In the wake of the recent economic downturn, skiing trips have become less and less popular as a viable vacation option. The cost of lessons, hiring equipment and day passes is expensive even at the best of times. Ski industry executives show that the timing of the financial-market slump this autumn frightened skiers at the time when they would normally have been booking their winter vacations. In most ski resorts in Europe, business has dropped by approximately 10% from the start of 2007 to 2009.

But if the number of skiers at the key resorts throughout Europe has fallen, so too have the price of package deals, lift tickets, hotel rooms, group holidays and deposits. As the failing economy is really making the ski industry suffer, there are many resort operators hurrying to provide a wide selection of discounts in the hope of attracting visitors once more to their slopes. What is more, it is exactly in the most popular and dear resorts, like the pretty and pristine Courchevel, La Plagne, Les Alps and Chamonix in France, that the discounts and deals are popping up most frequently.

For example, during the weeks of Christmas and New Year, rooms typically book up months in advance. Rooms at this time of the year also command the highest rates and are accompanied by strict minimum-stay rules. But the slowdown in bookings and increase in cancellations has encouraged many resort operators to offer Christmas discounts, and to lift length-of-stay restrictions in order to save the season’s business.

Currently, for example, Alpine Elements, a resort operator that arranges ski vacations to many resorts all over France, are offering a range of reductions on package deals when you book online, as well as free lift passes. For example, over the Christmas period Alpine Elements are offering a Trainer week package in Chalet des Neiges, located in Les Arcs, from £459 but the week comes with a Free Liftpass. In addition, for another week’s ski vacation at the idyllic Chalet Papy in Morzine, the resort operators are offering the cut price of £529 and also £100 off for those booking online. Check the Alpine Elements website for more on their ski deals.

Certainly, skiing holidays aren’t the most practical option in these economically worrying times. But it would also appear that, with the flurry of discounts and deals from so many resort operators, now may be a better time than others to hit the snow.