The lift is worthy of note as its combination of length (3,610m – more than two miles), span (2,507m – more than a mile and a half) and ground clearance (400m) are unprecedented. Kitzb? has modestly dubbed it “the world’s most spectacular gondola”.Spain may not be the top winter sports destination for most of us, but the Formigal ski area is undergoing the biggest expansion and upgrade programme in the world this winter. The result will be seven new lifts, including the country’s first eight-seater The top French resorts also have some spanking new lifts. La Plagne’s two new six-seater chairs bring the resort’s total to 10, while Alpe d’Huez has opted for a funitel (large gondola). Electronic lift tickets that pop open the turnstiles from inside your ski jacket are gradually being introduced across the Continent.

Les Arcs goes hands-free this winter, as does the giant Italian Dolomiti Superski region.There’s plenty happening in North America, too. A second new ski area, Tamarack in Idaho, opens this winter after the inauguration of Moonlight Basin in Montana last year. And a 10-year, $250m (£140m), redevelopment is under way in Stowe, Vermont, with visible improvements promised this winter at its Spruce Peak base.To the north, Intrawest’s Tremblant, near Montreal, has announced its own 10-year plan. Resort bosses are investing C$1bn in an expansion plan that they hope will attract a world-record four million visitors a year by 2015.

Intrawest’s best-known location, Whistler, is expanding its terrain by another 1,000 acres. Other ski areas in British Columbia are also growing rapidly, notably new boy Kicking Horse, where Brits are reported to be spending heavily on property, and Big White, which will add another two chairlifts. Although prices in the US and Canada remain low, Deer Valley in Utah is breaking new ground with the world’s first $500 (£274) lift ticket, valid from 26 December to 1 January. Fortunately, the growing strength of the pound against the dollar means that prices for UK skiers are likely to fall.Scandinavia continues to keep pace with the Alps in terms of new development, looking ahead to a future when northerly latitudes may provide a distinct snow advantage over alpine destinations once global warming takes hold. Norway’s Hemsedal will have an expanded beginners’ and family area with snow waves, a mini quarter-pipe, jumps, rails, a self-timer slope, forest path and magic carpet conveyor lift. The new eight-seater chairlift from the base of the mountain is the largest in Scandinavia.In Scotland, both Glencoe and Glenshee ski areas that were put up for sale by their former owners in February have now been acquired and will open this winter, conditions permitting.IN THE BROCHURESThere are few new destinations in the brochures this season. The only “new” country is Serbia, where the resort of Kopaonik is back with Thomson some 15 years after it last appeared in their literature.

Andorra has a “cheap and cheerful” reputation, but this year a hotel in the resort of Soldeu has made it into Inghams’ “Luxury Ski” brochure for the first time. The country lost some of its market share last winter, although it still attracts nearly three times as many Britons as Switzerland. Packages to the four-star Sporthotel Village, with its brand new leisure spa, start at £600 per person, including flights from Gatwick.Andorra is down to three ski areas following a series of resort mergers. Last winter, Soldeu and its neighbour, Pas de la Casa, ended their feud and combined to form the Grandvalira resort. At the height of hostilities these adjoining destinations demanded separate tickets, but this winter things have improved so much that they will now only offer a joint area pass.