SAM Magazine-Denver, Dec. 23, 2009-Winter has emphatically arrived, assuring excellent holiday skiing and snowboarding throughout North America and the European Alps, according to international snow conditions roundups from OnTheSnow.com and skiinfo.co.uk.

"This is the first time in a number of years where most all of the world's ski resorts will see a very white Christmas," said Craig Altschul, OnTheSnow.com editor-in-chief. "There's lots of snow in some regions of the U.S. and Canada, and deep cold for making snow in others. The Alps were blessed with major early winter snowfalls in December-so much so that all Austrian resorts, for example, were open by mid-month."

In the U.S. and Canada, resorts in the Pacific Northwest resorts had the best early snow. Whistler reported record November snowfall, and resorts across Washington and Oregon all have ample snow.

A frigid moist onset to winter set up resorts in the Northern Rockies for a white Christmas. Most offered top-to-bottom action by mid-December. In Alberta, Marmot Basin racked up well over half its annual average snowfall by mid-month.

Montana and Wyoming resorts accumulated less snow, but enough to roll the trams to the summits. Big Sky's Lone Peak tram opened by mid-December, and Jackson Hole's aerial tram began hauling riders Dec. 19.

Several feet of snow in early December got many California areas rolling, including those clustered around Lake Tahoe. The storms also fueled good conditions across Arizona and New Mexico.

Sierra resorts found themselves in much better shape than last year, with the snow arriving before Christmas instead of during the vacation period-including 100 inches at Squaw Valley.

A major winter storm hit Utah Dec. 13, delivering as much as 48 inches of snow in 48 hours. The much-needed dump put Utah's mountain resorts into play for the holidays.

Though snowfall in much of Colorado has been a little sparse-the areas in the southwestern corner of the state excepted-long-range forecasts project snowfall all Christmas week at many areas.

Weather in the Northeast and eastern Canada turned cold at the end of the first week in December, and snowmaking temperatures settled in to stay. Resorts in New York State, New England, and Quebec began covering terrain with machine-made snow, augmented by natural snowfall, until most had more than half their trails open by mid-December, and prospects of full operation by Christmas.

Recent snowstorms left well over a foot of snow across much of the Midwest, and the Great Lakes Region received additional lake-effect snow. Most resorts were open the second weekend of December and continued snowmaking with additional natural snowfall forecast. This bodes well for an excellent holiday period.

Winter hit the Mid Atlantic region Dec. 19, with the largest blizzard in a decade dropping more than two feet of snow on many areas. The storm pounded Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina, then continued up the coast through Pennsylvania. Most Mid Atlantic resorts are now open and in good shape.

European resorts got an early start to the season, with additional snowfall a week before the holidays began. This new cover falls atop big snowfalls at the beginning of December on ski resorts in Vorarlberg, Tirol, and Switzerland. Resorts at higher altitudes, such as Hochgurgl, St. Anton am Arlberg, and the glaciers-Mölltaler, Sölden, Stubai, and Pitztal-were blessed with plenty of powder. Abundant snowfall has covered almost all northern Italian resorts, from Valle d'Aosta to South Tyrol. Italilan resorts have some of the greatest snow depths in the world: Presena 12.5 feet, and Marmolada, 10.5 feet, according to www.Skiinfo.co.uk.

Heavy snow and low temperatures across most of Eastern Europe has allowed about 75 percent of the ski areas to open in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia to open at the weekend.

Spain has also had snowy news, along with the very cold weather currently common across Europe. A succession of Atlantic fronts has brought a mixture of snow and rain in the last few days. Ski resorts are looking to the Christmas holidays optimistically. Snow is expected again all over Spain's Ski resorts in the next few days.

To the north some serious snow arrived last week in Scandinavia, particularly from Thursday through to Tuesday. In Sweden and Norway, the forecast shows really low temperatures for the upcoming Christmas holiday.

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