A literary refuge reopens as a hotel, a Michelin-starred chef takes to the slopes and a Four Seasons arrives for winter.

Earlier this month across the long arc of the Alps, from southern France through Switzerland, Italy, Austria and beyond, people stopped what they were doing, looked to the sky and gave thanks. The snow had arrived, something once as unremarkable as the rising of the morning sun, but which has become increasingly erratic.

A run of poor snow years reached a nadir in 2016 – Switzerland had its lowest December snowfall for more than a century – and, combined with the effects of an economic downturn and the collapse of sterling, some in the ski industry were privately voicing dark fears about a tipping point. For them, this winter’s glorious white deluge is like manna from heaven.

Aside from the snow, the good news is that the lean years have seen the ski industry having to up its game, to work harder to maintain market share and offer more than the standard week-long, fondue-heavy package. Resorts have modernised their lifts, improved their piste grooming and pushed ahead with audacious programmes to link their slopes to bigger areas of powder as far as the eye can see. Hoteliers have made long overdue investments in architecture, design and gastronomy. Independent, customer-focused ski schools have proliferated, as have niche tour operators offering escapes to exotic slopes and new powder experiences. This year you could be heli-skiing in Spain, snowboarding in South Korea, or eating Michelin-starred food slopeside in France. Here is MR PORTER’s pick of the season’s new openings and latest adventures.

Chamonix, France

High above Chamonix, in what is arguably the most historic location in the Alps, an old climbers’ refuge has been reborn as a slick hotel. The Terminal Neige Montenvers sits on a flank of the Mont Blanc massif, overlooking a huge glacier known as the Mer de Glace. Two young British adventurers, Mr William Windham and Mr Richard Pococke, climbed to this very spot in June 1741, then wrote an awestruck description of the scene – like “a lake put in agitation by a strong wind and frozen all at once” – that kick-started a fascination with mountains among aristocrats, artists and poets. Lord Byron and Messrs William Wordsworth and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe all came here; Ms Mary Shelley used it as the setting for the climax of Frankenstein.

A stone-walled hotel opened in 1880 to cater to climbers and summer sightseers who arrived on the back of donkeys; a rack and pinion railway from Chamonix opened in 1909. Now it has been reimagined by Maisons & Hotels Sibuet as a 20-room retreat, full of original features but overlaid with luxury and a fine restaurant. This year, it will remain open for the ski season for the first time in its long history. Do the legendary off-piste Vallée Blanche descent – it passes the front door – then stay the night ensconced in wood-panelled comfort before descending to Chamonix, and the modern world, the next morning. Doubles from £132.

terminal-neige.com

Sedrun Ski Arena, Switzerland

A decade ago, Andermatt was a down-on-its-luck town with an uncertain future. Hardcore skiers came here to ride the ageing lifts to the famously steep and deep north-facing slopes, but not in any numbers, and the big army base that had long sustained the town had closed down. Residents fretted about depopulation and economic collapse, but then salvation arrived in the unlikely form of Mr Samih Sawaris, a multi-millionaire Egyptian property developer, who announced a £1bn plan to turn Andermatt into a luxury, year-round destination to rival St Moritz.

That ambition that seemed laughably ambitious until 2013, when the five-star Chedi opened on the site of the former barracks. It’s now one of the Alps’ finest hotels and more accommodation, restaurants and bars are opening each year.

Up on the mountain, work began in 2015 to link Andermatt’s slopes with those of nearby Sedrun, to create the biggest ski area in central Switzerland. This winter, the project is nearing completion: a series of new chairlifts and pistes mean you be able to ski east over the mountains to Sedrun. More lifts need to be built this summer before you can travel back in the opposite direction; until then, you have to take the train (though the 45-minute journey is eased by the fact there’s a panoramic “après-ski carriage” with fully stocked bar).

skiarena.ch

South Korea

For a seriously off-the-beaten track experience, follow the athletes to South Korea this winter. The 23rd Winter Olympics take place in Pyeonchang 9-25 February and the Paralympics 9-18 March. Tickets are still available, but better to avoid the crowds and go before or after the Games, combining a visit to Seoul with skiing the two main resorts, Yongpyong and Phoenix Park.

