The fun has begun!

The snow has arrived, the staff have arrived and so have our guests. The combination of which equals much FUN!

Fabulous feedback is already coming in and some guest have booked their next stay as soon as they've arrived back in the U.K. No surprise, because as you can see from the pictures below, Megeve is a stunning place to visit and our staff make sure you get total enjoyment from the whole of your stay

We still have some great deals available - If you think you might be able to get away really last minute and join in the festive fun and fresh snow at New Year, then call Lisa Quinn on 07887767727 or e-mail her on lisaquinnjones@aol.com. She still has 3 rooms left in our superior Chalet Les Clochettes due to some friends pulling out last minute

Grab a January bargain! Hot foot it out to Megeve in January and grab a special offer whilst they last!

4th Jan discounted to just £450 in the Sylvana and Rond Point and 15% off in our superior chalet Les Clochettes to just £699 (only 2 rooms left)! Short breaks are also reduced by £25 in the Sylvana and Rond Point and £40 in the Clochettes. Prices start at £275/person.

11th Jan - 10% off our superior self-catered chalet St. Paul, down to £1,950. New to us this season, it's been very popular due to it's great location in the pedestrianised area, next to the Chamoix lift and the central square.

18th Jan prices slashed in our superior chalet Les Clochettes with £150 off to just £799pp. The chef this year in the Clochettes is excellent with a Michelin star background so don't miss out. We have very little available in this chalet for a full week for the rest of the season. We are also extending our low season rates to include the week of 18th Jan so prices for a 3 day break start from just £380/person. The Sylvana and Rond Point are also discounted to £575/person with short breaks at low season rates.

All prices exclude flights.

Do give us a call if you have any queries or would like any advice. We look forward to welcoming you to Megeve this winter.

Best wishes,

Elizabeth, John, Debbie, Sarah and Rachel

New season, new snow

At last, it's snowing!   The grass outside our apartment is turning white and the tree's branches are being outlined.  So far, the lifts have been open for walkers only but I hope that that will change tomorrow. 
We have a very good team this year and everyone is raring to go.  Johnny and Tracey are Resort  Manager and Manager of the Sylvana respectively, Hannah is back as resort rep., Sam (who was the chef at the Clochettes last year) is now in the Rond Point and Santa ( who was chef last year at the RP) is now a driver at the Sylvana.   So there will be some old faces ( and new ) for you to remember.
So see you soon!

More snow to village level!

Good morning all. Today we are bringers of good news - there's snow a plenty in Megeve, even to village level!

It's become a morning ritual for the team here in the U.K to check the Megeve webcams for signs of the white stuff, so as you can imagine we were thrilled this morning to see these glorious pictures. Staff are arriving this week to get ready for the start of the season on Thursday 18th and hoping to get in some pre season skiiing... looks like they will!

If you haven't booked a ski break for this Winter, we still have some accommodation left with some great deals to be had. Christmas is now fully booked but we've one single room available for new year. Half term is also full, but if you're able to get out beforehand, the slopes are wonderfully quiet... Get in touch with our helpful and friendly team by calling 01603 477471 or emailing info@stanfordskiing.co.uk

Hope to hear from you soon! Team Stanford x

The best things about #Megeve

Hello all...

Right now, the kids are tucked up in bed and the other half is happily sitting in front of the fire with some easy viewing on TV. So I thought I'd take the chance to tell you about my trip to Megeve at the end of last month. In fact it wasn't just me - Stanford Skiing's other new recruit, the lovely Rachel came along too. Together, we took our maiden voyage into all thing's Stanford and Megeve

Rachel has been along to Megeve before as a paying guest with her family staying in the Sylvana  and I have visited St Gervais too, so we had a basic understanding of the area. However being able to see the stunning Alpine resort in the sunshine and fire non stop questions to the fantastic staff, (who have over 200 years knowledge of the area between them) proved extremely useful. Now we can pass that on to you guys too...


Now I can relay to you how stunning the resort is. How fab the accommodation is - from cosy and family friendly to luxurious and sophisticated. How ideal the locations are with a choice of town centre to almost at the end of the ski runs. What great a deal you get when booking transfers, lift passes and equipment hire. How fantastic the food is from breakfast to evening meals. Or what an amazing team of people will be looking after you from your first point of contact in the UK to your break away.

However what I've decided to do as a starter is give you a brief taste of Megeve by giving you some top 3's (ish) from the crew

The Best Things About Megeve

Beautiful mountain views in a tranquil setting
Tartiflette - This rich and luxurious potato dish straight out of the French Alps makes an indulgent supper!
People watching from the many cafés in the town centre 
The skiing!
  

