Ski resorts across Europe are opening early after snowfalls of a metre and more in the past week.

Andorra has had two metres of snow, and both of its ski areas opened last weekend, the best start to a season for more than 40 years.

More than 200 resorts will also open early this weekend in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Switzerland. The story is repeated in Canada and New England, where a metre of snow also fell at the weekend.

But the even better news for wintersports enthusiasts are falling faster than the snow. A survey from The Co-operative Travel has found prices have fallen by as much as 22 per cent for trips to Andorra.

Skiers flying into Toulouse, the gateway to Andorran resorts, are paying on average £163 less per person for a seven-night ski holiday (£568, compared to £731 in 2007). Resorts in Bulgaria are also showing a fall in prices.

While overall prices for ski holidays have risen slightly, the price of a ski package to North America has also fallen sharply - by 11 per cent to Whistler (Canada) and 7 per cent to Lake Tahoe (California).

The Co-Op studied 15,000 bookings and said the biggest success story for ski holidays is Finland, where booking numbers have grown 55 per cent over the last four years.

In addition to the main ski resorts, about half of Spain's 30 ski areas will also be open this weekend, reports www.Skiinfo.com. In the Alps, the biggest fall at the weekend was at Val Thorens, where 75cm of snow fell.

Resorts in Finland, Norway and Sweden have also done well, said skiinfo, with heavy snowfall over the weekend - 35 ski areas are now open in Norway alone.

The report also says that Eastern European ski areas have begun to open. with seven centres reported open in the Slovak Republic and 18, including major centres like Špindleruv Mlyn, Harrachov and Pec pod Sněžkou in the Czech Republic.

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