Areas in South America are opening for their 2021 winter this week, as the last area known to be still open for winter 20-21 in Asia, Gassan in Japan, nears the end of its 2021 run.

High-elevation ski areas in France and Austria, largely shuttered due to the pandemic, plan to reopen for a summer ski season.

St. Corona is a model for ski resorts in the Alps that are transitioning to mountain biking, hiking and other tourist offerings that don’t depend on snow.

Entering Slovenia from Austria, time seems to shift. Looking up at the Julian Alps after exiting the five-mile-long Karawks tunnel from Austria, it becomes clear that the terrain on the southern side of the border is indistinguishable from the north, but I instantly feel more relaxed. So does Matjaz Meglic, the man driving the car.

Random border checks will be imposed to stop French holidaymakers going to ski in neighboring Switzerland, Prime Minister Jean Castex has said.

After Europe’s winter-sports season was brought to an abrupt halt in March by the coronavirus pandemic, skiers will be able to return to the Alps before the end of this month.

Skiers are suing Austrian resort Ischgl for exposing them to the virus.

It’s mid-February in the Austrian ski resort of Ischgl and one of the only families in town is patiently waiting for their turn to board the gondola. If you didn’t see the cameras and lights, you might not notice that two members of the family are Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, casually blending into the line of skiers, which is composed of both hired extras and actual vacationers.

If skiing and riding in the summer is on your bucket list, make it happen this year with options from California to the Southern Hemisphere to the European Alps.

Marcel Hirscher’s runs was all anyone could talk about after Sunday’s giant slalom race on the Kandahar at Garmisch, Germany. After dominating the first run and clocking a time 1.99 seconds faster than everyone else’s, Hirscher was far from done for the day. 

Olympic champion Hannah Kearney from Norwich, Vt. stepped it up another notch, taking gold in dual moguls in a thrilling finals matchup with Canadian Justine Dufour-Lapointe. It was Kearney's eighth career World Championships medal, the most ever of any freestyle skier.

Travis Ganong from Squaw Valley, Calif. took advantage of a new course for the men's Audi FIS Ski World Cup tour and punched through for his career first victory, winning the Santa Caterina downhill high above Bormio in Italy. 

ROSA KHUTOR, Russia (Feb. 15) – USA alpine skiers continue to struggle in Russia — one medal. But, Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) led Team USA once again Saturday, posting the best American finish in eighth at a rough and unforgiving super G, the final women’s speed event of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games.

Nightime, daytime, anytime. That seems to be the modus operendi of American teen sensation and World Champion Mikaela Shiffrin as she won her second World Cup slalom in a row, this time under the lights at Flachau, Austria Tuesday.

Soelden, Austria hosted the season’s first Audi FIS Alpine World Cup action over the weekend with Americans Ted Ligety and Michaela Shiffrin in form for the Olympic year.

Once the snow is gone, the Alps remain magnificent. The Guardian newspaper in the UK has 10 picks for you to try this summer. Here are travel writer Sean Thomas’s choices and comments.

Vail Resorts has announced an epic partnership with the one of the most famous ski regions in the world, Arlberg, Austria, home to legendary mountain resorts of St. Anton, Lech-Zürs, St. Christoph and Stuben. 

She’s 17 years old and the youngest woman in 28 years to win a gold medal in the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships. Mikaela Shiffrin, from Eagle-Vail, Colo., came from behind after her first run to win the gold medal.