Both offer modern lifts and well-groomed pistes, and the chance to try après-ski K-pop and kimchi as well as visiting traditional teahouses and Buddhist temples. In truth neither resort has the terrain to get serious skiers excited, but British tour operator Ski Safari has devised trips that combine Korea and the fabled powder stashes of Japan’s north island, Hokkaido. Direct flights link Seoul and Sapporo in two hours 40 minutes, from where it’s only 60 miles to Niseko – the bucket-list resort that gets an average of 15m of light, dry powder every year. The two-week trip costs from £2,195 per person, including flights from London.

skisafari.com

Spain

Heli-skiing is seen by many as the pinnacle of the sport – rather than wasting time standing in line, your own private helicopter whisks you up to untracked slopes and virgin snow. Doing it has traditionally involved a long trip to a remote lodge in Alaska or British Columbia, but it’s now possible on a weekend trip to Spain. Catch an evening flight to Toulouse, then drive two hours south into a remote Pyrenean valley, the Val d’Aran.

Check into a hotel in one of the pretty villages that dot the valley floor, then in the morning the helicopter will lift above the medieval church spires and deliver you to the summits. Unlike the limited heli-skiing possible in other European countries, where helicopters can only land at a handful of pre-approved drop-offs, here the pilot and guide can put down and pick up wherever they want in a 155-square-mile range, allowing them absolute freedom to seek out the best snow. When your legs can’t take any more, head to the Tauèrna Urtau in the village of Arties for its legendary tapas. Two days heli-skiing, two days accommodation, transfers and guides from £2,000.

eaheliskiing.com

Megève, France

Alpine hotels have traditionally been family affairs, but in 2018 the international brands seem to be arriving en masse: Hyatt has opened in La Rosière, Radisson is coming to Andermatt, and a Hard Rock Hotel is opening in the Swiss conference town of Davos (possibly the least rock’n’roll town on the planet).

The season’s big opening, though, is the Four Seasons in Megève – a £90m project and the first Alpine hotel for the venerable Canadian brand. The 55-room hotel sits at a high point in the village, with direct access to the slopes of Mont d’Arbois, and claims to have the largest spa (with an indoor/outdoor heated pool) in the French Alps. Multiple dining options include Kaito, a Japanese, and Le 1920, a two-Michelin starred restaurant (transferred from elsewhere in the village). If guests get bored of the area’s 250 miles of pistes, a helicopter is on standby to take them to resorts including Chamonix, Val d’Isere and Val Thorens. Doubles from £790; helicopter ski safari packages from £1,150 per person per night.

Find out more here

La Plagne, France

Paradiski – the vast French ski area that encompasses the multiple resorts of Les Arcs and La Plagne – is known for its fast lifts and endless pistes (ideal for mileage-hungry intermediates), but not for its fine dining. That is set to change this winter with the arrival of Union, an intimate, 35-cover restaurant from Mr Phil Howard, the celebrated chef who earned two Michelin stars during his 25-year career at The Square in Mayfair, and now owns and runs the critics’ favourite, Elystan Street in Chelsea.

Plagne-Montalbert, a small village at the extreme west of the area, is an unlikely next step, but Mr Howard, a keen skier, has been coming here for holidays for the last decade and owns a chalet in the village. It offers a back-door to Paradiski’s “guaranteed snow, fantastic off-piste and great touring potential,” he says, while also being down below the tree line and having a “very villagey” feel. Access is easy: Eurostar trains run direct from London to Aime-la-Plagne station, two miles from the village.

montalbert.com

Colorado, US

This winter sees the first low-cost flights between London and Denver – Norwegian is offering flights for half what you might expect to pay on British Airways or American. Rent a car in the Mile-High City, then head up into Summit County for a tour of its top resorts. Start at Breckenridge, where saloons on main street retain the feel of a western frontier town and the lifts rise to 3,962m, higher than any other in the US.

From there you can make day trips to try the multiple jumps, rails and halfpipes at Copper Mountain, to ski the famous backbowls at Vail and the tree-runs at Keystone. Don’t miss Arapahoe Basin, a cult resort known for its challenging terrain and parking-lot après ski parties. This season, A-Basin has expanded by more than a third, with a new area that includes open bowls, gladed tree runs and an experts-only sector called simply “The Steep Gullies”. Flights on Norwegian cost from about £340 return, Ski Independence offers a week’s self-drive package with four nights at Breckenridge, three nights at Keystone, including car rental and BA flights, from £1,997.

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