I just received word yesterday that Alitalia is inaugurating new direct service from Dulles to Milan, starting on 10 March.

Milan is less than two hours by car from the Selva/Cortina region and the Cervinia/Zermatt area. It's also only 2.5 hours from St. Moritz.

Milan is also a rail hub, so it's also possible to access many of these venues from Milan via public transportation.

For those who don't ski, Milan is less than three hours by train from Florence and also a short train hop to Venice.

Recent cold weather in Europe means that things are looking very good now for Spring skiing in the Alps.

St Moritz Snow Report snow data provided by www.snow-forecast.com

Date of report: 03/01/2004 Weather: Sun.
Lower Slopes: 40 cm Temp at 8am: -6 C
Upper Slopes: 150 cm Date Last Snow: 27/02/2004
Glacier Snow : Off Piste: Wind Blown
Runs to Resort: Excellent No of Lifts Open: 56 / 56
Piste Condition: Excellent
Comments: Cold but the skiing still excellent. Particularly good on the Corvatsch

Good news indeed. Also heard that United will launch Dulles-to-Zurich service soon, effectively replacing Swiss/Swissair/etc. who dropped the route last year.