After a late start to Alpine skiing, the stars are the Spanish Sierra Nevada (100cm of snow at altitude and 41km of skiable pistes), Norway (Hemsedal, 14-44cm) and Canada (where Banff and Jasper already have excellent skiing). Those who believe in folklore forecasts will take heart from a heavy autumn crop of alpine gentian, the so called harbinger of a cold and snowy winter.

In Austria, Lech (5-10cm), St. Anton (5-10cm) and Galtür (0-15cm) are scheduled to open this weekend. Ischgl (10-25cm) has 65km of skiable terrain accessible via 23 lifts, most of it artificial snow. Also good are glacial resorts such as Hintertux and Solden.

French Courchevel (0-6cm) and Méribel (0-20cm) will open tomorrow with limited snow. Isola (20-40cm) and Les Deux Alpes (0-80cm) have good skiing on upper pistes. Val d'Isère (10-60cm) and Val Thorens (20-40cm) are holding up well on packed snow cover.

Swiss Zermatt (0-145cm) offers an impressive 117km of skiable terrain to make it arguably the alpine leader this weekend. Andermatt (0-70cm) is not far behind. Italian Cervinia (0-130cm) is also looking good for the weekend.

It is cold and sunny in Colorado (US) where Beaver Creek (52cm) is now hosting the displaced Val d'Isère world cup events. Timberline (147cm) currently has the deepest US base. Canadian Banff (50-110cm) is ideal after 15cm of new snow. Scotland and the Alps expect sporadic light snow this weekend.