Ski Chalets and Skiing in Les Gets Blog - Chalets 1066

The 'Bubbles' on the Mont Chery ski lift were full, evening of 14th Feb - with a special Valentines Dinner - see the link:-

http://videos.tf1.fr/jt-13h/leur-saint-valentin-un-diner-dans-une-telecabine-de-mont-chery-6991829.html

The 'Big Mountain Battle', which is being held in Les Gets, featured on French TV:

http://videos.tf1.fr/jt-we/quand-le-ski-devient-un-sport-d-equipe-et-course-d-orientation-6958107.html

From the powder hounds:
Gizzie and I went along the Nabor Road today and I found this enormous stick. It was -14 degrees out; the humans all put extra layers of clothes on, but we didn't mind it and even enjoyed rolling around in the white stuff.

These pictures were taken a few days ago, two were taken from close to the top of the Chavannes Express lift, looking down and one from close to the bottom of the Les Folliets lift - a little later. There was a band of mist which was moving up and down - mid afternoon it was very misty as you skid down, later on the mist moved up and it was clear below and misty above.

This picture was taken on Thursday - a hot air baloon landed just outside Duc du Savoie - quite amaizing:

Yesterday we went skiing in the afternoon, it was snowing heavily and the slopes looked excellent. When we were walking up the Chavannes Road when, a Frenchman came out of his Chalet for a chat - he was saying how bad the weather was and assumed we were coming back from skiing.  He was amazed when we said that we were just on our way out - but then we explained we are English!

The slopes were fantastic, around a 4 inch covering of powder on all the slopes - it was a little cloudy at some points- but there were no queues in the restaurants or at the lifts - even better. We came back by the ski back route to Chalet Hastings where there were tracks from only three skiers before in the day - wonderful!

Chalets1066 have some amazing last-minute offers for ski holidays in Les Gets, full details are on the 'deals' page of the web site. With the snow being so very good, everywhere is starting to sell out. Chalets1066 simply want to fill up.

For details go to: http://www.chalets1066.com/special-offers.html

After weeks of sunny skies and snowdrifts that white stuff is coming down from the skies again. 35 more cm last night...how much deeper can it get? We already work hard, struggling through the snow, chasing the odd marmotte.

Will we ever catch one?

The season has been running for just over four weeks and we are getting excellent customer feedback. This is a testament to the hard work the team put in before before the start of the season but also to the ongoing management of the operations in Les Gets - which is down to Morven - and to her outstanding team. Customer Testimonials can be seen at:-

http://www.chalets1066.com/general/testimonials.html

We have worked with the Daily Mail Ski and Snowboard magazine and Ski-Mobile to develop a competition to win a free ski holiday with Chalets1066 this ski season. The winner has the choice of either a week in our fully catered chalet for up to 4 people, or a week in our self catered four bedroom apartment Bayeux, which can accommodate up to 9-10. The prize includes ski passes and ski/boot hire . The closing date for entries is end January. For details and to enter go to:

http://www.metrosnow.co.uk/ski_competitions/win-a-ski-holiday-to-les-gets/

We have a wonderful view from the office at Chalet Hastings. We feel so privileged to be able to look out and see such beauty. This photograph was taken just over a week ago, after a snow fall. I hear that 81 cm is now forecast for Les Gets over the next three days!

The amount of snow has been excellent this season, however, the work involved in snow clearing so far this season, has been quite exceptional, Jeff and Dirk are really appreciated for the outstanding hard work they have done, it is impossible to plan ahead for large amounts of snow and we are reliant on support and commitment to ensure the snow is cleared. Many chalets simply are not cleared properly and the result is that the snow builds up more and more and it becomes almost impossible to get to the front door.

The picture below shows the entrance to the Hastings building - you can see their work - and another 32cm snow is forecast over the next few days.

Chalets1066 are offering 20% discount on Wessex and Bayeux, where available for the rest of the 2012 ski season.

Wessex and Bayeux represent, arguably, the best value for money accommodation in Les Gets for groups of 7 to 10. Both apartments are very spacious, have 4 large bedrooms (no bunk beds) and log fires. There is also a sauna, DVD library and PC/Internet. Bayeux and Wessex are in the Hastings Chalet, which currently is ski back, 10 minutes walk to the ski lifts in ski boots and the free bus stops right outside.