The best wines to drink

Apremont
Reisling
Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages 
Crémant

The Best Ski Gadgets

Drone Camera - A flying remote control camera that allows you to rise above the clouds and capture the world around you
Go Pro - This wearable, waterproof, shockproof and high definition video camera is proving a hit on the pistes to capture all the action and vistas around
Apps - there are a variety of apps to chose from to help you make best use of your time away. Currency convertors, french translators, tourist information, ski trackers... Make your choice and download away!
H.U.D Ski Goggles - Want to know how fast you're skiing? or how far you've travelled? Stick on a pair of 'Heads-Up-Display' goggles and you're good to go

The Best Cheeses 

Beaufort
Tomme
Comté
Raclette
Reblochon
Abondance

The Best Things To Do

Champagne and Oyster Bar
Para Penting - Known to us as paragliding!
Ice Driving or sledding with Huskies
Telemarking - Using equipment similar to cross-country skiing, the ski bindings having the ski boot attached only at the toe. The technique is used in activities such as ski jumping, ski mountaineering, and cross country skiing
Using the Snow Parks - The Mont Joux Snow Park is located in the heart of the Megève ski resort with a 120 m long halfpipe and a Bag Jump

The Best Pistes 

Olympique
Princess Blanc
Mont Rossets
Grand Epaule

So there you have it! Some of the fave's from our staff. There are many things that could be added to this list... But the very best way of finding out for yourself is of course, making the trip and discovering your own favourite things about this amazing resort first hand. If you haven't booked yet, get your skates on (or ski's!).  Don't forget we offer ski weekends and short breaks as well as week long stays and Geneva is only 75 mins away so perfect for a quick getaway! - Go to www.stanfordskiing.co.uk or call us on 01603 477471

Looking forward to hearing from you soon, 
Team Stanford Skiing x

 

Beat the January Blues with a Ski Break

Low Price for Short Breaks in Early January! Now is a great time to book short breaks and ski weekends.  Flights are out and are still reasonable and we have a special low season rate for the beginning of January in all our our catered chalets and self-catered apartments.  You can take a flight out Thursday ski Thursday afternoon, Friday, Saturday and all day Sunday and catch a late flight back home ready for work on Monday.  Great for those limited on holidays and you feel like you've had a great break.  Alternatively, if you have the beginning of the week free that's even better as flights are cheaper, accommodation is cheaper, the Unthank Ski Club meets up and there is no staff day off.  We will organise the transfers all you need to do is book the flight.  Prices start at just £295/person for a 3 night stay in our catered chalets Sylvana and Rond Point starting on a Sunday excluding flights and transfers.  Call us to book now!

We offer short breaks in all of our catered chalets from our superior chalet Les Clochettes to our friendly and comfortable chalet-hotels Sylvana and Rond Point and self-catered apartments Les Clochettes and St. Paul.  We also offer a transfer service from Geneva airport.  Flights are out so and accommodation is booking up.  Please call us before booking flights so you're not disappointed! Do give us a call if you have any queries or would like any advice.  We look forward to welcoming you to Megeve this winter. Best wishes, Elizabeth, John, Debbie, Sarah and Rachel

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Special Offer on Christmas Holidays

10% off Christmas holidays! With the ground getting harder and freezing, it's time to think about Christmas.  Most of our chalets are now fully booked but we have a few rooms left in our Chalet/hotel Sylvana.  The most popular chalet with our regular guests, this chalet is a former small hotel with en-suite rooms, a professional chef and a roaring log fire in the relaxing sitting and bar area.  It has a welcoming, friendly ambience and is very close to the cable car.  Ideal for getting straight into the ski area.  On Christmas day there will be carols, Christmas trees and of course glorious snow filled pistes to whizz down whilst our professional chef cooks a delicious Christmas dinner.  Megeve is particularly beautiful at Christmas time with the village square lit up be a huge tree and the shops illuminated in sparkling fairy lights around the medieval village square.  Father Christmas visits his grotto on Christmas Eve and all are welcome.  There is vin chaud on offer and ice sculptures to admire. To tempt you away, we are offering 10% off week stays from Sunday 21st December.  Prices start at just £567/person excluding flights. Can't get away for the week?  Why not come for 3 or 4 nights.  We have short breaks over the Christmas period available starting from just £335/person excluding flights and transfers. Tempted? Get in touch with us by calling one of our helpful and friendly team on 01603 477471 or visit www.stanfordskiing.co.uk for more info Best wishes, Elizabeth, John, Debbie, Sarah and Rachel Facebook Twitter Website Email Google Plus

#Snow in #Megeve and #Ski Show

Well, we have the first snowfall of the season!  

