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Three Valleys Snow Report – Week Ending 8/3/14

Three Valleys Snow Report – Week Ending 8/3/14

They say that the 1st of March is the 1st day of Spring. For guests arriving last Saturday the old saying proved to be spot on.

From stepping out of the arrivals hall on Saturday through to the journey back today, we have had 4.5 days of the best weather imaginable, with just enough snow over Monday and Tuesday to keep the pistes in the best condition. In fact, conditions on Thursday and Friday were so good that those with weary legs towards the end of the week were as likely to be found sunning themselves on the terrace at one of the mountain restaurants as they were to be carving their way down the pistes.
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Great as those kind of conditions are, they can sometimes be slightly bittersweet for those who come the following week. In the mountains in Winter, you know that overcast periods and snow will return sooner or later. Fortunately for those arriving today, forecasters predict that it will be later.

In fact, as things stand we are predicted to have a whole week of blue skies and sunshine ahead of us. Temperatures will be unseasonably mild during the day but still cold overnight . Beautiful.

If you fancy having a play in this snow check out our website for all our latest offers. www.alpineaction.co.uk. On some holidays we are offering up to 50% off.

This weeks report was written by our Resort Rep Rob Barttlet.


The Three Valleys Snow Report – Week Ending 15/2/14

The Three Valleys Snow Report – Week Ending 15/2/14

Last week I talked about how skiers always want Jekyll and Hyde weather: a mix of howling snowstorms to lay down powder – preferably overnight – and warm sunny days to enjoy on the piste. Last week duly delivered both those extremes, with very little else in between.

Saturday saw a heavy snowfall, which continued into Sunday and laid down a great base for the week. Once our guests had found their ski legs, Tuesday and Wednesday delivered the kind of conditions that make for magazine covers, with brilliant white powder dazzling under the deep blue skies that seem limitless. The sun had everyone slapping on the Factor 30. Thursday went to the other end of the scale as strong winds and low hanging cloud made in a day for lots of layers and hardy temperaments, before Friday brought fresh snow to provide a fun end to the week.

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Looking ahead for those arriving today for February half term week, it should be a case of a nice happy medium. Conditions are predicted to stay overcast, with temperatures just above freezing by day and just below by night. Light snow is expected on Saturday night and through the day on Sunday. The wind should remain light throughout the week with the sun most likely to come through on Tuesday and Thursday.


Three Valleys Snow Report – Week Ending 11/01/14

Three Valleys Snow Report – Week Ending 11/01/14

Over the last week our guests were very lucky. Saturday night and Sunday morning saw a 10-15 centimeters of snow in resort with more at higher altitudes. However, the clouds cleared away through Sunday afternoon to set up a full week of blue skies. With fewer crowds after the busy Christmas and New Year period meaning virtually no queues at all at the lifts, our departing guests have enjoyed arguably the best conditions of the season so far.

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Inevitably a week’s use has taken a toll on some of the lower slopes. However, with more fine weather predicted for the week ahead, guests arriving today can look forward to a great week ahead. To really make the most of the week, we would recommend a 3 Valley pass which not only allows you to enjoy the best skiing in Meribel, but also to seek out the best snow in Courchevel, especially around the Signal, Pyramide and Chanrossa lifts which enjoy the best of the morning and early afternoon sun. For those looking to push themselves a little more, Val Thorens is also easily accessible, where the thicker snowpack at higher altitudes offers some great opportunities to head off-piste.

Over the week ahead, more snow is predicted on both Monday and Thursday nights. The forecast suggests both snowfalls will deliver 10-12 cm, helping to keep the pistes fresh throughout the week ahead.

Rob Bartlett


Shoreham-by-Sea twinned with Meribel

Shoreham-by-Sea twined with Meribel.

How did this get included you may ask? Other than the links that we will detail shortly, it was at the insistence of the boss. This is where we are based and where we work hard to make sure that every Alpine Action holiday you go on is the best holiday you take. In effect our office is a little part of Meribel in England. Our walls are adorned with posters of Meribel and full of Meribel memorabilia, piste maps and old lift passes.

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During the winter months, when we are not in resort, there is an open line to the resort. We get information about the weather in  the mountains and they get a weather update about Shoreham-by-Sea. The resort staff inform us about the piste conditions and we feedback the state of the high street traffic.

Meribel is famous for it’s chocolate box architecture and traditional buildings, it is one of the few major resorts to have predominantly chalet style accommodation. Shoreham-by-Sea mirrors this as there is a large amount of beautiful houses and the architecture is wonderful.

