Ski resorts open early thanks to snow downpours

The forthcoming ski season is set to be the best in recent years as a barrage of snow sees the slopes open early.

Leading resorts in Europe and the US opened up to a month earlier this season to make the most of the good snow conditions.

In Europe, the major French Alpine resorts of Tignes and Val Thorens are already open whilst across the border in Italy, Bormio and Cervinia have also started welcoming early skiers. Switzerland’s Zermatt and Austrian Saas Fees have also benefited from great downpours.

In the USA, Breckenbridge, Copper Mountain, Keystone, Killington and Mammoth are amongst the first resorts to have opened their pistes this year.

Canada’s Whistler Blackcomb opens this weekend whilst Banff opened on the weekend of 23rd November.

The early snowfall has seen lastminute.com’s ski bookings increase by 30 percent, with Austria leading the way as the best selling destination. 

lastminute.com sales director Andy Washington said: “It looks like this ski season is going to be fantastic for skiers. The early heavy snow downpours look set to continue. lastminute.com has some amazing packages from £169 per person including flights, so there is no excuse not to go skiing this season.”

Skiing more popular than ever despite credit crunch

lastminute.com experiences a record number of ski bookings for this winter season
 
The ski holiday appears to be immune to credit crunch with leading online travel and leisure retailer lastminute.com revealing a record number of people will be on the piste this winter.
 
lastminute.com’s ski bookings are up a whopping 68% on last year, with bookings being made from as early as May – a full five months before the ski booking seasons gets in to full swing.
 
Non-Euro zone destinations are really benefiting from the Pound's poor exchange rate with the Euro, with Bulgaria and Scandinavian resorts – particularly those in Norway – seeing large year on year bookings increases. 
 
lastminute.com puts the record number of bookings down to the importance skiers place on the hitting the slopes.
 
In many cases, the ski holiday is the event of the year for regular skiers. These holidays often involve large groups of friends and family and are usually planned way in advanced and talked about until the following year’s holiday.
 
Furthermore, lastminute.com believes more first time skiers are donning their salopettes as they look for a reason to escape fears of a recession in the UK.
 
Skiers may be refusing to give up their time on the slops despite the doom and gloom surrounding the economy. However, the credit crunch is having an impact on where people go skiing with better value destinations proving even more popular than ever before. 
 
Bookings for Bulgaria - the best value European ski destination - are up a massive 30% as skiers look to get more snow for their Pounds. Bulgaria is also benefiting from being outside the Euro-zone and the more advantageous exchange rate with the Bulgarian Lev.
 
Booking for ski breaks in the US have also increased by 40%.
 
Meanwhile, bookings to the St Anton resort in Austria have increased by an impressive 21%, while Tignes, Flaine and Chamonix in France all recording bookings increases.
 
lastminute.com Sales Director Andy Washington said: “Skiers value their time on the slopes so much they were never going to let the credit crunch stop them from enjoying the snow.
 
“Bulgaria and the US ski resorts are really benefiting from being outside the Euro zone as skiers look for the best value holidays. 
 
“lastminute.com is delighted to see ski bookings up by almost half with bookings starting from as early as May . Now the main ski booking season is underway we expect the level of bookings to continue.”