Make good use of the package holiday boom

A rise in savvy local operators such as Dragon Lodge in Tignes (www.dragonlodge.com) or McNab Mountain Sports in Chamonix (www.mcnabsnowsports.com), coupled with the cheap-flight boom, meant recently many punters avoided the main holiday companies and opted to organise their own trips.

Betony Garner, of the Ski Club of Great Britain, feels that the small companies will feel the heat of the economy and the aggressive moves of the larger companies.

"Few small operators have the buying power of a company such as Crystal or Inghams, and if anything they will have to raise their prices this year to cover costs".

It is these fixed costs (long-term contracts within resort hotels, lift companies and chalets), coupled with the plummeting exchange rates, that are causing the trouble.

If a cut-price package doesn't appeal, there are other ways to cut costs. A company such as Interhome (www.interhome.co.uk), strangely underused by British skiers, has a huge portfolio of properties in resorts all over Europe, which means there's flexibility if you want to keep costs down.

Expect to see a rise in the profile of smaller resorts slightly off the beaten track as adventurous skiers look for bargains in unlikely places. Haute-Maurienne Vanoise (www.hautemaurienne.com), with good links to Grenoble airport, fits this profile perfectly.

Fantastic Italian ski areas such as Alta Badia (www.altabadia.org) and Monterosa (www.monterosa-ski.com) are also worth investigating. The latter is usually uncrowded and is reasonably priced.

If you simply must have access to the "name" ski areas, you can also cut costs by staying in these areas' lesser-know satellites.

For the Paradiski area, try the Chill Chalet operation (www.chillchalet.com), a brilliant example of a smaller company offering unique deals.

Unlike the fixed Saturday-to-Saturday option of larger companies, this small outfit offers chalet-style accommodation with hotel flexibility and you can stay for one night or two weeks.

It's a great idea because it means you can take advantage of cheaper midweek travel.

It offers two standards of accommodation, either a townhouse in Bourg Saint Maurice or a ski-in/ski-out chalet in Montchavin, which links to the resorts of Les Arcs and La Plagne.

Even better, this season Chill Chalet is marking its 10th anniversary by offering prices of £18 per night for the first two weeks of the season. A week's B&B for £127? See you there.