Every elite location needs a small private airfield and Meribel and Shoreham-by-Sea are no exceptions. While you can’t fly direct from the two on a chartered plane, you probably could if you had a billion pounds and a private jet. Oh, and an experienced pilot that is happy to land on snow. These are sadly things that are just dreams for Alpine Action. But it’s nice to know the option is there should we ever win the Euromillons or marry a footballer.

What other reason do you need to consider that this is a great option for our twining mission? Meribel needs a twin which compliments it. Shoreham-by-Sea is, as the name suggests, by the sea. Isn’t it everyone’s dream to spend the winter in the mountains and the summer by the ocean? During the winter you can ski or snowboard all day long then in the summer you can stay at your twin town and spend your time making sandcastles, messing about on boats and trying to catch your dinner.

 

 


Final Five – Meribel

The Final five!

It seems as though we have been agonising over the short list for places in the UK that we should try and get twinned with Meribel, for what seems like months! Finally we have done it! We have managed to choose between all your suggestions, so hopefully in years to come, when you are driving into Meribel, you will see the sign, Meribel twinned with …………, but in the French Language obviously.  And when you see that sign you will think, I suggested that, or I voted for that, or I suggested a different town that no one voted for, or my suggestion wasn’t even short listed. At the very least you will think that is a good Idea, good to see Meribel twinned with ………… .

So which UK places will be going to the public vote for that chance of us contacting their local authority about the prospect of Meribel being twinned with them? The finalists are, (long pause), in no particular order, (long pause), decided by our panel, the UK locations are: (even longer pause)  Windermere in Cumbria, suggested by Ange Jeffery. The second UK location through the final is, (really long pause), Streatham in South London, suggested by Alex Smith. The third finalist facing the public vote will be, (you get the idea), Shoreham-by-Sea, suggested by Alpine Action, (“Fix, Fix Fix”). The last two places will be Aviemore, suggested by Keith Stevenson and the birth place of Peter Lindsay founder of Meribel, (no one knows where this is), suggested by Colin Mathews.

Well that was tense. Some surprising choices, one of our Facebook fans suggested that there would be no representation from places in the North. However it seems our panel have opted for a fifty/ fifty split, that is until we discover where Peter Lindsay was born, we suspect Scotland. In the next few paragraphs we will give each nomination a short introduction. Over the coming weeks we will get a bigger profile and reaction from each of the nominated towns..

Windermere, nominated by Ange Jeffery.

Windermere is already twinned with a town in Germany called Dießen am Ammersee.  Much like Windermere, Dießen am Ammersee is next to a lake and in a quite hilly region, Bavaria. But there are many towns with duel twinning, oddly not called triplets, so let us not be put off by that. Like Meribel, Windermere attracts adventure nuts all year round and is the gateway to some amazing terrain and ski fields.

Streatham, suggested by Alex Smith

A few years ago, it wasn’t cool or hip with the affluent city types, much the same as Meribel. It has only been in recent times that the light has been seen and more and more people are flocking to the areas. Both have a vibrant and diverse night life and a great amount of restaurants that cater for people looking for a variety of culinary experiences. The Streatham ski area is limited and only available to skiers once or twice a year. However it does have an excellent mountain restaurant, and bars at the bottom of the runs.

Shoreham-by-Sea, suggested by Alpine Action

Our head office is situated in  Shorham-by-Sea, and as we are Meribel experts we kind of thought that it would be a good reason to start a link with the resort of Meribel. As previously noted, like Meribel, Shorham-by-sea has a small airport. Over the next few weeks we will reveal other parallels to Meribel. We also hope that out ties to both will mean something to the Mayor of each location.

The birth place of Peter Lindsay founder of Meribel, suggested by Colin Mathews.

An excellent suggestion, only confounded by the lack of information surrounding the actual location. We know that he was a Scott, and Lindsey was his clan. So we can assume that it will be a location in Scotland. Which is good, as it will be, if nothing else a snowy place that we will be potentially twinning with Meribel. Based on the confusing family tree of most Scottish families we are in for some degree level research.

Aviemore, suggested by Keith Stevenson

This final suggestion is possibly the most sensible of all the nominations, other than the selection of other ski areas in the UK that were nominated. But we couldn’t choose all ski resorts so we have chosen Aviemore to represent. It has a good ski area and a developed infrastructure. Both resorts have a funicular, but unless you are a funicular geek like me you wouldn’t know about the one in the Meribel Valley. Aviemore is a small version of a ski resort and as such could easily be twinned with Meribel. There could even be mutual benefit to come from it.


Tip of the week #5

Safety on the slopes – Essential bits of equipment for the off piste skier or boarder.

Avalanche airbag – all airbags have a handle located on one of the shoulder straps for activating the airbag, if you are even caught in an avalanche you will pull on the handle which causes the airbag to inflate and will keep you from going under.

