Ski Blog | Archive /P100

Snow Parks, tricks and not enough….....

It would be showing my age too much to say I learnt to do heli's on 207cm skis so I won't admit to that - oh....er......

Anyway... if you don't know what the hell a heli is all about then you are a lot younger than me!!  I am not sure when, but at some point they became 360's!! 

Along with 180's and twin tips and riding switch there are a load of other jumps and tricks that I haven't a clue what they mean when I hear the term - riding goofie, ollie's, backside, grabs, cork's, mute's, inverted 540's the list goes on and I get more confused - which is, admittedly, easily done!

Nowadays most resorts have snow parks and half pipes and even large air bags where you can practise without, or at least lowering, the risk of injuring yourself!  

It's not just snowboarders who have all the fun - skiers are just as skilled and pull off all sorts of tricks and Britain has one of the top Freestyle skiers in James Woody Woods he made the BBC front page recently with a superb photo of him and has won a World Cup gold this season! Great work! 

I watch the guys and girls in the park and am amazed at the skill and bravery of them as they pull all sorts of amazing jumps and tricks and tell myself that if it wasn't for my dodgy knee and sore back I'd be in there doing all sorts of things with them when if the truth be told it's because I don't have large enough erm..........

So I caught up with Kai in the Avoriaz snow park last week to find out a little as to what is going on up there!

Snow Report from Chamonix

I took a little road trip to Chamonix yesterday via Megeve and although I was running around meeting loads of great people looking at chalets and hotels I  couldn't help but be blown away but the beauty of the Chamonix Valley!  Just stunning! 

Unfortunately I didn't have time to ski which was a real shame as I love skiing in Chamonix - so much variety and views that take your breath away!

Some of the people I caught up with were the lovely Breezy & Al who run Ski Breezy and they showed us round their lovely catered chalet which is in a great location, just ten minutes from the town centre, it is bright, comfortable and looks like a great place to stay - all the guests we have sent there have given us great feedback.  

Breezy was good enough to give us this update on the snow conditions in Chamonix.

Ski Breezy have some fabulous deals in the next couple of months - some good deals during January (prices reduced to just £595pp for 20th & 27th January) and some great flexible breaks from the end of January from just £85 per person per night!  Oh and they still have February Half Term available as well!!  Don't miss out on that one!

We have to go back to the UK but otherwise we would be very very tempted - the cup of tea we had was great and the guests we met had had a great stay and were tucking into some delicious looking cake....mmmmmmm...  

Note to self - check what time tea is served and time chalet visits better........

New Year’s Day Snow & Ski Deal Report!

We met and skied with Ian from Les Carroz Chalets on New Year's Day and he gave us a quick up date on the snow conditions in Les Carroz, Le Grand Massif.

It has been a great start to the season and Ian has some fantastic offers for January with short breaks available from just £50 per person per night.  And that is in a catered chalet on a half board basis!  

Close to Geneva - just an hours drive so a very short transfer and some great snow if you haven't booked and are looking for a deal then this is really worth looking at! Check out more details here.

Watch what Ian says......

New Year’s Day Snow and Ski Report

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

We hope you had a great 2012 celebrated in style last night, are not suffering too much today and have a fantastic 2013 planned!!

We have not had any snow since Santa brought us some at Christmas - we must have been good!!  Maybe!! 

However the conditions have been superb - superb snow on piste for carving it up or learning and even off piste is holding up though you do have to hunt that out to find it!

Find out more by watching our snow report - we think he may have had a late night, see how many (deliberate?!) mistakes he makes!! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR - have a great 2013 we hope you get all the snow and ski and snowboard holidays you want!!

Christmas Eve Video snow report - HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Happy Christmas! 

There was a load of snow early on in December and some people even talked of the best conditons in 50 years!!  That has set up the season very nicely and the snow conditions are still great in spite of some very warm weather and even rain to about 3000m over the last couple of days. 

Conditions off piste aren't great but on piste they are superb - almost spring like, hard in the morning and then softening up and very grippy!

Santa is bringing some snow tomorrow which is great news!  

Watch our snow report to find out a bit more.....

Driving Home for Christmas

'So I sing for you
Though you can't hear me
When I get through
And feel you near me
I am driving home for Christmas
Driving home for Christmas
With a thousand memories'

Chris Rea once sang!!

