If you are looking for a December ski destination, only one consideration matters. Make a show of debating resort ambience and efficiency of lift systems, but in the end you must go somewhere with reliable snow. So where better than Europe's highest resort, Val Thorens? As well as the Péclet glacier - which is the latest to be issued with a prophylactic covering to protect it from the melting summer sun - there are two other peaks above 3,000m, plus an extra one if the fourth valley is operational. Val Thorens is not the least attractive purpose-built resort in France, and is quietly a gourmet haven.

Ischgl, Austria

More than any other resort, Ischgl makes a big deal of the start of the season, and it has plenty to shout about. By the time of the annual free concert at the beginning of December (featuring the likes of Lionel Richie or, this year, the ubiquitous Rihanna and her umbrella), there is usually plenty of snow on Ishgl's 210km of pistes (up to 2,870m), and even enough for some off-piste action. The town doesn't rely on international singing stars for après ski entertainment.

Breuil-Cervinia, Italy

You will have heard of the Cervino mountain that dominates this Italian resort on the Swiss border, but you probably know it by its German name - the Matterhorn. It has slopes up to 3,480m, plus links to the 3,820m Klein Matterhorn glacier of Zermatt (go and see how the other half lives). Unlike many of the more steroid-pumped ski areas in this list, Cervinia offers good early-season skiing for mellower skiers, with excellent snow on red and blue pistes so autostrada-wide they could have been designed by Mussolini. Well, they sort of were, as the resort was built under Il Duce and traces of grandiose Fascist architecture remain.

The Guardian