Snow you can plan around.

Natural snow is a gamble almost everywhere in the first half of December. Here is where the odds are best, and where you are relying on snowmaking.

Early April is the most dependable fortnight of the northern season for natural snow. The real question is how far down the mountain it reaches.

Late August is the peak of the southern season. New Zealand is dependable, the Andes are deeper, and Australia is a natural-snow gamble.

Resorts with villages below 1,000 m offer short transfers and real towns, but natural snow comes late. Timing is everything.