This was Jean-Marc's view as he looked out of his bedroom this morning.

Not bad for October!  Nearly down to village level and the snow is still falling.  Here's some shots of Rochebrune and Mont d'Arbois.  Looks lovely up there!  Can't wait to get out at New Year.  We've still got a bit of space at Christmas in our Chalet Sylvana and our self-catered apartment Les Clochettes if you fancy letting someone else grapple with the turkey whilst you whoosh down the pistes but hurry up as everywhere else is booked.  Otherwise, pop out for a short break or weekend in January.  It's shaping up to be a great start to the season and flights are already out. 

Best wrap up warm Jean-Marc and family, it's forecast to be chilly for the next few days! 

Mont d'Arbois at 13:40 today!

Rochebrune at 13:40 today!

Next call, the London Ski Show!

Running from Thursday 30th October to Sunday 2nd November, it's an extravaganza of all things skiing and we shall be there with the Megeve ESF to help promote Megeve.  We can answer any questions you may have.  There'll be live freestyle demonstrations, lessons for all abilities, live music and Olympic athletes.  Sounds fun doesn't it!  It would be lovely to see you so do pop by.

Best wishes,
Elizabeth, John, Debbie, Sarah and Rachel
www.stanfordskiing.co.uk

Megeve's snow depth in late March has increased since '92 unlike other resorts!

Megeve's snow depth in late March has increased since '92 unlike other resorts!

It's true, according to the Ski Club of Great Britain, the snow depths on the lower slopes in Megeve (not even the higher ones!) in the third week in March has increased in the last five seasons compared to seasons '92-'98.  Other resorts have not been so lucky including Chamonix, Verbier, Tignes and Zermatt some of the so called snow sure resorts!  Of course, this report is not saying that those resorts had no snow, I'm sure there was still plenty, but one of the most common questions we get asked here in the office is will there be snow in March.  This report quite clearly indicates that snow cover has improved in March not got worse  thanks I'm sure in part to Megeve's piste workers who do a great job.  Personally I love skiing towards the end of the season and we normally come out as a family for the last week in mid-April.  We love the longer days, the sunshine, the fact that we can sit and eat our lunch outside, the slopes are quieter, I can book instruction for the kids with ease as the ski schools are not so busy and likewise neither are the restaurants.  What's not too like!  I'm wondering if our guests have cottoned on to this as well as our superior chalet Les Clochettes is nearly full in March and we have a lot of regulars in our chalet/hotel Sylvana too.  Don't forget, Megeve is great for ski weekends and short ski breaks.  It's only 70 mins from Geneva.

Centre of Megeve on 24th March 2014

Top of Mont d'Arbois 24th March 2014

Here's the article - let us know your thoughts!

La Folie Douce Arrives in Megeve in time for Winter 2014!

La Folie Douce Arrives in Megeve in time for Winter 2014!

It was in 1969 when Luc Reversade, a former ski instructor, founded the first La Folie Douce in Val d’Isere. The restaurant and bar soon built up a reputation as the place in Val to go for apres-ski...

As has been clear for years at the Krazy Kangaruh and Moosevirt in St Anton, apres-ski doesn’t have to start at the bottom of the hill and visitors to Megeve will soon be able to go open air clubbing at altitude!

La Folie Douce is about style, fashion, drinking and dancing - Expect a tasteful mix of dance music, funky jazz and cabaret. This is ‘open air clubbing at altitude’.

The Val d’Isere location was followed by more restaurants in Val Thorens, then in 2012 in Meribel and Alpe d'Huez. Now Reversade has announced plans to open a fifth Folie Douce in Megeve this Winter, with a site at the top of Mont Joux at 2000m overlooking the slopes of St Gervais and Megeve

We at Stanford Ski watch with anticipation as plans progress.. (in hope of some launch night tickets for the younger ones amongst us!) One thing for sure is that this will provide our guests with even further choice as to how to spend an evening in Megeve. I have to be honest though, I cannot imagine many people wanting to venture out into the cold when there's the cosy comfort of the log fires in our chalets. Given the fantastic choice of skiing available locally too, surely most will be saving their energy for the snow?