I went out one evening last week at 11.30 and took a few pictures from outside Le Lapye - overlooking Les Gets. I feel this is the best picture. There was no electric light on the road, as there had been a small avalanche the day before which took a pylon out (power was back the day after this picture was taken)  - the sky was clear and there was almost a full moon - hence it was actually quite light...and the snow on the roofs was lit just by moonlight.

I feel it is appropriate to say something about Morven - our operations manager.

Chalets1066 is now around double the size it was when we took this over, to allow Sue to focus more time on revervations and other areas, Sue asked Morven to take on responsibility for managing all day to day operations at Chalets1066.

Morven is a real bundle of energy, is always positive and fun to be with and has amazing organisational management skills. Previously Morven managed teams of people for Office Angels and this experience was clearly a good background. As an anecdotal example of her style, my brother is a GP and is head of a large practice and he was particularly impressed when he overheard Morven ‘coaching' one of the staff who initially had a punctuality problem - she soon cured him of this!

Managing 9 Chalets and 4 apartments (around 100 beds) in a busy ski season when weather conditions can range from warm with no snow to minus 20 and massive snow dumps presents many challenges - Morven handles this all in her stride - part of her success is the loyalty she has from staff - both seasonal and temporary - they will always go the extra mile for Morven to help out at short notice - all this ensures our clients have a great holiday.

My ‘natural' walking speed is around double that of Sue's walking speed. I always have to concentrate to slow down when walking with Sue. It was so funny last week, just after we bought her new boots, we had to run for the bus.  Sue was well ahead of me! Her new boots have miniature metal studs on the bottom and are amazing at gripping in the snow and ice. I have good quality walking boots but they are no match for Sue's new boots on the pavements in Les Gets. The metal studs are mounted on a plastic ring which can be rotated, so you can chose of the studs are on the outside or not (ie in conditions where there is no ice or snow you would not need the studs).

This was the first time I had seen boots like this - we bought them from Jordan Sports in the village, they had boots with these studs on the bottom at prices from around 60 euros to around 150 euros and with an exchange rate of 1.2, to me, this seems an excellent deal.

At 08.00 Wednesday morning, Ben called me and said: Dad - you must get out, the snow is fantastic....at 08.30 he called me again while I was enjoying my breakfast...we agreed to meet at 10.15 at the top of the bubble lift on Mont Chery.

The piste was powder, however, as it was snowing heavily, many people decided to stay indoors. Ban gave me a really good lesson in powder and moguls. By lunch there were indications that Mont Chery would be closed and Le Grande Ourse restaurant had decided not to open as the snow had become even more heavy. The snow was excellent, however, at points, it was snowing horozontally!

On Thursday, I decided to do some jobs around Hastings - this was a pity as this was much better weather to ski in.

Our clients went out skiing on Friday and reported the best snow they had ever had, in 20 years of ski holidays and clear blue skys.

Unfortunately, Thursday evening a power line came down on the Chavannes Road and most of the chalets were without power until this afternoon - 2 days in all. We understand this was caused by an avalanche. The team at Chalets1066 worked exceptionally hard, they kept in close contact with EDF while they were making repairs and also communicated latest status with clients, they also ensured all chalets/apartments had deliveries of logs, candles and everything practically possible under the circumstances to minimise the problems. In the Catered Chalet, Larurie and Morven did an amazing job of cooking meals off site and serving by candle-light, the clients were very happy.

The past couple of days have been wonderful in Les Gets - the village has been full - as far as we know everywhere is booked - yet the pistes are not overcrowded at all - the snow is excellent and the weather has been wonderful.

Yesterday I fell over on the moguls on Chamossier - so took a break from skiing - tomorrow I will be back.

7cm snow is forecast over the next couple of days - and average temperatures of -4 to -10 degrees C.

Yesterday we tried the ski back route to Hastings and the other chalets in the same area (see location map on web site)  the snow was very good up to Chalet Soleil, after this we walked - for about 3 minutes to get to the Hastings Chalet. So - Chavannes, Senlac, Soleil and Hastings are all within 3 mins of a ski back route - as of yesterday.

