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Posted on Wednesday, 11 February 2009 |
 It's not just the financial climate that has been rocked by heavy weather all across Europe we are seeing dramatic winter scenes unfold on our TV screens with record snowfalls across Europe and some of the worst weather in decades hitting the streets of Ireland and the UK. Typical, you might think, global finances are in melt down and the world is freezing, energy prices are up, temperatures are down nothing for it but to batten down your hatches, bury your head in the duvet and ride out the literal and actual storm.
...Or...you skip to the closet under the stairs, haul out your ski gear and exhale 'Fresh Powder!' before hopping in the first taxi to the airport. It seems that it is impossible to keep a good skier down or indeed away as travel companies across the UK report that bookings to European ski stations are up on last year, more than 18% up on last year. These reports are substantiated by Alpine ski resorts with the tourist board for Val d'Isere confirming that December and January visitor numbers were slightly up on last year.
No matter that the pound has crashed to near parity with the Euro, no matter that we are facing the worst recession since the 1920's there's fresh powder on the slopes and lots of it with regular skiers claiming that these are the best weather and skiing conditions that have been seen in the last 20 years.
It wasn't long ago that experts were predicting the end for most of Europe's 600 or more ski resorts following a few bad years of poor snowfall when barely a few centimetres of snow powdered the slopes and the best you could hope for was that the grass poking through the white would be slippery. It was expected that more than three quarters of the resorts would be facing closure. Add to this the recent global financial woes and the ski season was looking to be about as gloomy as it could possibly be and then mother nature intervened.
Dropping more than a metre of snow in 24 hours on the French, Swiss and Italian Alps she has dazzled us with beauty and possibility just the lift that was needed to prompt 1.3 million British skiers to take to the slopes. With legendary conditions the ski resorts across the Alps are in tip top condition and operating at full capacity.
The belts may be a little tightened with people opting for a packed lunch over a languid one in one of the peak high restaurants but this years perfect conditions are just too good an opportunity to miss. Although avalanche warnings are running high and last weekend saw holiday makers trapped in Isola 2000 in France by heavy snowfalls the risks are far outweighed by pristine snow and magical off off piste for the experts.
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