Spring is a mixed blessing for ardent skiers and snowboarders. Long, light evenings beckon but the thrill of the powder seems dismally distant. Do not despair. Those unable to face the vacuum left by the closing of resorts can find outlets for their frustration, even in blazing summer.
Europe
The most easily accessible option is glacier skiing in Europe. Most glacier runs are fairly bland, however, so do not expect too many stiff challenges. At La Plagne, for example, you can ski on the Bellecte glacier. At Tignes, an underground railway whisks skiers to the restaurant on the Grande Motte glacier in six minutes. Erna Low (0207 5842841) can offer a self-drive week at either, in an apartment, from around £350 or £400 respectively for four people and including ferry crossings. Other French resorts with glacier skiing include Les deux Alpes, Val Thorens and Alpe d'Huez.
Austria's Kaprun has 16 lifts on the Kitzsteinhorn. The glacier at Hintertux, not far from Mayrhofen, has steeper runs than most and some 11 miles of piste remain open throughout summer.
Swiss resorts offering summer skiing include Zermatt and Verbier.
Scandinavia
At Sweden's Riksgränsen - the world's most northerly resort at 20 miles inside the Arctic circle- it is possible to experience skiing under the midnight sun. Conditions are reckoned to be best in late May, but the mountain stays open until mid-summer. Off-piste and heli-skiing are available.
Slopes are mainly intermediate, with 5% of terrain graded expert, and there are 19 pistes and six lifts. Getting there demands a degree of determination, however. You need to fly to Kiruna via Stockholm. SAS (0845 60727727) offers midweek fares in May and June from £262.80. The Riksgränsen Hotel (0046 980 40080), which charges around £80 a night for a double room, will organise airport transfers. The resort has a web site at www.riksgransen.nu - but it is in Swedish.
Also in Scandinavia, there is summer skiing on the Tystif glacier at Stryn, 200 miles north of Bergen in Norway, though there are only two lifts and three runs.
South America
South America is among the best choices, though snow has often proved scarce in recent years and it would be a good idea to leave booking until late, when you have some idea of likely conditions.
In Argentina and Chile, the season usually starts in June and, depending on how far south you go, lasts until September or October. The best known resort is Bariloche, close to the Chilean border in Argentina's Patagonia region. Skiing is on the Catedral Mountain, which has some 30 lifts and 50 runs and a recently-installed covered chairlift.
Las Leñas, purpose built for mountain sports in the 1980s, has seven chairlifts and four drag lifts, and runs including about 15 miles of advanced piste.
Resorts in Chile include Portillo and Valle Nevado. The former lies 100 miles north of Santiago, has 11 lifts, 23 runs and recently-extended snow-making. With its close neighbours La Parva and El Colorado, Valle Nevado offers fairly extensive skiing served by over 40 lifts, but because it is only 40 miles from the capital, it can get pretty crowded at weekends.
Most of these resorts are high - Las Leñas is a heady 11,243 feet above sea level at its highest point - so leave time to adjust to the reduced oxygen.
Passage to South America (020 8767 8989) can put together packages to all these resorts, starting at around £1,500 for one week in Bariloche. It suggests avoiding the South American school holidays in July, and says the best time to go is the second half of August.
North America
Canada's Whistler-Blackcomb, near Vancouver, offers summer glacier skiing and a snowboarding half-pipe. Check out www.whistler-resort.com.
New Zealand
You can ski the piste or choose from a range of guided heli-skiing options on South Island second only to that in Canada.
Perhaps the best known resorts are Mount Hutt, just over an hour's drive from Christchurch up a dizzying approach road, and Coronet Peak, 25 minutes from Queenstown in the south-west. Others include Treble Cone and The Remarkables.
In the North Island, the biggest developed area is Whakapapa, which has 18 lifts, including a high-speed quad.
The length of the season varies, but most resorts open in June - Mount Hutt usually starts in May - and close in mid-October or November. Helicopter operators include the long-established Harris Mountains Heli-skiing, which flies skiers and snowboarders from Queenstown and Wanaka, to more than 200 peaks in seven mountain ranges with runs varying from 2,000-4,000 vertical feet, fitting the terrain to their abilities. A day, including three descents, costs around £185 at the current exchange rate. For further details of skiing in New Zealand, try www.snow.co.nz.
Australia
In New South Wales, Thredbo, 280 miles from Sydney, has some of the best skiing in Australia - three years ago, it was hit by a tragic mud slide in which 18 people died - and Perisher Blue has some of the most challenging runs though more than half its terrain is graded intermediate.
In Victoria, Mount Buller claims the country's biggest lift system with 28, including eight four-seaters. Other options in the state are Falls Creek and Mount Hotham The latter also has some fairly difficult skiing and should have a new airport open for the start of the season in June, enabling skiers to fly there in 21 minutes from Melbourne and 47 minutes from Sydney by Qantas regional subsidiary airlines.
• Periods when glacier lifts are open vary. Check web sites:
www.tignes.net
www.valthorens.com
www.la-plagne.com
www.les2Alpes.com
www.alpedhuez.com
http://www.verbierswitzerland.com/HomePage.html
www.zermatt.ch
www.europa-sport-region.com (for Kaprun).
