With 7 days still remaining this month, Whistler has already surpassed the record for November snowfall, as more than 430cm (172 inches) of white gold slammed the mountains by Thursday afternoon. The previous record, set in 2006, was 416cm (164 inches). So why not see the Host City and Host Mountain Resort before the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games?

Both Vancouver and Whistler are offering accommodation packages to entice visitors to experience both host destinations now — prior to the start of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, which begin on February 12, 2010.

New research from leading travel insurance provider InsureandGo reveals that skiers and snowboarders can save around 40 per cent on their ski holidays by heading to Bulgaria’s top resort rather than a typical resort in the French Alps this winter.

As the Metro Ski and Snowboard Show at London’s Olympia turns our attention to the forthcoming ski season, InsureandGo, which is appearing at the show, is predicting a big increase in Eastern European winter holidays this season.

TUI’s ski boss is anticipating a good upcoming season after seeing heavy snowfall in the Alps.

Pistes have already opened to the public in Austria after up to a metre of snow fell on six glacier ski areas last week, while snowstorms have also been reported in France, Italy and Switzerland.

This year’s first proper Alpine snow comes in the same week as last year, which saw the best skiing conditions in Europe in more than 20 years.

Apart from the skiers who found tour operators queuing up to offer them cut-price holidays, there can’t be many people who look back fondly on last winter, especially among those in the ski business. But Oskar Hinteregger, the outgoing head of the Austrian National Tourist Office in London, could well do so. True, the number of British skiers who went to Austria fell sharply in the 2008/9 season; but the numbers heading elsewhere declined even more, in percentage terms.

For almost a quarter of a century the rise of France as the destination of choice for UK skiers has been inexorable. And why not? It is close at hand, and it has excellent snow-sure, high-altitude terrain in what are the largest lift-linked ski areas in the world. But very recently France’s market has lost its momentum; and Austria, our favourite place to ski until France took over in the 1980s, is making a comeback.

People researching cheap ski flights may agree with an expert who suggested France will remain the top destination for UK skiers.

Betony Garner, a spokesperson for the Ski Club of Great Britain, said France remains the most popular with travellers, despite the rival appeal of Italy and Austria.

She said: “Over 40 per cent of the market still travels to France — it is always a favourite with Brits so I don’t see them getting knocked off the top spot yet.”

Vail Resorts Inc. reported Thursday a 52 percent drop in fiscal 2009 net income as the weak economy hurt tourism spending.

The ski-resort operator reported net income of $48.95 million, or $1.34 a share, on revenue of $977 million, compared with 2008 net income of $102.9 million, or $2.67 a share, on revenue of $1.15 billion.

Despite the income drop, chief executive Rob Katz said Vail Resorts has weathered the recession better than other ski resorts in Colorado and Utah.

The outlook for skiing in 2009/10 is uncertain, for skiers and the ski business alike. Never, in recent memory, has a season marked by snow conditions as good as those last winter failed to deliver a feelgood effect to the next. That, in itself, is a cause of anxiety; so is the potential erosion of other familiar elements of the UK ski market.

For decades, ski-holiday companies have held fast to the same seed-and-yield principle that good snow in one year will deliver good sales for the following year.

After experiencing a drop in international tourists last winter, Alberta’s mountain resorts are banding together on an aggressive campaign to lure Europeans back to the slopes. Owners of the major Rocky Mountain ski resorts travelled to England in spring to meet with more than 40 top European tour operators, travel agents and travel wholesalers to help them design the most attractive vacation packages possible, said Crosbie Cotton, spokesman for the National Park Ski Area Association, which represents ski resorts in Banff and Jasper national parks.