I wasn’t singing as we boarded the Eurotunnel and set out on our journey to the Alps but I was very excited!  The early snow reports had been good and although the Alps aren’t strictly home I have spent 12 of the last 14 Christmases in the snow and they certainly have a thousand (and more) memories!

So trying not to jump up and down in the driver’s seat, we were soon cruising down the empty French motorway to our stop over for the night.

Booked only a couple of days before through one of the large hotel booking sites, we had struck lucky with La Maison Rouge in Noeux les Mines.  A perfect stopping point if you are driving to or from the Alps, just an hour from Calais and minutes from the A26.  And it’s not just a great location - the hotel is welcoming, has a lovely restaurant, fabulous food and a bar to sit in and relax after dinner.

With probably the largest Christmas baubles I have ever seen and a lingerie cupboard (sadly locked – and yes we did try the door! ), a comfortable bed and a great choice for breakfast what more could you want? However we were soon on the way again and had just an easy seven hour drive to The Alps to go.

Er……except it wasn’t that easy as it rained the whole way and made the journey an hour or two longer than expected – lots of spray and an extra couple of rest stops didn’t dampen the excitement and we were soon driving up the hill into Les Carroz with snow on the ground and more forecast. Excited and some more memories to make!

I have driven this route lots of times and although this wasn’t the easiest of journeys I would really recommend driving as an option. It is much easier to drive on French motorways than in the UK, the volume of traffic is far less, lots of service areas and several places to break up the journey – treat it as part of the holiday and enjoy it!

However you’re planning to get to the slopes this season, I wish you a safe, easy journey and plenty of the white stuff when you arrive. 

It’s looking good so far!

We Have a New Website!

Welcome to our new Website

We can’t wait for the ski season and we are also very excited about our new website!

It has been a long time in coming and a lot of work and time has gone into it and there are a lot of new features!

You can now search for ski accommodation to suit your requirements whether it is a self catered ski apartment, catered ski chalet or a hotel and contact the owner direct.  The owners will be updating their own availability and you can search for all sorts of criteria whether it is a ski holiday with flights included or a chalet with a hot tub or maybe you just want to know you are going to be staying somewhere that is ski in ski out! 

We have different sections for catered and self catered holidays, maybe it is just a weekend that you are looking for you - can browse for properties that offer weekend ski trips.  Skiing with the family? Then browse family friendly chalets. Looking for a bit of luxury?  Champagne in the hot tub is always a dream of ours. Take a look at the luxury ski holidays area.

The new part we are really excited about is our new groups organising facility.  You know how organising a ski holiday for several friends or families can be a nightmare?  Now it is really easy and none of the hassle that is has been!  Register on our site and planning that holiday suddenly becomes easy! 

We even have a little animated film to explain it – check it out here and let us know what you think of the film and the website in general.

And as it is new we are aware there maybe bits that don’t work (despite the hours of sitting in a dark room checking) so please let us know about those so we can get Bob the Builder on to it!

Winter is Nearly Here! Ski Shows, Early Snow & Winnie The Pooh - WE’RE EXCITED!

The clocks have gone back, the Ski Shows (Birmingham, London and Freeze) have all been and gone, the weather is getting colder, the ski mags are dropping on the doormats and we are excited!  That must mean that summer is over and winter is nearly here!

So what will this season bring?  What will the season be like for snow?  What has changed in the resorts?  Where will the best places to ski be?  What are the best ski and snowboard deals available?

As ever there is a load of new skis, snowboards and kit available and technology makes leaps and bounds – we particularly liked these new hi tech googles that wouldn't be out of place in a James Bond film!

We have loved the pictures and reports of early snow across most of the Alps which bodes well for the season though this can change very quickly as we wrote about in a blog last season.

What are your plans for this winter? Hopefully you will be able to make it out there for a ski holiday at some time this season – do check out our special deals and offers page on our website to find some ski accommodation that suits you and your budget!

The more it snows
(Tiddly Pom)
The more it goes
(Tiddly Pom)
The more it goes
(Tiddly Pom)
On snowing.

And nobody knows
(Tiddly Pom)
How cold my toes
(Tiddly Pom)
How cold my toes
(Tiddly Pom)
Are growing.

We may just be a little excited! How about you?

END OF SEASON REVIEW - 30 April 2012

So most resorts are now closed for the winter and nearly all still have snow - what a season it has been!! Arguably the best in living memory!

