by Marina Veronica Colombo and Tony Crocker
Updated Dec. 31, 2006

New Zealand - There is a different air in the mountains of New Zealand. It might be because there are absolutely no trees of any kind in any of the ski resorts. But it's not just the skiing. The population of New Zealand numbers only 4 million, and with more than one third living in Auckland and three-quarters on the North Island, the rest of the country is pretty sparsely unoccupied. There are four ski resorts on the country's North Island and 22 on the South. Eighteen of them are commercially operated and the rest are run by non-profit ski clubs. You can find anything, from top world-class resorts to a two-rope tow ski area. New Zealand also has a cross-country ski field (Snow Farm) and an exclusive terrain park ski area (Snow Park NZ). This year even marked the opening of the country's first indoor snow resort in Auckland (Snowplanet) for a year-'round winter experience on a slope 202 meters long and 41 meters wide, where you can go to learn with certificated instructors or practice your jumps in the terrain park.

by Stuart Smith

As an Australian, I imagine that most of the world has an image of Australia as being filled with kangaroos, beautiful beaches and the outback – but on the Great Dividing Range, stretching down the southeast cost of mainland Australia, there are snow-covered mountains that each winter host some world class ski resorts. No, they don’t compare to Whistler, Aspen or Val d’Isere when it comes to the scale of ski terrain or the depth of the snow, but the facilities, relaxed atmosphere and people make them absolutely addictive.