Davos today is the largest and most successful of the first breed of classic ski resorts. Europe's highest town has successfully consolidated its significance in the early years of winter sports by constantly improving its ski area so that it has remained one of the world's best. At the same time developments in the town itself have kept ahead of the pack and of equal or greater value to Davos are its world class medical institutions and its international status in playing annual host to world leaders in staging the World Economic Forum. The Davos local authority, which includes the town, outlying villages and countryside, is the second largest area within Switzerland, larger even than the city of Zurich. The many facets of this remarkable resort mean that tourist office marketing slogans such as "Europe's most extensive alpine resort" are not exaggerations. The town spreads along the valley floor for several miles with the more concentrated western section named Davos Platz, and the eastern Davos Dorf. The architecture is generally of grand design rather than being particularly picturesque, however the whole is attractive in its way, and the scenery around certainly spectacular. The main off-slope leisure facilities are nicely placed between the two halves and the major access lifts to the ski slopes are also well spaced throughout the town. Davos's growth as a mountain sports resort developed out of its existing status as a leading health resort in the late 19th and early 20th century. In years gone by Davos provided tuberculosis sufferers with sanatoriums, but today there are highly specialised institutes providing, in particular, therapy for allergies, respiratory illnesses and dermatological complaints. At the turn of the last century up to 700,000 overnight bookings a year were being registered from visitors mainly for the health benefits (this was an increase on an annual figure of two visitors in 1866). The resort's importance as a pioneer in winter sports cannot be under stated however: Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, is thought to be the first Scot to travel on skis, travelling from Davos to Arosa and the world's first T Bar lift was installed at Davos in 1934.

Filzmoos is a pretty little village, perfect for families, with a long tradition and dominated by the twin towers of the Bischofsmütze mountain. Filzmoos was a successful mountain resort destination in the area before winter sports when the well to do arrived from Salzburg and Vienna to sample the air so the tradition of hospitality has been deeply engrained here for many generations. Today the resort stages a famous ballooning festival every January and other specialist balloonists gatherings through the season - the Night of Balloons when the balloons are floodlit from within at night time is especially spectacular. The small local ski area is best suited to non-experts, but the village participates in one of the largest lift pass areas in Austria, the Ski amadé. This offers nearly a hundred times as much skiing in neighbouring villages, some of which are lift-linked to one another although not to Filzmoos. In total there are nearly 870km (600 miles) of trails on the pass, served by more than 250 lifts. Back in Filzmoos there is also a big advantage against many of the other picturesque villages in Austria in that the gondola lift base station is right next to the centre and a short walk from most of the accommodation there - this differs from many where it's a long walk or a ski bus ride perhaps a kilometre or more out of the village to actually reach the lifts.

Lake Tahoe is one of the world's leading ski regions, centred on one of the biggest Alpine Lakes on the planet with a great snowfall and snow quality record. There are 13 ski areas to choose from (more if you travel a few miles further out) - each with their unique character and selling points. The best known are Heavenly (now owned by Vail resorts), at the south end of the lake with bases in both Nevada and California and Squaw Valley USA at the north end, which is a former host to the Winter Olympics and has added a new base village in recent years. Other well known resorts include Northstar, which has recently expanded dramatically and also added a new base village; Kirkwood - also with a new base village; Alpine Meadows and Sierra-at-Tahoe. The remaining choices are Sugar Bowl - another rapidly expanding ski area; Diamond Peak; Mt Rose; Tahoe Donner; Boreal; Soda Springs and Donner Ski Ranch. During winter, weather systems from the nearby Pacific are carried north via the Polar Jet Stream to the Gulf of Alaska where they cool before heading south and tracking towards Lake Tahoe. When the weather systems meet with the Sierra Nevada mountains they cool rapidly and the moisture condenses to produce more than 500 inches of snow annually. Most of the mountains top 10,000 ft which produces even lighter powder. The area is renowned not only for its