(Sun worship on Stubai)
With all of France's ski slopes currently closed the number of ski areas open in the Alps for glacier skiing has dropped down in to single figures at this 'low season' in Europe before more areas open for summer skiing and boarding in late June and July.
But conditions at those areas that are still open remain well above average with the start of summer only a few weeks away. After the heavy snowfall in mid-May temperatures are currently hovering around the freezing point at 3,000m in the Alps meaning both good snow conditions and the occasional fresh snow flurry to top up cover.
Bases are reported to be up to three metres (10 feet) on Austrian glaciers including the Dachstein and Stubai in Austria, the latter announcing it expects to be open in to July. The Presena glacier above Passo Tonale in Italy reports the deepest snow base in the world still (as it has all last winter) at 4.5m.
There are currently five areas open in Austria, two in Italy and just one in Switzerland after the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz ended its season on Sunday – year round Zermatt is the only option until Saas Fee re-opens in July.
There are four areas open in Scandinavia to keep the European total in double figures, three small single-lift glacier options in Norway and the famous Riksgransen ski-under-the-midnight-sun option in the Swedish Arctic.
With less than half a dozen areas open in North America following the end of the ski season at the areas still open in Alberta (Banff), BC (Whistler), California (Mammoth) and Utah (Snowbird) after the US Memorial Day holiday on Monday, and with the start of the southern hemisphere's ski season not sue to kick off until a week-on-Saturday, there are currently thought to be less than 20 of the world's 5,000+ ski centres in operation.
Four French ski areas (Tignes, Les 2 Alpes, Val d'Isere and Alpe d'Huez) are expected to re-open for 5-10 week summer ski periods through June and early July.