The Telegraph reports that a skiing price war has erupted after tour operators slashed prices to Alpine resorts following no snow and increased competition from cheap resorts in Bulgaria and Andorra. Skiing holidays in Bulgaria are growing in popularity, largely because of the low cost resulting in prices in the alps being slashed. Alpine operators have reacted by significantly cutting their prices undermining private accommodation owners. It seems to be a race to the bottom.

The same paper also reports that even if skiing in Bulgaria is cheap as chips, it is not Verbier. Price is the chief advantage of a ski holiday in Bulgaria. In fact, the paper goes as far as it is the only advantage. The quality of the skiing bears little comparison with Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland. The number of beds is Bulgarian resorts is now out of proportion to the uphill capacity, resulting in unacceptable queues at peak time.

Snow has finally started falling in some popular European ski resorts – bringing relief to winter holidaymakers and tour operators. The Sun reports that snow need to worry: Flakes blanket Europe’s ski resorts after fears pre-Christmas holidays would be ruined. We had up to 30cm finally falls over France, Switzerland and Austria where the slopes were worryingly green just a few days ago. Just nine out of 12 French resorts, the higher ones such as Tignes and Val Thorans had been open ahead of festive season compared to all pistes across France were almost all open this time last year.

On the other hand, Scotland has snow but bad weather. Some of Scotland’s ski centres will open this weekend for the first time this season, while others have been hampered by poor weather. Severe weather on Thursday has scuppered plans for Scotland’s five ski centres to open for snow sports at the weekend. The Nevis Range suffered particular problems, with lifts derailed and staff struggling to access the hill to prepare for the weekend. Glenshee and The Lecht in Aberdeenshire both plan to welcome the first skiiers and snowboarders on Saturday, though only a limited number of runs will be open.

Not too much news about. Well the snow has come, so no need to worry anylonger. Never been better to use our ski chalet finder.

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Ski Accommodation Finder offers a range of advertising opportunities to help promote chalet, ski hotel, apartment and other ski travel site. The website commands high listings on all major search engines for important ski travel terms. Judith adds “More and more people visit our site before they book a ski holiday. It is a free and easy way to get quotes, browse ski accommodation and check out last minute offers”

New ski accommodation requests are directly posted to all registered and relevant ski accommodation providers. Chalet, apartment and ski hotel owners can quote if they have availability. Ski Accommodation Finder aims to reduce the effort required to find & promote ski accommodation by making the connection between ski holiday makers and owners of apartments, chalets and hotels.

The system is free of charge for all ski travellers. Ski Holidaymakers can post unlimited requests and use the system as many times as they like. Unlike other ski accommodation agents and brokers, Ski Accommodation Finder does not charge any commission and does not act as middlemen. Requests and quotes are handled by the system between users and owners. Users should be able to get the best price and ski accommodation deal possible.

New accommodation subscribers will now be welcome on both the company’s Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/ski.accommodation.finder) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/skiaccommodatio) accounts including a welcome message and a link to the accommodation providers’ websites. Ski Accommodation Finder will also publish the latest news from registered chalet, apartment and hotel owners, accommodation videos, ski travel tips and any special offers.

Liliya, Ski Accommodation Finder’s online marketing manager explains ‘we are trying to add additional value to our subscribers, helping them to showcase and spread their accommodation offering via social media’.

Search Engines too have finally come to embrace Social Media and so should ski accommodation owner, especially if they want their website to continue to rank top for important ski travel search terms. Liliya comments ‘our social media initiative helps our subscribers to get more links back to their own website, which in return helps their search engine rankings, effectively making our offering a win-win-win for everybody involved – more visibility, more exposure and better rankings’.

Ski Accommodation Finder is a new way to get and let ski apartments, chalets and hotels in no time – a unique, fun and low cost channel to get bookings. Ski Accommodation Finder offers huge benefits for both ski travellers and ski accommodation providers. Ski Accommodation Provider can register accommodation in less than a few minutes. There is a small annual subscription fee but no other charges and no commissions. Once registered chalet, apartment and hotel owners will receive all relevant ski accommodation enquiries and can make quotes.

