas.

In Scotland temperatures have been dipping below zero in the Highlands with precipitation expected over the next few days.

Meribel in the French 3 Valleys, the world’s largest ski area, has announced a number of improvements to its giant ski area for the coming winter.

The slow, fixed Golf chairlift will be transformed into a fast, detachable chairlift which will halve journey times. This will allow Meribel Village residents much quicker access to the Altiport area.

Once they reach the summit they will benefit from a newly laid out area offering much more space. The departure point for the Altiport draglift will be relocated uphill to the position of the current first pylon and the poles will be replaced with retractable ones for improved safety. The current building will also be relocated to the higher point.

In addition, as usual, a great deal of work has been carried out on the ski slopes during the summer.

On the Tougnète side, the bottom of the Faon piste has been reshaped, thus completing last summer’s work. The last bend at the bottom of the Lièvre will also be reworked so as to widen this piste at a point often found difficult by beginners.
The left hand side of the Moon Park will be made secure by the installation of netting.

On the Burgin side, snow canons will be installed on the Hulotte piste to guarantee Morel residents can ski back home. Technical improvements will also continue to be made to Meribel’s Chaudanne snow-making facility.

Finally Meribel’s overhaul of piste signs is continuing with the installation of fixed chicanes at points where pistes converge and the installation of directional banners. These banners were used on a trial basis during the past winter and received a favourable reaction from skiers and boarders.