French Nordic ski areas awaited the 2021/22 season with trepidation.

"got to admit it's getting better", Paul McCartney once wrote. To which the ever brutal John Lennon quipped "it can't get no worse".

Following an incident where an employee of the Folice Douce restaurant at Val d'Isere was killed by a piste basher resorts have warned of the dangers of being on the slopes at night.

People have been flocking to the French mountains despite the curfew, closure of ski lifts and restaurants.

Some lifts are open for ski club and training use.  The Haute-Savoie will join the Hautes-Alpes with an 18-6h curfew. Other areas have a 20h-6h curfew. A form is needed to move around after 6pm.

A number of mayors have taken the decision to impose a temporary ban on ski touring in their communities.

Another accident involving a piste groomer and ski tourers has occured. This time on the pistes of Bernex in the Chablais.

Skiers arriving at Allevard on Saturday morning were greeted by a rare sight. The pistes had not been prepared overnight leaving 20cm of fresh snow.

As you may have seen some resorts in France have already opened but this weekend things really start to ramp up especially in the Pyrenees and Southern Alps which were blitzed by stormaggedon last wee

The Savoyard ski resort of Méribel, part of the Three Valleys ski area, wants to build a snowdowe “similar to that in Dubaï”. The project is part of the Chaudanne development plan.