Slovenian ski resorts had been upbeat heading into the winter season, having upgraded their facilities in a major investment drive. However, unseasonably high temperatures have spoilt their plans, cutting the ski season short.

After a poor start to the season, the ski resorts hoped for the weather conditions to improve, but the situation only got worse and some have already decided to call it quits for the season, while others are operating at limited capacity.

One of the country's most popular ski destinations, Kranjska Gora in the northwest will shut down after the last skiing day on 5 March. Despite some 20 centimetres of snow on the slopes, high temperatures are making it hard to keep the pistes in shape.

Kranjska Gora is still hoping to hold a men's World Cup slalom on 10 March after the organisers were forced to cancel the giant slalom planned for the day before on 5 March despite having put in an all-out effort into the annual Vitranc Cup.

Another popular resort, family-friendly Cerkno in the west of the country, shut down on 22 February, having operated only since mid-January, and Velika Planina, just north of Ljubljana, did not open at all.

Currently, the best conditions are at the Vogel ski resort above Lake Bohinj, which has 140 cm of snow. However, only 12 out of 22 km of its pistes are open.

The new six-seater chairlift up Mt Zvoh at the Krvavec ski resort. Photo: RTC Krvavec/Facebook

Krvavec, the ski resort closest to Ljubljana, has 45 cm of snow but is also struggling with high temperatures. Still, it has recently reopened the piste left of the chairlift up Mt Zvoh after 23 years, having replaced the old two-seater with a modern six-seater.

In the northeast, Mariborsko Pohorje, Kope and Golte are all open with limited capacities and have up to 20 cm of snow. The nearby Rogla resort has 30 cm of snow and around a half of its pistes are open.

The only Slovenian ski resort with plenty of snow is Kanin on the border with Italy, which is closed this season because it lost the permit to operate its circular cable car. The country's highest ski resort, which when open offers spectacular views all the way to the Adriatic Sea, has nearly five metres of snow, according to its website.