The best resorts for Christmas skiing Tignes, France tignes.net Superb cover in November - the best I've seen in the past 19 years here - and it's still in great shape, along with neighbouring Val d'Isère. Perhaps because of its 10-month season, Tignes has perfected the art of quality snow-making and the grooming is some of the best in the Alps. Excellent conditions are to be found on the Grande Motte and Pissaillas glaciers at 3,500 metres, but lower pistes are also holding up well - you can still ski all the way down to Les Brévières at 1,550m. Current resort depths: 40 centimetres at Tignes Le Lac (2,100m) and 120cm on top of the Grande Motte (3,300m). Who goes there Erna Low (020 7584 2841, ernalow.co.uk) and Ski Collection (0844 576 0175, skicollection.com) have the pick of self-catering apartments in Tignes. Le Ski (01484 548 996, leski.com), YSE (01935 816 550, yseski.co.uk) and VIP (0844 557 3119, vip-chalets.com) hog the middle-to-upper-range chalet market in Val d'Isère. Lech, Austria lechzuers.com A particular favourite of mine at this time of year. I learnt to ski there as a child on successive Christmas family holidays and once again it hasn't let me down. It's not high - 1,450m to 2,423m - but don't compare these altitudes with France. The farther you get away from the Atlantic weather system, the lower the altitude at which you can expect reliable snow cover. This winter the Lech-Zürs region is linked to Warth-Schröcken, which is statistically the snowiest corner of the Alps. Total pisted terrain here is now a respectable 190 kilometres and the lift pass also covers St Anton, St Christoph and Stuben - easily reached by ski or post bus. Current resort depths: 55cm in Lech (1,450m) and 65cm at the top of the Trittkopf (2,423m). This is not as much as we'd like, but the pistes are predominantly on stone-free mountain pastures and only a thin cover allows uninterrupted skiing. Much more is forecast for this weekend. Who goes there Ski Total (01483 345 565, skitotal.com) is one of the most experienced companies here, with three chalet hotels. Snow-Wise (020 3397 8450, snow-wise.com) has accommodation in Warth-Schröcken as well as in Lech. Crystal (0871 236 9501, crystalski.co.uk) and Inghams (01483 791111, inghams.co.uk) both have the widest range of properties. Val Thorens, France valthorens.com The highest ski village in Europe. At 2,300m, you rightly expect - and get - doorstep skiing from November to May. So in a "difficult" December such as this when high pressure and blue skies have dominated the weather pattern until now, it's just about the best place to be. Some 40 years ago when it was first conceived it was, frankly, a pretty miserable place: a few blocks of concrete résidences plonked way above the tree line at the top of the Belleville Valley with nothing whatsoever to offer apart from what it was built for - doorstep skiing. All that has long since changed. The quality of the skiing was never in doubt. From here you can explore the whole of the Trois Vallées as well as the "quatrième" - you can ski off the back, down to Orelle in the Maurienne Valley. But Val Thorens is now home to a collection of four and five-star hotels and just recently the addition of some superb restaurants has earned it a reputation as one of the gourmet capitals of the Alps. Current resort depths: 60cm in the resort (2,300m) and 100cm at 3,200m on the Cime de Caron. Who goes there Skiworld (08444 930430, skiworld.co.uk) and Ski Total have a wide choice of chalets here. As well as Erna Low and Ski Collection, Lagrange (020 7371 6111, lagrange-holidays.co.uk) and Ski Independence (0131 516 3408, ski-i.com) are the apartment specialists. Breckenridge, Colorado, USA breckenridge.com The village itself is at nearly 3,000m and the top of the highest lift is a heady 3,914m - only 900m lower than the summit of Mont Blanc. Don't be surprised if you feel a little light-headed on arrival. Drink plenty of water and take things easy for the first day or two until you start to acclimatise. The plus side is the quality of the snow above this frontier town where the buildings are Victorian in style if not in authenticity. This winter brings the opening of a new mountain - Peak 6 - with two new lifts and another 540 acres of terrain. Current resort depths: 84cm midmountain on Peak 8 at 3,300m. Who goes there Ski Safari (01273 224060, skisafari.com), Ski Independence and Frontier Ski (020 8776 8709, frontierski.com) are the North America specialists, along with Virgin (0844 557 4321, virginholidays.co.uk). Sölden, Austria soelden.com Not as well known in Britain as Obergurgl, its popular neighbour in the Ötztal valley, an hour's drive from Innsbruck airport. However, its two 3,250m glaciers ensure reliable snow cover over 146km of excellent intermediate terrain. The downside is the absence of a real village centre - the resort sprawls along half a mile of road with main lift access at both ends. The higher satellite of Hochsölden is an alternative and attractive base. Current resort depths: 5cm in the resort and 156cm at 3,000m on the glacier. Who goes there Crystal (0871 231 2256, crystalski.co.uk), Inghams (01483 371206, inghams.co.uk) and Neilson (neilson.co.uk) have the widest choice of hotels.