A ski resort cost of living index by Thomas Cook shows that North American prices can be as high as the perceived expensive destinations like Switzerland and Scandinavia.

The cost of a six-day lift pass in the Canadian resort of Banff is - at £156 - the high est in the survey, while an area lift pass at Breckenridge in Colorado is going to cost as much as £125 in low season, the same price as Verbier. The Austrian resort of Kitzbühel comes in at £100, Sweden at £96, Risoul in France at £80 while the cheapest in Poiana Brasov in Romania at £40.

The survey confirms what all skiers know: that the cheapest resorts, if not the best skiing, are found in Andorra and Bulgaria.