Ski season ends on high

By James Cove BBC correspondent in the Alps

As the European ski season comes to a close, resorts are reporting the best winter in recent memory - with record levels of snow across the Alps and the Pyrenees.

Snowy mountains at Obergurgl near Innsbruck

It is welcome news for a multi-million pound industry with some real concerns about its future.

"This has been one of the truly great seasons with fantastic conditions," Fiona Sweetman from The Ski Club of Great Britain told BBC News Online.

"On the upper slopes of the Austrian resort of St Anton there is still a staggering four metres of snow," she said.

Austria is best

Austria has been the star of the show with fresh snow falling virtually every week of the season.

"We started off with worries about global warming affecting low level resorts and fears that the snow would stop coming and yet we have had the best season ever," said Wolfgang Breitfuss, the tourism director of Saalbach-Hinterglemm.

It's a similar story in the neighbouring Austrian resorts of Kaprun, Kitzbuhel and Zell am See which still has 144cm on its slopes despite it low altitude.

A snowboarder enjoys the good conditions

It has been a welcome boost for an industry that has been worried about its future. In France there has been a 3% decline in the skiing market over the past five years.

UK tour operators are concerned by the growth in the independent market, as people shun the traditional package holiday and take their money elsewhere.

It's estimated that 235,000 people - 20% of the British market - now make their own arrangements using budget airlines and the internet. But the real long-term worry for the skiing industry is climate change.

Global warming

The latest UN report predicts that within 30 years up to 50 of Switzerland's 230 resorts will not have enough snow to sustain skiing as the temperature rises.

This would bring economic disaster to many mountain communities.

Many scientists believe global warming is to blame. It is most easily seen by the melting of the Alpine glaciers, some of which have retreated hundred of metres in recent years.

"The glaciers are melting as the temperature rises," says Christian Mollier, a mountain guide from Chamonix. "It is very, very sad."

Out on the snow

However, the scientific predictions have seemed rather distant out on the slopes this winter.

Fiona Sweetman says it has been a truly great season

In Verbier this week the slopes are packed with skiers enjoying the late conditions.

"We still have great snow and it seems a shame that we will be closing soon even though we still have such great conditions," says Pierre-Yves Deleze from the Verbier tourist office.

I began the season in Tignes way back in November and have skied in 18 resorts across France, Andorra, Italy, Austria and Switzerland- and can testify that it has been one of the best seasons I can recall.

I will end my season in May back in Tignes, the most snow sure resort in the Alps, where conditions are still said to be excellent.

"There are undoubtedly worries about the future, but for the moment perhaps we should reflect on the great season millions of skiers and boarders have had," says Stephanie Aillet, the marketing manager of Tignes.