Here’s a thing. For 100 years, ski resorts have had a reputation as the playground of the super-rich: a fur-edged world of luxury chalets and champagne lunches, populated by blue-bloods and, now, Muscovite gazillionaires.

Yet the truth is radically different. Yes, you can spend a fortune on a winter break if you want to – but the fact remains that, once you’ve left your accommodation and clicked into your skis or board, the mountain costs the same for everyone.

There are no special lifts for posh people and no premium-rate pistes, either. We buy the same lift pass and we get the same lump of rock to play on.

What’s more, if you really love your skiing, where you stay is immaterial, as long as it’s near the lifts in a good resort. We’re talking about an active, sporting holiday, after all – and no amount of five-star pampering can compete with the buzz a day tearing around on the slopes will give you. All anyone needs after that is a hot shower and somewhere warm to sleep.

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So, follow me, ladies and gentlemen, if you want a holiday that will light up an entire winter – but won’t break the bank. Last one down’s a sissy.

All package prices are for the week starting January 31/February 1

LES MENUIRES, FRANCE

Les Menuires has long been regarded as the ugly duckling of the Three Valleys – the vast interlinked area of lifts and pistes that encompasses the resorts of Méribel and Courchevel.

True, it has its duff architectural moments, but we’re talking about ski holidays, not art-history tours – and many of the best pistes in the Three Valleys are right on your doorstep. Head east and you’ve got a spaghetti plate of fast, confidence-boosting red and blue runs, coiled across the Col de la Chambre and the Roc des Trois Marches. To the west rears the blissfully undervisited Pointe de la Masse. No question, this is a place for skiers and snowboarders who want to be out on the mountain all day, every day – and with no-frills apartments in the middle of town starting at £132pp a week through Pierre et Vacances (0870 026 7145, www.pv-holidays.com), just about everyone can join in the fun.

Getting there: take the train to Moûtiers (from £99pp return with Rail Europe; 0844 848 4071, www. raileurope.co.uk), then an Altibus transfer to the resort (00 33 4 79 68 32 96, www.altibus.com; £20 return).

Sample package: Ski Collection (0844 576 0175, www.skicollection.co.uk) has a week for four in the upmarket Les Clarines apartments from £180pp, self-catering, including Eurotunnel crossings.

ALPE D’HUEZ, FRANCE

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