It was snowing heavily this afternoon and some 33cm and cold conditions are forecast for the rest of this week - there has been a little thawing - which in practice results in building a solid base of heavy snow - and with over a foot of additional snow and cold conditions, it is looking like this will be a very good season.

The snow is absolutely amazing at the moment, and a further 70cm snow is forecast for Les Gets over the next three days. Whilst this is excellent for skiing, and bodes well for the rest of the season, the amount of snow is causing havoc with the roads. We hardly ever see Land Rover Defenders with snow chains, but over the past few days, we have seen quite a few!

Normally, when this is this much snow at the start of the season, it forms a good base for a few months, so whatever happens with the weather, we usually have reasonable snow for the season.

We have now had the best snow, by Christmas, for 21 years - the picture below  - from the Chavannes web cam today - shows how wonderful the snow is:

We now have the best snow in Les Gets, by this time in the season, we are told, for 20 years. Skiing conditions can only be described as excellent. The snow is almost 2 metres deep and the top and 1 metre in the village of Les Gets. The depth of the snow is such that we feel very confident of good skiing conditions in Les Gets for quite some time.

However, the amount of snow is not without it's problems, we are having to work hard to clear the snow on the Hastings main building balconies, and, had we not bought a four wheel drive vehicle earlier in the year, we would now be having real problems getting around.

A very good long range forecast was released in October by the people who run the Maison Jaune Chalet in Chamonix, they considered long range forecasts from a number of met offices and produced their summary. This is highly recommended and can be seen at:- http://www.maison-jaune.com/blog/545/long-range-weather-forecast-for-europe-french-alps-and-chamonix-2011-12 . Many people held back from booking due to the fear created by the late snow and the press  - and now there is a panic to book ski holidays - this forecast clearly shows the benefit of trusting good scientific analysis.

Chalets1066 are offering short stay ski breaks in Les Gets for both Self Catered and Catered Accommodation in January and March. This follows on from a successful trial of short ski breaks last season.

You can arrive either on a Saturday or Sunday and leave mid week, or arrive mid week and leave Saturday or Sunday.

If you want to get the most skiing in for the minimum time away, you can get an early flight on your arrival day, and by using Chalets1066's services for ski pass delivery and ski/boot fitting, can be on the slopes before lunch. If you take a late flight back on your last day, you can fit almost 5 days skiing for just 3 nights away.

Self Catered short breaks can be booked on line either weekend to mid week or mid week to weekend, you have to stay a minimum of three nights. The per night rate is shown on the page for each chalet/apartment

The car park at Chalet Hastings is now around 30cm deep - and Les Gets are opening the ski lifts this weekend. The charge is only €10 for the day, the following lifts will be open:-

• The Chavannes Express - taking you from the village to the top of the popular Chavannes
• de la Croix
• La Mouille aux Roi - from where you can ski some of the most beautiful runs in the area

It was only last week that the UK press, on their front page, were reporting doom and gloom for skiing holidays this year, they obviously don't study the long term weather forecasts - this early opening is a bonus for all who can get to Les Gets.

It has been snowing continuously in Les Gets since yesterday morning, the car park outside Hastings is at least 6 inches deep, the sky is very heavy and it is looking like this will continue - certainly for the rest of the day, the forecast is for a few days of snow.

The picture of the snow below is from the Chavannes Web Cam at 12.00 today:

This was taken from the web cam in Les Gets today - the Grains d'Or web cam - at 16.30hrs. We clearly have snow in Les Gets!

What was even more interesting was that on the front page of one of the main London newspapers, this morning, the leading article was talking about the lack of snow in the French Alps - it went on to say that the French were still fairly relaxed - but that 1000's people could be wasting their money - well - you can see for yourself - this panorama shot was taken from the Grains d'Or web cam at 16.30 hrs and 46 seconds today. The forecasts are saying there will be a foot of snow over the next few days - we will post pictures as this develops.

The last snow forecast seems to have not quite got the dates right - however, snow is forecast starting around the 1st or 2nd December, the long term forecasts for the Alps are upbeat for a good season - temperatures are dropping - so we are hopeful of good snow starting very soon.