Transceiver – An avalanche transceiver can be used to receive a signal from a possible avalanche victim, it will allow you to quickly pinpoint their location in the snow and dig them out ASAP.

Avalanche probe – Avalanche probes help you pinpoint the exact location of an avalanche victim and to measure the burial depth.

A shovel. for off piste

We have done a little research, the best combined price we could find was around £900 

It may sound a lot but remember you can’t put a price on a life.


Tip of the week #1

Tip of the week #1

Ski Boots

Its common knowledge to the expert skier that your ski boots are vitally important.
Correctly fitted by the most reputable shop. The right flex for your strength and weight. Racers look for a 130 flex and mere mortals start at 70/80.
The foot beds are the most desirable upgrade. Custom fitted , they can transform your performance with instantaneous edge pressure and real.
Foam injection or silicon injection is only for those with problems as most of the thermo moldable inner boots are fine.
Traditional four clips are great but don’t disregard the boutique brands like Full Tilt. They have reintroduced an old design but with modern plastic and they are super comfortable.
Add comformable boot heaters if you really suffer from cold feet. The top tip however is to make sure your socks are bone dry at the start of the day. Some professionals carry a fresh pair of socks to put on with the boots if they are in a car or ski locker situation. Last detail is to know your boot length in mm. For example mine are 327 mmThat lets you pre order ski from hire and save time.

The Morris Family Ski Holiday – Part 1, Packing

Every month we will be sharing with you the tale of the Morris family ski holiday holiday.

Part 1 – Packing  – “Do you want me to ski with you?” 

We are getting ready for our annual ski holiday, it is two days until we leave and most things have been organised ready for our departure. The only thing left is packing. Normally this is a family activity, mainly so no blame can be laid when we arrive in resort to find out an essential piece of kit has been left behind.

This year an unexpected event has occurred and I have been left with the task of packing for the whole family. This also puts me in the position of shouldering any blame for anything left behind. This set up will leave most readers expecting at least another three hundred words before I reveal what I calamitously left at home. I shall not keep you in suspense that long. What I left behind was £750 worth of pre-ordered Three Valley lift passes.

Nothing says organised more than pre-ordered lift passes. Last winter at the end of our week skiing, our rep comes round to say that we need to return out lift passes in order to get our €3 deposit back. Or we could keep them and charge them up online before our next ski holiday. Always keen to try out new technologies and to save minutes in resort not having to order them from the rep, I vowed unconvincingly to myself that I would pre-order them next year.

I am notorious in our family for poor packing. On one holiday that revolved around us hiring a car for a trip around Spain I forgot my driving licence. It wasn’t until we were cruising across the Bay of Biscay that I discovered my error. I am notorious in our family for poor packing. On one holiday that revolved around us hiring a car for a trip around Spain I forgot my driving licence. It wasn’t until we were cruising across the Bay of Biscay that I discovered my error.”Where is your driving licence?”
“Safe.”
“Where safe?”
“My useful document folder, in the spare room, in the paperwork draw.” During the rest of the plane journey I learn that to hire a car you are required to prove that you can drive, and that the car hire people don’t just assume you can drive. This point was pressed home further by the lady at the Hertz desk at Madrid International.

It was easy to see the fear in my two sons voices as they were bundled into the family car to go and see my mother-in-law. The last words of our 16 year old was, “I want the Westbeach outfit not the 1980’s Prince Charles faded onesie”.
“They are back in fashion” I say.
“Do you want me to ski with you?” And with that I was left with our family’s holiday happiness in my hands.

I climbed down from the loft with the bag marked “ski stuff” and proceeded to check off an outfit for each family member. In my jacket pocket I found last year’s Three Valleys lift passes and remembered the words of our rep “Why not charge them up online next time”. Twenty minutes later I had charged our passes ready for our week away. I safely stashed them in my jacket pocket ready to surprise the family with at our chalet.

The family return late Friday night with good news about Gran. This was followed by all of them extracting from me exactly what I have packed for them for the following week. After an exhausting hour of interrogation which resulted in me having to producing two pairs of yellow tinted, scratched, CEBE goggles, just to prove I hadn’t packed them, I was finally allowed to go to sleep.

A flight, a misunderstanding at passport control, a coach transfer and a dinner with strangers later, it was time for our first day skiing.
“What the hell is this? Who packed the faded Prince Charles onesie?” I demand. My son pops his head round the door of our room, “What’s the matter with it? You said they are back in fashion.”
“Where is my North Face?”
“I may have repacked for you” says my son, “does this mean you won’t be skiing with us?”
“It is looking unlikely”.