To the average holidaymaker there is no real difference between snowboarders and skiers these days. Both sports attract a broad range of ages, incomes and creeds.

But to diehard fans there remains a distinct line in the sand (or snow) between the two camps, even if it is in jest — one snowboard maker released boards for three-year-olds with the slogan “Teaching them to ski would be child abuse”.

So for hardcore snowboarders, what is new for 2009-10? In terms of competitions, the Winter Olympics in Vancouver will no doubt dominate the coming season, and the men’s halfpipe at Cypress Mountain will be the blue riband event of the Games.

Sportsworld has tickets to the finals on February 17 with packages starting at £1,160 for four nights luxury accommodation and all transfers. Pricey but guests will be treated like VIPs.

Next year also sees the Winter X Games come to Europe for the first time with Tignes, France, playing host on March 10-12. A stay at Dragon Lodge during X Games week costs £499 a person for seven nights half-board. Expect plenty of camaraderie, parties and organised mayhem.

For anyone looking to enter a competition (or to cheer on friends) the 21st British Snowboard Championship is confirmed for March 21-28 at the resort of Laax.

The event, with its accompanying music festival, is always the highlight of the UK snowboarding diary. Packages start from £195 for seven nights’ accommodation at the snowboard-friendly Riders Palace and a seven-day lift pass, excluding flights and transfers.

Alternative rooms in Laax’s new Rocksresort, a compact village of luxury, minimalist buildings will be available. Or visit the snowboard-savvy Swiss resort any other time during 2009-10 for its incredible fun park and calendar of events.

The small but very snowboard-friendly Austrian resort of Flachauwinkl is the site of a new Burton Snowboards-sponsored Stash run (www.thestash.com). After the success of similar runs around the world, the formula of creating a piste packed full of natural objects such as tree stumps, rocks, snake runs, rainbow rails, cliff drops and wall rides comes to the eastern Alps.

Sölden, Austria, is home to another innovative run. The Shoot My Ride piste incorporates cameras in strategic areas. Riders with lift passes embedded in their watches trigger timing mechanisms that record them as they pass by.

An instant edit of their whole run is then played on a giant video screen at the bottom of the piste, as well as being posted online. Sölden joins the Swatch-sponsored snowparks at Livigno, Laax, Tignes and Verbier with this feature.

The British-run Chillchalet at Bourg St Maurice in the French Alps has direct access to the Les Arcs area, which has a permanent air-bag in its funpark this year. Chillchalet offers accommodation on a per-night basis, so snowboarders can take advantage of midweek flights or the train services from London.

The standard rate for catered accommodation is £65 per adult but a special offer for the first two weeks and last two weeks of the season is roughly £18 per person including breakfast.

On the subject of transport, while the “official” ski train is no more, there are still two great connections. Eurostar’s Direct Ski service runs express from London St Pancras to Bourg St Maurice on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings, while Rail Europe has regular connections from London to Bourg (with a change in Paris) every day of the week. The winter timetable is posted online in mid-October and early bookings are expected to start at £99 return, or £124 for an overnight sleeper.

Chris Moran is co-author of Snowboarding the World, published by Footprint Guidebooks (www.footprintbooks.com)