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Nissan have created a version of its X-Trail e-4ORCE extensively modified for mountain rescue needs.

Those modifications include the replacement of the wheels with snow tracks, giving traction on slippery pistes, while the rear seats have been removed to allow the installation of a stretcher, to allow the transportation of injured skiers to the nearest medical facility, and a seat for a medical professional.

Externally, a bespoke roof rack has been added to carry an evacuation stretcher and snow shovels. A siren, flashing light bar and powerful lights have also been embedded to the X-Trail's roof, as well as lights on the hood.

Wider fenders front and rear have been integrated to accommodate the tracks, while at the front the bumper has been enhanced to carry a winch. A reinforced towing hook has been added to the front and rear bumpers, while footboards have been included on the side to facilitate access as the X-Trail rides 23cm higher on its track than the road-going version.

"The development and construction of the X-Trail Mountain Rescue was conceived to highlight the advanced electrified twin-motor e-4ORCE all-wheel drive system with which the X-Trail is equipped. What sets the system apart from traditional mechanical systems is that it can react to changing levels of grip in 1/10,000th of a second, approximately 1000 times quicker than a traditional all-wheel drive system, and it can adjust the distribution of power to the wheels individually, according to the available grip," a Nissan spokesperson said.

To add to the focus on ski slope safety, The X-Trail Mountain Rescue is supporting a campaign in five European ski resorts under the banner of "Ride Responsibly". Nissan will promote courteous slope etiquette with the placement of digital signs which encourage snow riders to slow down where different slopes meet to reduce the risk of collision. Similar to road-side signs that display a vehicle's speed, the signs will monitor the speed of approaching riders and show "Thank You" for those who are approaching at a considerate speed, or "Slow Down" if their speed is judged as excessive.

The second series of big snowstorms in a fortnight is starting to hit the Western US, with most ski areas in California posting at least a foot of snowfall in the past 24 hours.

Donner Ski Ranch posted the biggest overnight snowfall of 17 inches (43cm) with Palisades Tahoe (pictured) and Mammoth Mountain both posting 13" (33cm) in the same period.

The snow is also falling further inland in the Rockies and The Tetons with America's biggest ski area Park City Mountain resort in Utah posting 14" (35cm) in the same period, Jackson Hole in Wyoming 15" (37cm).

The snowfall is expected to continue, with breaks, into the middle of next week.

The latest series of storms follows a similar series the week before last which saw up to 2-metre total accumulations on high slopes over six days.

The snowstorms come after an unusually warm and dry first half of the winter blamed on a "very strong El Nino" system from the Pacific. However, the current storms are being associated with a different long-established climatic system, a flow of moist air from the southern Pacific known colloquially as the 'Pineapple Express' which brings lots of moisture heavy air, deposited as torrential rain on lower ground, heavy snowfall up high.

A farm in Wiltshire has won planning permission to install a 5.5m high ski simulator machine in its barn, alongside a new climbing wall.

Bapton Manor Farm, located in the Wylye Valley, approximately 10 miles outside Warminster, plans to use the disused barn to provide the indoor mountain activities to locals and visitors alike and provide jobs, according to its successful planning application to Wiltshire Council.

Ski simulators have been around for more than 60 years but come increasingly sophisticated. They operate essentially as the skiing equivalent of a runner's treadmill with the slope of artificial carpet constantly moving towards the descending skier.

Modern machines can offered varied speeds and gradient to match the skier's ability and the latest models also project light onto the slopes to help set visual targets for skiers training. For example the SkiMachine in Passy, France, pictured above with a projected slalom training route, all created by the market-leading Dutch-based firm Alpine Engineering BV).

Bapton Manor Farm's application is for a machine with a 12m x 6.5m footprint and a machine that can accommodate up to eight skiers simultaneously.

Today, it's hard to imagine that less than 30 years ago, beginner skier and snowboarders often had to master the drag lift almost as soon as they mastered their dreaded snowplough turns, snowboarders sometimes faced with T-bars.

But since the mid-1990s the conveyor or 'carpet' lift has become synonymous with nursery slopes, as well as proving useful in dozens of other on mountain uplift scenarios.

Now the big pioneer of the carpet lift and today the global leader in manufacturing them, has just unveiled its 4,000th Sunkid Moving Carpet installation, a 142 metres long conveyor in Austria's Hochzillertal Kaltenbach ski area.

The lifts have come a long way from the first models in 1996 and the new lift include's SunKid's Type N generation technology and features a roofed-over entry and exit areas with five emergency exits in the form of easy-to-open self-rolling tarpaulins and sports a custom design. There are cameras installed on the gallery arches providing a great overview for the lift personnel, who are able to check on the facility this way.

SunKid started small in 1996 but the success of carpet lifts means that the Sunkid group now encompasses eight companies with about 130 employees spread over three sites in Austria and Germany and worked with customers in more than 75 countries around the world, Armenia the latest new market this year.