How was this possible when the press who always love a negative story were writing doom and gloom stories about no snow at the beginning of December?

Fortunately the weather doesn’t read the press and nor do we!  We ignored them and got on with skiing and organising holidays across the Alps and were lucky enough to get in plenty of skiing ourselves.

We here at Altitude skied Courchevel, Le Grand Massif (Flaine, Les Carroz, Samoens, Morillon),  Morzine & Avoriaz in France and in Italy the Monterosa (Champuloc, Alagna & Gressoney) and all in amazing snow conditions from the powder of Courchevel at Christmas through to the spring snow in April!

The snow was amazing we had some great adventures including a very scary 50m abseil, watching friends jump off snow covered roofs and of course skiing some great runs both on and off piste!

Whilst we should remember the good times we can’t forget the sad news through the season the coach accident carrying children back from a ski holiday, the tragic loss of life in the Belgian coach accident, Sheffield Ski village burning down, the sad loss of life in accidents through the season all reminders that we should make the most of every minute we have on the slopes!

Hope you had some magical moments on the slopes this last winter – have a great summer!

And if you have snow withdrawl symptoms you can always check out our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts!

SKIING IN THE MONTEROSA, ITALY - 26 – 28 MARCH 2012

Destination Italy – we packed up the car and left France for a three day break in Champoluc part of the Monterosa ski area in Italy.

I had skied there several years before for just a weekend and have been keen to get back ever since.  Now was an opportunity to return with a couple of mates who were as keen as me to ski the area made up of Champoluc, Gressoney and Alagna which is a self proclaimed ‘Freeride Paradise’

So with180km of piste and 37 lifts and skiing at a maximum height of 3275 metres we were excited to be skiing somewhere we didn’t really know with so much potential.

Through the Mont Blanc tunnel and into Italy we were soon winding our way up alongside a river but as we got nearer there was still no sign of snow even in this one of the best seasons in living memory!  We arrived in Champoluc which is at 1570 metres and there was no snow anywhere to be seen – we had just come from Les Carroz which is at 1150 metres where you can ski back to the resort!

A little concerned we checked into the small B&B ‘Le Vieux Rascard’ we had booked online to a very warm friendly Italian welcome, sorted out our kit and headed towards the lifts.

Once up and on the way it was apparent that there was plenty of snow higher up!  We headed towards Alagna and found some great spring snow,the pisteswere empty, no queues for the lifts and the snow typically spring like – this was great! We managed to find our way back across the valleys to Champoluc for an après ski beer, shower and out for something to eat.

The resort is mainly centered around one main street with all the shops, bars and restaurants off this.  It was empty!  No one around! I know it’s getting to the end of the season but it’s still only March –there’s the best part of a month to go yet!  Where is everyone?

On our second day we headed to Gressoney and explored the slopes here in the middle valley of the Monterosa. We found some amazing off piste with perfect spring snow conditions, a lovely little restaurant with the most amazing collection of old ski and mountaineering paraphernalia I have ever seen. That evening we found a pizzeria and a local bar for a couple of beers that had a little more life than we had found the night before.

And all too soon it was our last day and we headed to the highest point of the ski area today the Punta Indren at 3275m - there is a telecabine that takes you to a the highest point and some off piste skiing. Lacking in local knowledge we had to be careful where went and following tracks is a recipe for disaster so we skirted round areas, watched other skiers and made our own way down finding some more fresh tracks in some spring snow! Half way down has to be the most up market refuge in the Alps!! Great Italian pasta and service once more!  By the time we got to the bottom the temperature was rising and the pistemap was showing 16 degrees at the end of the day! Very warm!

Thick viscous hot chocolates, strong Italian coffees at mountain restaurants, cold apres ski beers in the setting Italian sun, warm friendly Italian service this short trip was leaving us wanting more and more! 

We loved the skiing here and want to come back when there is a load of fresh snow to get even more from the off piste, there are some great flattering runs across the area and would be suitable for all levels of skiers and boarders. 

Off the slopes we loved the service and friendliness at the B&B, in the restaurants and the bars.  We are intrigued as to why it was so quiet in the evenings and whilst we aren’t looking for a different nightclub each night a bit more atmosphere in the bars would have been good – oh well we’ll have to come back at a busier time to compare! That’s a shame!

You can see photos of our trip on our Facebook page here.