Global Ski Report: Multi-Mountain Passes and New Deals

After early snow but a dry autumn that caused some European resorts to delay their openings, reassuring heavy snows in late November and early December brought relief to European ski resorts as the Christmas-New Year peak season approaches. There are, of course, no guarantees. A sirocco (Föhn, in German) could blow in from North Africa and evaporate the Alps' white gold. But things are looking good at this writing, and the stage is set for a good winter in the Alps and also in the Pyrénées.

SkiEurope (tel. 800/755-1330 or 954-564-6722; www.ski-europe.com) offers well-priced ski packages this winter. Prices below are person, double occupancy for six or seven nights' accommodations with daily breakfast, transatlantic air, and airport/resort transfers. Additional costs include airport taxes, fuel surcharges, and lift pass. Because passes are not included, this package is ideal for couples, families or small groups where not everyone skis -- or at least does not want to ski every day. Super Ski Week prices are Innsbruck from $750; Interlaken from $1,029; Chamonix from $1,150; Cortina from $1,150; Garmisch from $1,198; Bansko from $1,250; Courmayeur from $1,298 and Zermatt from $1,350.

With a new six-place chairlift replacing two slow, old chairs and a surface lift Samoëns (tel. +33 (0) 4 50 34 40 28; www.samoens.com/anglais/) unclogs a major bottleneck in Le Grand Massif region, whose best-known resort is Flaine. The Chariande Express takes just nine minutes from Saix Plateau at 1,600 meters to the Tê ;te des Saix at 2,120 meters) compared with 25 minutes prior.

Austrian Alps Add Eight-Place Chairlifts

Austrian resorts have been in a frenzy of adding high-capacity chairlifts, reportedly at a cost of €60 million. To anyone unfamiliar with these resorts, the locations are just so many hard-to-pronounce names, but to those who have skied there, it's all good news. In the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser region, Ellmau (tel. +43 (0) 50509; www.wilderkaiser.info/en/) has added Ellmi's 6er, a new detachable six-place chair with heated seating in the Schmiedalm sector. Also, in the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental area (tel. +43 (0) 5333 400 0; www.skiwelt.at/en/), the pokey old Kaserecklift has been retired for an eight-seat chairlift. In the process, the last single chairlift was removed. Will we see it in a ski museum? Promoting themselves as Ski Unlimited, three interlinked resorts have also upgraded their lifts. Saalbach (tel. +43 (0) 6582 70660; www.saalbach.com) has replaced the old Turm T-bar with a sixpack. In adjacent Hinterglemm, new eight-place Hasenauerköpfl has been added, and between them, Leogang (tel. +43 (0) 6583 8234; www.leogang-saalfelden.at) put in a quad to replace the Alm T-bar. And Pillersee has replaced the old Buchsteinwand T-bar with a new quad chairlift and also installing a small practice lift at the Schatzbergbahn mid-station in Wildschönau. Coming up next winter, but already anticipated, is a new eight-place transborder cable car, to be called the Winklmoosbahn, that will connect Reit im Winkl in Bavaria and the Steinplatte in Austria.

Innsbruck's Ultra-Flexible Super SkiPass

Whether the dollar is rising or falling, one of Europe's best values remains the Super SkiPass. It combines six overnights in Innsbruck (tel. +43 (0) 512 562000; www.ski-innsbruck.at), daily breakfast, ski bus and skiing at a choice of nine nearby areas in what is now called Olympia SkiWorld Innsbruck, plus St. Anton and Kitzbühel for €589 (less than $900 at the exchange rate at this writing).

DuVine's Divine Alpine Itinerary

While many tour operators have reduced or eliminated their Alpine itineraries. DuVine Adventures (tel. 617/776-4441; www.duvine.com) offers a new fully guided luxury at the end of the season. It is based in Villars sur Ollon with skiing in the Swiss, French, and Italian Alps. The package includes deluxe accommodation, most meals, professional skiing guides, gourmet food and skiing. Dates are Mar. 14-19, Mar. 21-26, Mar. 28-Apr. 2. The cost is $4,990 per person, double occupancy; single supplement, $995

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