A Norwegian glacier ski area, one of three in the country that open in the latter half of spring and aim to remain so through to summer or even autumn each year, is report the snow is currently lying up to 10 metres deep and party burying its drag lift.

A spokesperson for The Fonna Glacier Ski Resort near Jondal in Norway said that,

"Depending on where you are on the glacier, we have between 6 and 10 metres of snow lying. Lift tower number 6 has completely disappeared on the steep slope under the snow."

In recent years the three centres have been forced to close earlier in the year than hoped as the rate of thaw has been faster than previously known and they declared the summer 200923 warmth and speed of thaw as "unprecedented".

However this year the spokesperson is optimistic that the current snow depths should see the centre through to August against the spring/summer thaw process and declared May - July as "currently safe."

"The next few days will bring more snow. The coming snowfalls are for August.... it looks good that we perhaps can complete the season until the fall this year," they added.

Hotelplan, the company that runs UK's second biggest (and also second oldest) ski holiday company, Inghams and several other smaller travel companies, has been put up for sale by its current Swiss owners.

In a separate move, which it says is unrelated, Inghams has announced the closure of their childcare division Ski Esprit.

Hotelplan is itself owned by Switzerland's largest retailer Migros who are seeking new owners for the Hotelplan Group. Inghams was founded by Walter Ingham in 1934 and is the second longest established ski holiday company after Erna Low, which is itself now part of a larger group as well, NUCO.

Esprit is the latest in a line of holiday companies bought by Inghams over the decades, other examples being Bladon Lines and Ski Esprit's sister company when it was an independent business, Ski Total, that were absorbed then eventually disappeared.
In a statement announcing that this season will be Esprit's last, Inghams said:
"The decision to retire the brand after this season allows the group to focus its resources and expertise into the continued success of Inghams. In recent years, Esprit has faced an increasing number of operational challenges. Conversely, Inghams has continued to thrive, thanks to its broad range of holiday options, wider choice of resorts and accommodation types, and high-quality service."

Joe Ponte, CEO of Hotelplan UK, adds: "The UK business has been reviewing the performance of Esprit for some time, and this channelling of resources is part of our existing strategy and ongoing commitment to invest in the long-term future success of the other brands in the group."

Many of Esprit's chalets and hotels will be available to book through Inghams next winter but without the Esprit childcare options.

Esprit had traded for over 40 seasons and was one of a number of childcare specialist ski holiday companies established in the 1980s and 1990s. Those still operating include Ski Famille and Family Ski.

After three weeks of largely dry conditions and temperatures much warmer than they should have been for late January and February, temperatures and dropping and snow is falling again.

The change, after the three-week warm spell which led to widespread media stories that there was no snow for skiers in the Alps despite most resorts remaining fully open, is bringing stormy weather this weekend to many areas, leading many to close slopes or in some cases (including Lans en Vercors) the whole resort until Sunday.

Swiss Centres have posted some of the biggest falls of the first 24 hours of the storm with many centres posting 15-25cm (6-10"), Zermatt reported 15cm, Laax 18cm.

In France, some of the biggest falls have been in the southern Alps so far with Chamonix reporting a foot (30cm) of snowfall on their higher slopes, the recently reconnected (by joint lift pass) White Forest region shared by Risoul (pictured above on Friday) and Vars, 20cm.

Temperatures are falling back below freezing at altitude but are taking longer to get down below zero in valleys with the consequence that some areas will see rain rather than snow on lower valley slopes initially.

Snowfall is expected to continue through the weekend and to Monday for many areas.

Heavy snowfall is reported in the Pyrenees as colder, snowier conditions arrive in the southerly European mountain range that's home to more than 50 ski areas in Andorra, France and Spain.

Although most of Western Europe has been suffering from a prolonged period of warm temperatures and dry conditions for the past three weeks, thankfully now ending, the problems caused had been greater in the Pyrenees where there had been less snowfall in November/December last year for base-building and temperatures had been the warmest - with highs of +22C reported.

As a result it was mostly higher terrain open with big areas like Andorra's Grandvalira (Soldeu, Pas de la Casa etc) and Spain's Baqueira Beret managing to open 50-709% of their runs, but some lower areas not able to open at all.

One of the big resorts, Spain's Formigal, has had less than a third of its runs open recently but posted these images this morning. It's due to receive half-a-metre of snowfall through the weekend.

It remains to be seen if, with extreme irony, the snowfall interrupts World Cup racing planned for Soldeu in Andorra this weekend where the worry for months had been too little snow cover.

Skiers in the Pyrenees in recent weeks have generally reported that although conditions aren't brilliant and there's no real off piste skiing possible, the hard packed snow on piste at the major destination resorts has been fine to ski on for most.