As news spread across Europe and back to the UK that there was no skiing to be done in the most prestigious skiing resort sin France, prospective winter holiday makers stopped making bookings. Accommodation owners felt the pinch of dwindling numbers of holiday makers making bookings and prayed for snow to return. Luckily, they got it – The end of February saw a new layer of fresh snow fall and the ski season carried on as if nothing had happened. In truth, there was very little effect of ski accommodation owners from the worst ski season in a decade.

Generally, anyone going for a trip will book at least four weeks in advance. If the trip and time off work is already booked, it is likely that anyone will back out because of a shortage in snow. Visitors to Grenoble and Chamonix return every year to meet with old friends, wish the locals a happy new year and to relax in chalet half way up a alpine mountain, although, they do go to ski as well. By the time a weather forecast is released for the duration of a trip anywhere, most people will be packed and on their way to the airport without so much as a glance back.

So, as it goes, ski accommodation owners can relax about how they might be affected next seasons by this year’s poor snowfall. While some holiday makers might choose to book into a resort at a higher altitude to minimise that chances of missing out ion skiing time, generally, humans are creatures of habit and will continue to return to the same resorts with hardy hope that there will be a delightfully thick covering of talcy white snow when they arrive with their ski boots and sticks.

So far there has been little evidence of any significant financial impact for ski accommodation owners or the price of property in the areas that were affected by limited snowfall in the 2010-2011 ski season. It would be over dramatic to suggest that one slightly weak season could affect all ski seasons to come or that no one should want to buy property in the region again. The factors that affected snowfall in the Alps during the 2010-2011 season can be traced as a repetition of history that has failed yet to conquer the reputation of Alpine Resorts as the place to be in winter.

The snow could have not come any sooner

All ski resorts across the Alps have been reporting fresh snow over the past week, in some cases it was the first fresh snow since early January. The best snow in Europe is currently in Austria, particularly on the high altitude glaciers. Most French resorts have had moderate amounts of new snow, some resorts such as Tignes and Val d’Isere had a healthy dump of fresh powder. The skiing on Tignes’s Grande Motte is reported to be brilliant. Italy and Switzerland had good snow falls too.

The snow is particularly welcome at lower altitudes ski resorts, which had begun to suffer with no new snow. The lack of fresh falls and high temperatures caused the little snow there was to melt, leaving all but the piste green below 1800m. Above 1800m the snow on the pistes, was hard but was holding up well thanks to a big base build up from heavy snow in November and December. Heavy investment in snowmaking equipment over the past decade also paid its dividend.

Snow levels up to 3 foot

On average snow falls across all ski resorts have been between 30cm – 80cm, so there is now enough snow in all resorts. The forecast is for a colder spell, so the snow should last until the end of the season without any problems.

Plenty of last minute deals

The good news, availability of last minute ski accommodation is plenty and flights are not too expensive either. Great time to enjoy off-piste skiing, great weather and paying last minute prices. If you make sure you visit the right resort, check webcams for the ski resorts you want to visit. You will find enough snow!

Osborne has a ski trip, the UK press has a field day, the Sun calls it ‘shameless’. I suppose, when it comes to ski holidays, we are all in it together! Personally, I would not go as far as the Sun, but with 20% VAT, 500.000 public sector job cuts and 4% inflation, for the rest of us his ski holiday raises a more fundamental question.

Who can afford luxury accommodation and what about the rest of us (I assume +/- 995000 ski holiday makers)?One thing is certain, families facing huge rises in fuel duties, rail fares, VAT, pay cuts and possible job losses will think twice about embarking on a ski holiday this season, never mind opting for the luxury ski accommodation.

Five-star accommodation in Klosters can easily put you down £500 a night, not including meals at entry level £50 per head. Affordable for the rich and famous for sure, less feasible for the rest of us.

With increasing number of luxury and boutique ski accommodation, the wealth gap on the slopes and off it seems to be increasing. My sense, ski holidays have and will be a privilege for the ‘better-off’. More wealth has been matched by more upmarket ski accommodation. The rest of us will just have to book the budget ski option. Nothing much changed, not sure what all the fuss is about.

BTW I’m going to be in Verbier.

Please help Im desperate
I have contacted Neilson they have not helped. I needed JMC addresses they were the same no help