The British Ski and Board Show kicks off this today and runs until Sunday 1st November.

Amazing features include the return of the gravity defying Big Air Freestyle display team, sponsored by Italy’s Aosta Valley, featuring Olympic and World Champions on Europe’s largest indoor ski ramp.

On the Skills Slope, Ackers Adventure’s instructors will be giving free skiing and snowboarding lessons as well as organising toboggan runs while International instructors will demonstrate all aspects of skiing from the basics to making those tight turns on the new style indoor ski slope.

Greece handed the Olympic flame to Canada, hosts of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, on Thursday for the longest domestic torch relay ever ahead of the February 12 opening ceremony.

The peaceful handover ceremony in Athens’ Panathenian stadium, site of the first modern Olympics in 1896, concluded an eight-day torch relay in Greece.

High Priestess Maria Nafpliotou, an actress, and priestesses holding olive-tree branches performed a ritual surrounding the altar, after 18-year-old figure skater Niki Georgiadou brought the flame into the windy stadium.

Ski-cross deserves its Olympic status and will offer a spectacular show at next year’s Vancouver Games, says France’s Ophelie David, the exciting young sport’s undisputed queen.

Four skiers hurtle down a twisty, bumpy track shoulder-to-shoulder with winners of heats eventually progressing to the final.

The sport will be making its Olympic debut two years after its Summer Games equivalent, BMX or bicycle motocross, successfully did so in Beijing.

Our featured open European summer skiing destinations offered great early season riding on Thursday. This included the French glaciers which, despite having a thin snow base, benefitted from the recent cold weather and snowfall.

The glacier resorts with the best conditions in Europe this week are in Austria, Switzerland and Italy.

All of our reported Australian resorts are now closed for snowsports.