Snow report:Two seasons ago the draft obituary was submitted on the European ski industry: slopes were green, skies were blue and snowheads were sweating away, struggling to link strips of ice to put a decent run in. The chatter this year is that it's the best start in decades. Switzerland, Italy and France are all blanketed with snow, and resorts are opening early. Austria's lower meadow resorts are also gearing up for early openings. For up-to-date snow conditions, check your destination on www.skiclub.co.uk. Free detailed six-day forecasts are at www.snow-forecast.com. You can tune in to more than 4,000 webcams at www.snoweye.com.
Kitwatch
As helmets become common, recording your turns, views, spills and speed gets easier. Great Outdoors (Chatham Street, Dublin, 01-6794293, www.greatoutdoors.ie) has an Oregon Scientific ATC2K helmet-mountable waterproof video camera (above) for €199. This hands-free device should effortlessly capture your holiday memories. Watch a demo at www.atc2k.com
Resort of the week: Livigno, Italy
Describing Livigno as a cheap and cheerful intermediates' stronghold would be accurate, if maybe a little glib.
Euro for euro, you can't buy a better holiday on the Continent, and this Italian resort vies with the Ski Club of Ireland's dry slope, in Kilternan, Co Dublin, as the single location where most Irish learn to ski.
Boarders are well looked after, with a good proportion of chairlifts and an acclaimed snowpark.
The village's isolation gifted it a duty-free zone, introduced to encourage settlement, in the 1840s. Unfortunately, it also means that visitors must endure the longest airport transfer of any resort served by tour operators. They say four hours; we say more like six.
The resort is great for beginners and ideal for intermediates, but advanced skiers can get bored quickly.
Resort height1,816m.
Range1,800-2,800m.
Lifts33.
Total runs115km.
Longest runSix kilometres.
Best runMottolino, a meandering, long, soft blue run that perfectly complements an after-lunch mountaintop-to-village cruise. Sunny and pine lined, with views down the valley.
SnowparksOne.
Seasonlength Mid-December to early April.
Snow reliability****
Who goesLots of Irish, British and Dutch on week-long packages. More recently, middle-class self-drive Croats and Serbs. Low prices attract bigger families, the budget-conscious and younger first-timers.
ValueLivigno is the cheapest Alpine resort. Alcohol, tobacco and perfume are all duty-free. Lift passes and equipment hire cost about 50 per cent less than at nearby Swiss resorts. You can buy a great Italian meal and wine for €10. Keep an eye on last-minute apartment-sharing deals - sub-€400 offers aren't unusual for a week's self-catering.
Insider tipsKnown in Italy as Piccolo Tibet, Livigno can be bitter, and those January evenings are real face-burners. Best to avoid. Day trips to St Moritz are flogged in the town, but skip them and visit the nearby medieval spa town of Bormio (www.bormio.it) instead.
AirportsMilan and Bergamo.
Tour operatorsDirectski, Topflight, Panorama.
Special eventsThe town prepares one of the longest outdoor ice-karting circuits every winter. Livigno Ice Cup (www.ice-cup.it) will attract a strange breed of participant: snow-addicted go-karters. Watch this hybrid on January 24th and 25th.
5 for value
Bansko, Bulgaria.
Cairngorm, Scotland.
Soldeu, Andorra.
Livigno, Italy.
St Lary, France.
What's on
The planet's best film festival, the Sundance (www.sundance. org), is set for January 15th-25th in Park City, Utah. A 45-minute bus ride from Salt Lake City, Park City offers wood-lined deep-powder skiing during the day, with premieres of the best of the rest in filmworld at nightfall.
Tips
* Head up: look at where you want to go, not at the tips of your skis.
* Leave the heels at home: stubborn fashion adherence caused many Irishwomen's ankle injuries last season. Stick to Moon Boots or Snowjoggers - the locals do.
And finally
The Three Valleys resort, in France, has introduced a shrewd safety device for children on chairlifts. Backpacks with magnets ensure youngsters are safe, even unchaperoned, on the lifts. See www.magnestick.net.