If you've only got a couple of days to play with, the mecca of steep terrain is an excellent choice. The size of Chamonix's charming town means weekend accommodation is relatively easy to find (contact the tourist office: 00 33 450 530024 www.chamonix.com). If it is off-piste adventure you're after, Grands Montets is a great starting point, with a 2,000m vertical drop. Chamonix's bars and clubs - lively any night - really kick off at weekends. Straight from the slopes head for Chambre Neuf by the station. Later, MBC is good for microbrewed beer and Le Choucas or La Terrasse for dancing.

· Leave Friday on the 17.35 Eurostar from St Pancras to Paris Nord. Then catch the 22.25 overnight train from Paris Austerlitz, changing at St-Gervais-les-Bains, to arrive at Chamonix at 09.25. Return on Sunday on the 19.12 from Chamonix, changing in St-Gervais-les-Bains and Paris to arrive St Pancras at 09.33 on Monday. Return fares from £125.

Serre Chevalier is well-loved by the French, and for good reason: the 250km ski area is simply superb. The resort comprises four separate towns and villages: Briancon, Chantemerle, Villeneuve and Monetier. Villeneuve is the main hub, which combines a charming, olde-worlde village centre with some horrendous purpose-built architecture. At night the resort will be too quiet for some, but La Grotte du Yeti, Loco Loco and Le Frog are all decent watering holes. Leave Friday on the 17.35 Eurostar from St Pancras to Paris Nord. Then catch the 22.05 overnight train from Paris Austerlitz to Briancon, arriving 08.38 on Saturday. A regular bus from Briancon (20 mins, €3.80 single) drops you in Villeneuve at 09.20. Return the following Saturday on the 19.10 bus from Villenueve to Briancon. Catch the 20.28 overnight train, changing in Paris, to arrive at St Pancras at 10.35.

Deal guarantees bus services in Chamonix

Visit our development in Vallorcine in Chamonix Valley (L'Ours Bleu)

Excellent Snow Drives Ski Holiday Growth

More people are choosing to enjoy ski holidays, according to remarks from one industry commentator.Compagnie des Alpes, the largest ski lift operator in the world, noted that numbers have risen by 14 per cent compared to the same time in the 2006-07 ski season, the Ski Club of Great Britain reports.

And this rise has been attributed to "excellent snow conditions", according to the Ski Club.

The comment comes after the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) reported that following a "woeful" ski season last year, early snow conditions in Europe have been "fantastic".

Abta added that France, Austria and Italy have been selling "well" so far while adventurous skiers are looking across the Atlantic in order to capitalise on the weak US dollar.

Compagnie des Alpes operates lifts in the  resorts of Tignes, La Plagne, Les Arcs, Les Menures, Le Grand Massif, Meribel, Chamonix, Val d’Isere and Saas-Fee among others (see our ski property specialist website for the best new developments: www.skipropertyshop.com.

                                                                                                                            Source: www.fasttrackski.co.uk 

Latest Ski Developments in Saint Gervais soon to be released! Be the first on the list! 

In the beautiful resort of Saint Gervais betweem the Mont Blanc and Geneva, an all-season location. Very spacious 1-2 bed apartments with terraces in the upper part of the resort. Yield will be an impressive 4.2% (indexed so + 1 point after 8 years) with 2 weeks personal use in January, March, April and mid season. Also we shall market fully-detached chalets in Saint Gervais in very residential area at around 5,000euros/m2! Prices expected to be between 500,000 and 750,000 euros as classic purchase (not leaseback).

Loads Of Snow In France

Friday, December 14th, 2007

 If you are looking to book a Christmas ski holiday then be sure to consider France, which according to the Ski Club of Great Britain is seeing the best December snow for 20 years.

 In Val d’Isere the snow was reported to be waist deep in places this week, while Phil Harrison, a ski instructor in Val d’Isere and Tignes declared he had enjoyed "the best day’s skiing of my life" earlier this week.

 Over a metre of snow has fallen in the French Alps this week, with Julie Slaughter, a ski rep in Val d’Isere, telling the Ski Club that "there’s loads of snow - it’s all powder".

 "No-one around, knee-deep powder and a grin from ear to ear. What more can I say? This winter is going to be so, so good. I just know it," she added.

The weather forecast in Val d’Isere is for snowfall this weekend and 35 ski lifts out of 46 are currently open.

Out of 81 slopes 62 pistes are open for skiing while more than half of the ski lifts for the Espace Killy are also open.

http://www.fasttrackski.co.uk 

13 Dec, 2007 - World's Top Riders Head To Tignes

For the fourth year in a row, Tignes is organising the ultimate event for the top riders in all the alternative sports that involve skis, boards and wheels. Tignes Airwaves will run for five days from January 7th to 11th and this winter there'll be a female event for the first time.

The contest, modeled on the American X-Games, is by invitation only and has event prize money of €150,000 on offer. It's an opportunity for the pros to try out and show off the first demonstrations of their new tricks for the 2008 season, just before the major competitions on the other side of the Atlantic.

In 2007 the French skier cross girls swept the board with the top podium places all over the world. The new female stars who have been setting the pistes alight from the X Games to Tignes will be competing in the 2008 competition.

Tignes Airwaves starts with Freestyle Half Pipe ski and snowboard events on Monday 7 January, with Freestyle Hip ski and snowboard on Tuesday 8 January. Then it's Warrior Day with Ski X for women and men on Wednesday 9th January and there's backcountry powder ski and snowboard competitions on Thursday 10th January Freestyle Moto X by night. Finally on Friday 11th January it's Moutainbike Day with a bikers Four X.

