Perfect December ski holidays at ski resorts around the world

After two months with less than two dozen ski areas open in the northern hemisphere, the past few days have seen the 2011-12 ski season really take off with the first non-glacier ski areas open following heavy snowfalls in North America and more ski areas opening in the Alps. Over the next month hundreds of ski resorts will open for winter 2011-12. With the opening of five centres in the US at the weekend it now has nine ski areas open, equalling Austria.