winter activities but also for its diverse entertainment options off the slopes. These include gourmet dining, shopping, gambling and live performances by some of the world's top entertainers. Vast amounts of money have been and continue to be spent on constant improvement of this ski area giant. The total value of recent spending adds up to over $1 billion. These include quarter-of-a-million dollar spends at each of Heavenlyt Kirkwood and Squaw. Heavenly is unique because it exists in two US States, with just over half of its lifts in California, the remainder in Nevada. It can also claim to have the biggest vertical on the western coast of the United States, the biggest ski area in California (and the second biggest in North America) and the highest skiing in the famous Tahoe region. More important than the numbers though is the stunning scenery as you look down on Lake Tahoe, one of North America's largest alpine lakes, and for many visitors the availability of Tahoe's legendary '24 hour nightlife' once they're off the slopes. It was the view, and the 'heavenly relief' of the warm air rising, that lead settlers in the 1800s (arriving in the area from the backside of Heavenly rather than the Tahoe side), to give the area its name. A century later, the name 'Heavenly ' fortunately turned out to be a marketing man's dream. Another of North America and the world's major resorts, Squaw Valley 's history dates back to the late 1940's when the resort's first chairlift was installed. A little over a decade later the resort's meteoric rise saw it hosting the 1960 Winter Olympics. With more than 30 lifts, including North America's first Funitel, serving 4000 skiable acres Squaw is definitely a world class resort. The ski-in and ski-out lodging property, the Resort at Squaw Creek, opened in the early 1990s. Still family owned, Squaw is sensibly following the trend in North America's top resorts and has extended its existing slopeside lodging to create a state-of-the-art $250 million resort village, in partnership with the best in the business, Intrawest. It incorporates over 80 shops and restaurants as well as more than 700 condos. The resort's move into the 21st century has been boosted by the $20 million investment in a new Funitel. This is a combined gondola-funicular system with 46, 28 person cabins capable of transporting 3000 skiers per hour in winds which had, on occasion, caused the resort to suspend operations of older lifts on the higher slopes. The ascent time has also been cut from 12 to 8 minutes. The resort's achievement in hosting the 1960s Olympics is still a topic of conversation more than forty years on. It wasn't just that the area succeeded in staging what was then the world's largest games, with a thousand competitors from 34 nations, a little over a decade after Squaw's inception, but that the resort actually won the bidding five years earlier, in 1955, when it was virtually unheard of outside California. Northstar is one of Lake Tahoe's bigger resorts, thanks to a gradual expansion over the past 30 years. It's owned by the Booth Creek Group who also owns sister resort, Sierra-at-Tahoe, along with four more elsewhere in the US. Northstar has a fast, efficient lift system and an intimate, friendly feel. In the midst of an exciting Renaissance, Northstar is in the process of developing a 'mountain village' at its base, with up-market ski-in, ski-out condominiums, shops, restaurants and they hope a lively après ski scene. The six main Ski Lake Tahoe resorts (Alpine Meadows, Heavenly, Kirkwood, Northstar-at-Tahoe, Sierra-at-Tahoe and Squaw Valley USA) are available on one pass for guests planning to stay a week or more. There are two variants - the 'Domestic interchangable' for North American residents who can purchase a 5 out of 6 day, a 6 out of 7 day, an 8 out of 10 day or a 10 out of 13 day ticket at most of the ticket windows of the resorts on the Pass. The second option, for non-North American residents, is the International Interchangable which is only offered through tour operators and travel agents. The Pass covers the 100 lifts offered by all the resorts combined, and one British tour operator believes that the total skiable terrain offered on the pass works out at nearly 800km or 500 miles, which if correct would make it the world's fourth largest area covered by one lift ticket, after the French Savoy Olympic Pass, and the Italian Dolomiti Superski and Aosta Valley passes. Unfortunately no accurate comparison is possible as some of the Tahoe resorts only follow the North American norm of measuring the area of their skiable terrain in acres, rather than the total length of the ski runs - the norm elsewhere in the world. What's not doubted is that the total skiable terrain is 17000 acres, the largest individual area offered by Heavenly with 4800 acres, with Squaw not far behind with 4500 acres. The lifts include numerous high speed chairs, cable cars (or 'aerial trams') and gondolas.