The latest information appears to predict a “La Nina” and positive “North Atlantic Oscillation” (NAO+) which would forecast a colder than normal start to the season (which is great for freezing the ground so the first snowfall sticks) followed by a mild, wet winter which normally brings abundant snow to the higher ski resorts, such as Chamonix, Val d’Isere, Tignes.

Last season was an El Nino and NAO- which resulted in the coldest UK winter in 30 years with 7 consecutive days where the temperature did not exceed zero degrees celsius.

Post-1950 years with La Nina and NAO+ are in green. Source: pistehors.com Red line shows 5th order polynomial trend line

Comments Craig Norwood, Managing Director of Ski Power:  “There is never a quiet ski resort over half-term, but following the recent snow storms bookings have rocketed and this year things are set to be particularly busy with accommodation fast running out.  The rate at which half-term bookings have been coming in over the last week has been amazing, and we’ve broken all weekly booking records.  The snow fall seems to have inspired families to head out to the Alps this February.”

Ski Europe Online, the specialist European ski travel agency, has been inundated with calls from families and couples who have been enjoying the snow and then decided to book a ski holiday. Comments Sammi Nisbet, Managing Director of Ski Europe Online: “The UK snow has been a life saver for the ski industry.  Non-discounted sales for holidays during the Christmas week were at an all time industry low this year, so the blizzards that have swept the UK and the continent, and thus inspired bookings, have been a welcome relief.  Year-on- year, this week’s bookings are up by over 150%.”

So while the rest of the UK has probably seen enough of the snow now, no doubt the ski industry will be willing it to continue as long as possible!

Deals from Ski Power and Ski Europe Online

Hotel Gelinotte

Ski Power still has a number of chalets available for bookings over the half-term week, including its brand new chalet hotel in ValD’Isere, The Hotel Gelinotte. Nestled in pine trees and just a few minutes’ walk from the centre of Val D’Isere, the hotel was completely renovated prior to the start of the ski season.  With views overlooking the town centre, the chalet-hotel is ideal for those looking to get away for a relaxing break (facilities include a sauna). Further details of the hotel and other special offers can be seen at www.skipower.co.uk.

Ski Europe Online still has plenty of availability over the remainder of the season at over 350 chalets and hotel across 79 resorts throughout France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Andorra, Spain, Slovenia, Lapland and Scotland.  Here’s one good deal for you;

Reduced by 50% a week’s stay, departing 6 March, at the five-bedroom Chalet Inoko (sleeps 12) in Val D’Isere now costs just £330 per person (was £659) – a saving of £329 pp.  Val D’Isere (France), considered by some to be the World’s premier resort, offers some of the best skiing and boarding in the Alps along with vibrant après ski. Prices are based on two adults sharing include flights (departing Gatwick), transfers and seven nights’ chalet board accommodation. Visit www.skieuropeonline.co.uk for further information on Ski Europe deals.

This got me thinking about snow forecasts in ski resorts around the world. How many times have you looked at the official forecast before you left the UK and seen snow forecast that when you get to resort just never materialises. This happened to us in the week before Christmas in the Three Valleys, Snow was forecast for the whole week whilst we were there, but apart from a dusting on the night before our arrival it was clear blue skies for 5 out of 7 of the ski days. Of course the inaccurate snow that was forecast could well be due to the fact that long term forecasting still isn’t an accurate science. But maybe, and maybe I’m being cynical, some is due to over exaggeration by the ski resorts themselves.

Although I haven’t been able to do any studies myself on my assumption a clever fellow, John Zinman, in the US has done some research on this exact subject. They conclude in their study that US ski resorts do inflate snow levels but that this is now being affected by the use of iphones allowing people in resorts to update snow falls as they happen and thus “out” all the incorrect reports.

Zinman’s report suggest that US resorts on average forecast 23 percent more snowfall on weekends, of course this is extremely unlikely to be true, unless the weather knows when the weekend is! There is some evidence that those resorts that benefit greater from local weekend skiiers exaggerate their snowfall more than those that rely more on week long visitors. They then go on to report that new iphone applications are now reducing the levels of exaggerations in resorts that have good iphone reception. Obviously resorts have realised that they will no longer get away with greatly exaggerating snow fall, as those on the ground with access to the internet through their phones will very quickly pick up on it. Zinman’s full report can be found here .

Access to twitter and blogging accounts will no doubt even further dissuade ski resorts to release inaccurate exaggerated snow reports, these days if I really want to know what’s happening in resort I put out a quick tweet and I get a response back saying what the weather is doing there and then!

This report was based on US resorts only, however I imagine it could be applied to European resorts also. So basically the advice before you go is, don’t believe everything you read from the ski resorts snow forecasts and look to blogs and twitter reports for on the ground snow reporting.

Following on from the success of Pierre & Vacances’ popular ‘sunshine guarantee’ insurance policy this summer, the European accommodation specialist is now offering a ‘snow guarantee’ on all winter ski holidays. The ski insurance policy allows holidaymakers the option of cancelling their ski holiday free of charge if snow weather conditions in resort are insufficient.

Cancellation applies if a lack or excess of snow entails the closure of over two thirds of the ski lifts normally in service, for a minimum of two consecutive days. A refund can be claimed within the five days preceding the departure date. The insurance policy is being offered in association with Europ Assistance, to offer a full refund on Pierre & Vacances ski holidays booked between the 19th December 2009 and the 10th April 2010. The policy, starting from €30 per booking, is applicable to all ski holidays booked at ‘Pierre & Vacances’ or ‘Maeva’ branded properties this winter.

The ‘Snow Guarantee’ is just another reason to book your winter ski holiday with Pierre & Vacances, as the company has also recently extended its ‘Eurobuster’ deal to offer at least 15 per cent off all ski holidays on all dates throughout the winter, including Christmas, New Year and the school half term holidays. The deal can also be combined with any other Pierre & Vacances offer currently available to lead to savings of up to 32 percent.For more information and to take advantage of the offer, please visit:

The ‘snow guarantee’ comes hot on the heels of the summer ‘sunshine guarantee’ which offered to reimburse sun lovers if their holiday to France was interrupted by more than four days of rain in one week.

For more information and further terms and conditions for the Snow Guarantee, please visit: http://www.pv-holidays.com/hu_ski_services_snow_guarantee.php

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pdioe7e4AU

When the ski train tickets to France are available to buy online is one of the most popular questions at the moment. Well basically Rail Europe are going to release the ski train tickets to France on 14th October for all sk trains up until 14th January. After that you can book your ski train tickets 3 months before your travel date.

Click here to book your ski train tickets online.

Being a lesser known resort has lots of advantages, no queues, cheaper lift passes, deserted slopes and hardly any Brits! For those of you that want to go out partying every night it’s probably not the place to go but if you want great skiing without the crowds in a friendly resort then you should really give it a go.

We went with Crystal and stayed at the Chalet Vannoir, a lovely catered chalet about 5 minutes walk from the slopes and the bars.

http://www.snow-forecast.com
By far the most comprehensive snow forecast site available. Subscription service where you can access a bounty of information, including historical reports and weather maps. A six day report is available for free.

http://www.bbc.co.uk
If you’re used to the BBC’s weather forecasting then this is the one for you but cannot compete with snow-forecast for number of resorts.

http://www.weather.co.uk
Not ideal but does have a good long range forecast.

http://www.skiclub.co.uk
On the ground reports from ski club reps.

http://france.meteofrance.com/france/montagne
Only good if you’re skiing in France, but very good with nice graphics!!

I tend to use a mixture of all these sites often opting for the site which gives me the forecast I want to hear!!