To start with, Canada couldn’t have been further from Mark Pitman-Rowe’s thoughts. He and his wife, Dinah, knew they wanted a ski flat, but their search was focused on France. Then they saw how little they could get for their money.

“We were looking in La Plagne and all we could afford was a tiny one-bedder,” says the 36-year-old accountant. “So we widened the search, and someone mentioned Mont Tremblant in Quebec.” They flew out to take a look, loved the scenery and the bilingual culture, and bought a big, two-bedroom flat in the Versant Soleil development (marketed in Britain by Erna Low, 020 7590 1624, www.ernalowproperty.co.uk ) for £136,000.

That was two years ago. Since then, rental income from the property has more or less covered their mortgage payments, and they have had some great holidays in both summer and winter. They recently bought a two-acre plot in the resort and are planning to build their own chalet.

It is no surprise, really. North American ski resorts have long been known for the amount of space they offer holidaymakers — on the slopes, in the lifts, even in the size of the hotel rooms. Now, investors are waking up to their attractions, too.

By no means all of them are as cheap as Mont Tremblant — far from it, in fact. The attraction of resorts on both sides of the 49th parallel has increased in recent years, however, amid growing concern about the reliability of snow in the Alps. The recent slump in the US dollar, now close to the magical mark of $2 to the pound — coupled with a weaker Canadian currency — is adding further to their appeal.

Here’s the best of what is on offer.

America

Fancy a ski pad in Aspen, Colorado? Does your budget run to £2.3m? According to Paul Menter, finance director of Aspen town council, that is the average price of a freestanding family home in the world’s most prestigious ski resort, up from £1.5m two years ago.

It’s not just in Aspen that prices have gone through the roof. The elite club of American resorts is growing, and several can now boast the magic ingredients for runaway success (and runaway property prices): a pretty town, stunning scenery, highly rated skiing and a celebrity fanbase. Telluride, also in Colorado, was one of the first to follow Aspen into the stratosphere, with Tom Cruise and Oprah Winfrey buying into the valley. Christie’s Great Estates (020 7389 2551, www.christiesgreatestates.com ) is offering a seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom, 13-fireplace property on the slopes there for £7m. Other A-listers include Jackson Hole in Wyoming and Vail and Beaver Creek in Colorado.

At a more modest price level, you need to go one of two ways. The first is to aim for capital growth — and bet on the future prospects of an up-and-coming area. The most obvious option is the combined resorts of Moonlight Basin and Big Sky in Montana, which joined forces last winter to create the largest ski area in America.

There has already been significant price appreciation there — and yes, Montana is a long way from anywhere: flying from London will involve at least one change and could take up to 18 hours. The skiing is sensational, however. In Moonlight (the prettier of the two resorts), a three-bedroom house close to the slopes will cost about £860,000 with the Montana Real Estate Company (00 1 406 995 3992, www.montanarealestateco.com ).

If it is reliable rental income you are looking for, then aim for an established resort with a reliable season and find a property as close to the lifts as possible. Breckenridge in Colorado is one of the safest bets: a big, high, intermediate-friendly area close to Denver and its international airport. There, a one-bedroom flat in the ski-in, ski-out Mountain Thunder Lodge is on offer (through Slifer Smith & Frampton, 00 1 888 531 3800, www.summitcountyrealestate.com ) for £270,000, with rental returns, through the resort’s rental pool, of about 4%.

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers