Best weekend ski contacts

It's not hard to see why ski weekends are so popular. While a week's trip means five days off work, an Alpine weekend involves taking only one, yet you can get as many as two-and-a-half days on the slopes. European hotel owners don't like the trend - they prefer filling their rooms for the whole week - but with demand increasing, flexible winter weekends are here to stay. Here are 10 of the best operators:

First Choice
(0870 900 3214). Affordable weekends including car hire for independentminded skiers. Mainly in France: Les Deux Alpes, Chamonix, Avoriaz, Morzine, Chatel, Meg?ve and the Three Valleys and Villars in Switzerland.

Stanford Skiing
(01223 477644; www. standfordskiing.co.uk). Meg?ve specialist - good for weekends (90 minutes' drive from Geneva) and untouched by the large UK tour operators. Offers a range of accommodation from two-star upwards. No weekends in February.

Inntravel
(01653 629010; www.inntravel.co.uk). "Quiet side of the mountain? specialist, traditional villages, family-run hotels, cross-country skiing and downhill. Locations include Kandersteg in the Bernese Oberland, Pertisau in Austria and Samoens (Haute-Savoie, France).

Momentum Ski
(020 7371 9111). Tailor-made trips to Courmayeur in Italy using Ryanair from Stansted to Turin.

Good for late availability and can arrange trips throughout the Alps, particularly Chamonix, Davos, Villars, Grindelwald.

Ski Weekend
(01367 241636; www.skiweekend.com). The market leader in short-break skiing for the past 15 years. Specialises in Chamonix where it has resort staff and offers guiding each morning. Can tailormake throughout the Alps.

Erna Low
(020 7584 2841; www.ernalow.co.uk). The leading self-catering ski specialist to France has weekends in Flaine and Chamonix.

Ski Weekends
(0870 442 3400). Three Valleys specialist, with all accommodation in Brides les Bains.

Skiworld
(0870 241 6723; www.skiworld.ltd.uk). Tailor-made weekends throughout the Alps: Courchevel 1850, Val d'Is?re, Tignes, Les Arcs, Les Deux Alpes, Alpe d'Huez, Morzine, Flaine, St Anton, Kitzb?hel, Saalbach, Verbier and Davos.

The Ski Club of Great Britain
(0845 45 807 80). This members' organisation has weekend breaks to Verbier, Davos, Zell am See, Alpe d'Huez, La Grave, Flaine, Chamonix and Val Thorens.

White Roc Ski Weekends
(020 7792 1188; www. whiteroc.co.uk). Tailor-made skiing and snowboarding in the Alps. Chamonix, Courmayeur, Morzine, Meg?ve, Courchevel 1850, Val D'Is?re, M?ribel, Grindelwald, Gstaad, Chambery, Verbier, Zermatt, Davos, Klosters, Arosa, Flaine, Lech and St Anton.