FRANCE A light dusting of snow fell at La Clusaz (20/270cm) on Wednesday 10th March. The resort has an impressive upper snow depth of nearly three metres so there is plenty of snow to ski off-piste. Even lower down the runs have a good covering of snow on them. All but one of their lifts was open on Thursday 11th March and with quiet slopes it is the perfect time to be skiing the area at the moment Les Deux Alpes (80/190cm) received a good dump of snow on Monday 8th March. 15cm of fresh powder on that day made for some excellent skiing both on and off piste on Tuesday 9th and some of this powder was still untracked on Thursday. Cold weather means that the snow is very well preserved and should remain this way for the weekend, so for anyone heading out there soon they don't need to worry about the snow conditions. On the other side of the country at Cauterets (30/270cm) there is good skiing as well. Snow fell earlier this week so the pistes are all in great condition, especially higher up. It snowed lightly on Thursday morning, 11th March, providing a dusting of fresh snow for visitors.

SWITZERLAND 15cm of fresh snow fell at Zermatt (22/132cm) on Wednesday 10th March. This greatly improved the skiing both on and off piste and the Ski Club rep in Zermatt at the moment said the snow is in amazing condition. Some of the best snow can be found in the more sheltered areas as it was fairly windy on Wednesday, but on the whole Zermatt has some great skiing at the moment.It was snowing at Adelboden (15/140cm) on Thursday 11th March. Around 10cm fell over the course of the day and with a sunny weekend ahead the prospects are great. Cold weather is helping to maintain the snow as well so it is in good condition right down to the bottom. Some of the best skiing at Saas Fee (85/228cm) at the moment is on the lower half of the mountain. Higher winds up at the top mean the snow is fairly hard packed but lower down it is much softer. As with everywhere at the moment the cold weather means the snow is good even down at the lowest levels.

ITALY Lots of snow fell in parts of Italy on Wednesday 10th March. The most of the fresh snow fell at Madonna di Campiglio (90/188cm), where 44cm landed on the slopes over the course of the day. This made for an awesome powder day and Thursday was every bit as good. As the temperature is well below freezing the quality of the snow is excellent even down at village level. The fresh snow should mean there is plenty of powder left off piste for the weekend. It also snowed 15cm at Cervinia (80/180cm) on Wednesday. The Ski Club rep in Cervinia said there was some excellent skiing both on and off piste thanks to the new snow. The best of the fresh snow was up high where the greatest amount fell but even down low, at Valtournenche, there was still plenty of it. The Milky Way resort of Sestriere (140/180cm) also has some great snow conditions. Lots of fresh snow fell recently over the area and all the links to the other resorts in the region are open. Fresh snow means on piste conditions are excellent and there is powder off piste.

ANDORRA Loads of snow fell in Andorra earlier this week, from the same storm that brought snow to places like Barcelona. It was very cold and snowy on Tuesday meaning some of the higher lifts were closed. Fortunately this weather has now cleared leaving lovely sunshine behind it.The Ski Club rep in Soldeu (90/130cm) says there is lots of powder off piste and the runs are in great condition too. The off-piste skiing is also still really good. Increasingly mild weather is forecast for the week ahead and it should be mostly sunny as well.

NORWAY/SWEDEN Oppdal (40/70cm) and Voss (55/75cm) are the only Norwegian resorts we feature that have reported any new snow this week. Voss received a light 1cm dusting on Monday 8th March while Oppdal reported a little more snow, 5cm, landing on Wednesday 10th March. Hemsedal (100/140cm) may not report any new snow but the resort does boast the deepest snow pack of our featured Scandinavian resorts. Oppdal (40/70cm) may not have reported any new snow so far this week either but the situation is set to significantly change over the next week. 78cm of new snow is forecast to land Saturday 20th March.In Sweden both of our reported resorts, Åre (70/84cm) and Sälen (75/83cm), have received fresh snow this week. Åre reported the heaviest snowfall of the two resorts with 8cm falling on Wednesday 10th March, while Sälen only received 1cm of snow on Thursday 11th. The coming week is predicted to be predominantly overcast in Norway and Sweden, with a chance of fresh snow falling. The heaviest snowfall is expected at Oppdal, with Åre sitting in second place with around 45cm of new snow forecast.

GERMANY The snow in Germany has improved a lot this week due to the colder weather that has moved in. Fresh snow at the beginning of the week and then again on Thursday means there is some good skiing available. A few centimetres of snow fell at Feldberg (105/125cm) on Thursday which freshened up their pistes. Over a metre of snow even at the base of the mountain is good for Feldberg at this time of year and should ensure some good skiing right into spring.

