With the winter season knocking at the door - weather forecasts project that the first snow may fall already this weekend - the resorts are eagerly looking forward to welcoming skiers.

They will be emerging out of what has been a successful summer season for many, as part of which they saw record numbers of hikers and lovers of alpine air.

But without major investment in infrastructure for the ski season, their main draw this winter will be a single ticket for non-season holders, said the head of the Association of Slovenian Ski Lift Operators Ernest Kovač.

For the first time all major Slovenian ski resorts will be included in the system, which will include annual and multi-day ticket options.

"I think the biggest success is the shift to marketing Slovenia as a single ski destination," said head of the Chamber of Mountain Ski Centres Marjan Čuk.

While the major ski resorts have not invested heavily in new ski lift infrastructure, they have updated and expanded their capacities for making artificial snow.

Their main hope now is that the period of unseasonably warm weather comes to an end soon so they can get down to making snow.

All the major resorts - Kranjska Gora, Krvavec, Vogel, Pohorje, Rogla, Golte and Cerekno - are said to have everything ready for the start of operations, the only exception being Kanin where efforts are still underway to prepare the ski lifts after they were idle for two years.

After being taken over by the Bovec municipality and getting a state bailout, the hope is that Slovenia's highest-altitude ski resort, nestled in the heart of the Julian Alps, will be able to welcome visitors in the upcoming winter.