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

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

With the main peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Europe behind us, several resorts are busy building new lifts and improving others ready for winter.

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.

The White Circus, aka the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup, is back across the Big Pond this weekend after an extended stay in North America at Aspen, Beaver Creek, and Lake Louise. The spotlight is on Mikaela Shiffrin and Ted Ligety, both trying to erase sub-standard performances in the Giant Slalom.

The storyline of the World Cup Finals Week so far has been the dominance of the USA's Lindsey Vonn coming back from severe injuries and winning the Crystal Globe (season title) in both downhill and super-G. But, suddenly, the spotlight shifted Saturday to Mikeala Shiffrin from Eagle-Vail, Colo.

American Lindsey Vonn picked up her second Crystal Globe at the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup Finals in Meribel, France after winning the super-G season title, 28 points and 0.49 seconds, ahead of Austrian Anna Fenninger. Only eight points separated the speed queens entering today’s race, making it a fight to the finish.

Lindsey Vonn from Vail, Colo. began the finale of her comeback season in high style Wednesday, scoring a convincing victory and claiming her 18th career crystal globe in winning the Audi FIS Ski World Cup downhill title. Vonn was flawless under the clear blue skies, skiing to a .24 second victory over Austria's Elisabeth Goergl.

The stunningly successful comeback of American superstar ski racer Lindsey Vonn kept rolling as she won the Audi FIS Ski World Cup downhill at Val d'Isere, France Saturday. The win put her just one victory away from matching Austrian Annemarie Moser-Proell for the all-time World Cup win record of 62. This was Vonn's 61st World Cup win and her fifth at the famed French resort.

Weather forecasters have their “What Me Worry?” faces on in France as some ski slopes below 2,000 meters are still green. That’s plenty unusual for December.

So, how’s this for a plan? Take a vacation any time of the year to Paris, France and go skiing or riding while you are there. Tres Bon, oui?

The Ski Club of Great Britain, which provides guiding services for its members in multiple countries, has pulled its 11 guiding programs out of France. The club is among the largest in the world.

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.

Crankworx, one of the biggest mountain biking competitions in the world rolls into Les Deux Alpes, France July 9-15, 2012.