BULGARIA Conditions are now a lot better in Bulgaria, following a drop in temperature and fresh snowfall. Bansko (215/235cm) received the greatest amount of the fresh snow and they now have up to two and a half metres on the upper slopes. Much colder weather means the snow is drier instead of slushy. Good skiing can also be found at Pamporovo (40/80cm). They don't have as much snow as Bansko does but the grassier terrain means that not as much snow is needed to cover it. It snowed on Wednesday 10th March and snow is possible this weekend too. The weather should stay fairly cool for the next seven days at least.

SCOTLAND The riding in Scotland this week is superb due to the excellent snow cover. The runs were firmly packed on Thursday morning, 11th March, at all of the resorts although the snow was expected to soften on the lower runs in the afternoon. The only resort to report any fresh snow this week is Nevis Range (30/80cm), where a light dusting of new snow lay on the lower slopes when the lifts opened on Thursday morning.Cloudy weather is predicted all weekend although the clouds are not expected to deliver any significant snowfall. No snow is forecast in the west and only a light dusting could materialise in the east.

USA 36cm of fresh snow fell at Taos (239/254cm) in New Mexico on Wednesday 10th March. The resort is known for its steep skiing and with 36cm of fresh powder on the terrain there should be some amazing skiing available. It's cold as well with a temperature of -6°C so the snow is light, dry powder. Utah received snow as well although not as much as Taos. A dusting fell at Park City (191cm), improving their already very good conditions. The whole mountain is fully open and all the steep areas of the resort have great snow to ski on. Recent dumps of over 40cm mean there is still some untracked powder off piste if you look hard enough.Unfortunately it's gone very warm over on the east coast. This has deteriorated the snow in most resorts. It is 6°C at Attitash Bear Peak (26/97cm) so the snow is very slushy all over the mountain. You can still have some great skiing on snow like this though so make the most of the warm weather while it lasts.

CANADA Many places in western Canada received lots of fresh snow earlier this week, which was very much needed by some resorts. The Rockies especially have had a very dry past few months which meant a lot of very hard-packed snow. The most fresh snow fell at Banff (100/154cm), where 25cm landed on Monday night. The Ski Club rep in Banff at the moment said the powder had totally transformed the Sunshine Village area and given the pistes a very welcome boost. Powder can be found off piste but many areas nearer the runs will get tracked out quickly. More snow is forecast for the weekend. Unfortunately it has got a lot warmer on the east coast, particularly at Blue Mountain (100cm). The temperature at the summit of the mountain is 8°C which is melting the snow. They still have a metre of snow on the slopes but with heavy rain forecast this is likely to be reduced by the next week. You can still ski from top to bottom but the snow is very slushy.

EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK Wintry weather is forecast until at least Friday 19th March in Austria. Even lower resorts like Ellmau are expecting around 25cm of snow to fall by then and the temperature should remain generally low. The snow should fall lightly for the whole time. France is expected to be a lot drier than Austria, with many sunny days in between a few days of light snow. Alpe d'Huez isn't expecting any snow for the weekend or next week but the temperature should remain below freezing for the whole time. Switzerland and Italy are expecting a mixture of sunny and snowy days. The snowy days aren't likely to produce any more than 5cm of snow at a time however so powder days are unlikely. A whopping 78cm of fresh snow is expected up at Oppdal in Norway. The snow should fall combined with some pretty cold weather meaning it should be decent quality powder. The heaviest of the snow should be Thursday and Friday the 12th and 13th March, totalling around 30cm over these two days.

NORTH AMERICAN WEATHER OUTLOOK It should be a quiet seven days weather-wise in America. Most places are expecting a lot of sunshine rather than snow which will give some lovely spring skiing. If fresh snow is what you are after then head for Timberline in Oregon where nearly 40cm is expected by Saturday 13th March. Mild weather is then expected at Timberline on Monday Jackson Hole in Wyoming is expecting some mild and sunny weather too. A few centimetres of snow is forecast next week but on the whole it should remain sunny and mild. The warmest of the weather will be on Tuesday when the freezing level could rise to the summit.It should also stay mild on the east coast, unfortunately bringing rain with it to Mount Snow. Saturday and Sunday is when the rain is forecast for which isn't good news for weekend skiers but at least there is some snow to ski on.