Latest comments in the press about Vallorcine and our luxury development

"Vallorcine is another satellite of Chamonix, 16km to the north-east and linked to its domain. Immoconcepts is about to build Les Aiguilles Rouges and L'Ours Blue, a development of 80 apartments, shops, restaurants, a hotel and wellness centre, there. The intention is to transform [it] into a high-class ski resort while also remaining a little village  .....[Prices are] about a third less than in the larger resort...These outlying villages are for people who want to be able to access a big ski resort and get a property of equal quality without paying the higher price."

FT.com

Last great French ski investment?

 
It could be the last development in the Chamonix Valley, but will it ruin the charm of a village, asks Cheryl Markosky

 Ski resorts typically evolve over time, but one diminutive French alpine community is executing a bold plan to transform itself into a high-end holiday destination virtually from scratch.

 Vallorcine, a few miles from the Swiss border, has hitherto been associated with a hushed lifestyle, lived in simple wooden homes. But the 450 residents who chose this traditional mountain village over livelier towns in the Haute-Savoie will – if the local mayor, Patrick Ancey, has anything to do with it – soon have a far buzzier outlook as a result of a municipal plan for 400 apartments, two hotels, shops and restaurants to be built over the next few years. And because this will be the last place in the Chamonix valley to be developed it looks like a real investment opportunity.

 After six years of planning, phase one, which involves building 80 one to four-bedroom apartments starting at £162,000, begins in the New Year. Cannily, though, the ski lift is already in place.

 Patrick Remme of Dutch developer Immoconcepts, who won the contract over several home-grown French companies, will work alongside the mayor to transform a small parish into a resort worthy of the most chic après-ski crowd. "A few British people already own chalets in the town," says Remme. "But this is not an organised ski resort. There are no buildings with facilities and we hope to change that while reshaping Vallorcine."

 The result will offer a level of service currently unfamiliar to the town, which has always prided itself on accommodating hardy walkers and those keen to avoid Chamonix, where property prices are 30 per cent higher. The development is to include a wellness centre, with a pool, sauna, hammam and massage rooms. Expanding the sleepy township will be a delicate operation, believes Hilary Sharp, who runs Trekking in the Alps. Originally from Derbyshire, Hilary, 45, bought a small one-bedroom chalet there in 1991 with her mountain-guide husband. Hilary admits Vallorcine has very little by way of amenities at the moment: three hotels, a grocer, butcher, bar/tabac, restaurant and café, not all of which are open all year round.
"Vallorcine is a charming village. And although we need more apartments and hotels to put up my clients, for instance, it is important that this precious place keeps its character," she says.

Latest comments in the press about Tignes

""for example, on the glacier in Tignes, they were skiing in fresh powder again last week-end"

"The most well rounded of all Europe's high altitude resorts is probably Tignes in France; it has a superb mix of terrain and suits all levels of skier and boarder."

Sunday Times UK, December 2 2007

Le Belvedere, our luxury development in Tignes  

Cébé halts production of goggles and helmets

Cébé has announced that it is to close all its French factories and stop production of goggles and helmets by the end of the year. The manufacturer started production in Franche-Comté (France) at the end of the 19th century. It has been a subsidiary of the Italian Macrolin [MCL - ISIN:IT0001129847] group since 1999.

The group lost €13.3 million for €157.4 million turnover in 2006. Cebe contributed the bulk of the losses at €10.8 million. The losses followed €16.7 million in 2005. The group, which also for produces sunglasses for other brands (Tom Ford, Mont Blanc, Roberto Cavelli, Ferrari etc) will focus on the sunglass market with production delocalized to Italy and China. Cébé has suffered from strong competition from cheaper products from Decathlon, Lidl at the bottom end and from products from the large winter sports manufacturers.

     Source: PisteHors  

La Plagne, voted top ski resort in the world in 2008

A recent survey by popular travel and independent review website, Tripadvisor, ranked La Plagne as the number one ski resort in Europe for 2008.

The poll was based on which resorts were generating the most pre-season interest among skiers and boarders. The result: ten varied places to ski in Europe. And the list is cetainly intriguing...

It seems that La Plagne's main attractions are fabulous views of Mont Blanc, good off-slope activities and extensive slopes; its Paradiski connection an obvious bonus.

Included are well-established favourites, such as Zermatt, but there are also some less familiar ones - Ortisei, near Selva Val Gardena in the Italian Dolomites, attracted votes for its location (linked to the huge Selva and Sella Ronda ski areas) and good shopping. And it was Austria's Obertauern, rather than better-known St Anton or Saalbach, that hit the number two spot - Obertauern is high, relatively snow-sure and close to Salzburg.

Surprising results? Well, it seems that much of it is based on the all-round holiday experience - Kiruna for example is best known for its ice-hotel and arctic activities rather than for downhill skiing (it only has four short runs locally!).

And while we ponder over the top destinations, ABTA is predicting that 1.3 million UK holidaymakers will take winter sports trips this year.

Crete Cote Village, our four-star development of chalets and apartments in La Plagne 

12 of the best-known resorts in France have joined forces so people can have a day in another resort for just 10 euros.

 The XXL Pass is open to people with a lift pass for 5 days or more from resorts in the Three Valleys, Paradiski and Espace Killy.
 “It’s obviously a bit of a trek to go from one ski area to another but for people who have a car and are out in resort for a while it’s a great way to visit another area”, says Al Morgan from The Ski Club’s Information Department.

 The pass replaces a slightly more complicated Espace Olympique pass which was launched 15 years ago.

Resorts participating include Courchevel, Meribel, La Plagne, La Tania, Les Arcs, Les Menuires, Meribel, St Martin de Belleville, Tignes, Val d’Isere and Val Thorens.

                                                                                  Source: The Ski Club