Still, it gives us another chance to shout about the beautiful Megeve... and cement it's place firmly on the map as one THE most fabulous ski weekend and ski break resorts!

Over & out, Sarah x

Afternoon all!

Firstly, let me introduce myself - My name is Sarah and I'm very lucky to be one of the newest recruits to Team Stanford Skiing in their Norwich HQ. I'm a happily married Mum to three gorgeous boys, Norfolk based and a lover of all things internetty (Down to the fact that I have an Iphone glued to my palm to guide me through modern life)

As a child I was fortunate enough to have parents that took me with them on their travels. Some of my happiest ventures occurred whilst away for Christmases and Summers at my Uncle's Alpine chalet in St Gervais, France. Here I am now, with a need to earn a second income, a love of the world wide web and a passion for travel. You can imagine, I was over the moon when I landed this job!

Now there are two reasons for me writing this blog. The obvious one being my intention to let the world know about Stanford Skiing and the stunning resort of Megeve. They are both hidden gems that need 'outing' The other reason is to share my own journey as I buff up on my skiing and introduce it to my husband and boys. The hope is that I may inspire you to do the same, provide some handy info and maybe make you smile on the way...

I'm going to keep this short and sweet, as there's work to be done. I'll just finish by saying thankyou for reading and please stay tuned for more. In spreading the word about Stanford Skiing, I'll be setting up their other social media accounts, so you'll have plenty of ways to keep up to date. Any follows, likes and shares will be much appreciated!

Best wishes folks
Sarah x

Summer #skiing in #Megeve

Crazyness rules in#Megeve today. It's the festival of the horse apparently and there have been people doing acrobatics on horseback and these madmen being dragged along on "#skis" around the streets of #Megeve. They got up quite a speed on the downhill sections! When they got to the Palais des Sports they upped the ante by trying to kick a football through a goal whilst being dragged behind the horse. Absolutely nuts but entertaining!

Time #Megeve Completed!

Well the boys did it! Congratulations to Will, John, Kev and Richard for completing the Time #Megeve road cycling race.   

85 miles, 10,000 feet of climbing in 37 degrees of heat.  #Megeve is not normally that hot in the height of summer.  It really was gruelling conditions for them but some fantastic scenery.  John says he's never doing it again.  We'll see! 

Thanks to Jonny & Tracey for opening up and catering for them in our Chalet Sylvana.  At least they had a comfortable bed and a filling meal at the end of it.  I should think they needed it!  John's lost a fair bit of weight and he didn't have much to loose in the first place. 

If you fancy a more relaxing summer break, then we've still got space in our B&B Chalet Hotel Rond Point and self-catered chalets Les Clochettes and Sylvana.  It doesn't have to be all uphill you know, the lifts are open and there are nice gentle walks along the top, markets, farms, beautiful scenery as well as high ropes courses, luges, horse riding, swimming etc. etc.!  See our summer website for more details.

Our Brave Boys!!!!

 Beautiful Scenery!

 

Wait for Me!!!!

The well earned post ride beer!

a Bientot

This is the last blog of this winter season.   It has been a good season for snow.   We have been able to ski off piste most days until about the last 3 weeks of the season, when the sun came out and spring arrived.  Mont D'Arbois lifts closed on Tuesday (though we were told they were to stay open until the end of the week and we didn't understand why they closed earlier), and Rochebrune (except for Cote 2000) closed today.   Again it is hard to understand why as the pistes are still skiable and the resort is losing the weekend trade.
The spring flowers are blooming.   The first ones to appear on the banks where the snow has melted is the coltsfoot, a yellow dandelion like flower.   In the damp shade the butterbur is ubiquitous, and the gardens are yellow with primroses.   Further down the valley there are cowslips by the side of the road. I have also seen oxslips, marsh marigolds and violets, though not heartsease, though I have seen them other years.   But my favourites are the mountain crocuses.  These are tiny, like little flakes of snow at first glance, mostly white but you do get purple and yellow.  And they appear at this time of year as soon as the snow has melted from the sunny banks.
The birds are singing enthusiastically and building their nests.   Under the Chamois lift there are 6 ewes and 5 lambs.  During the winter they are in a shed at the bottom of a garden, but as soon as the snow has gone a fence goes up and the sheep appear.  Sometimes one sees marmots sunning themselves under the Ideal chair, but again I have not seen them this year.
So farewell for the moment.  We are back in the summer for the Jazz Competition.  Now it's time for tennis!

Luge

On Thursday evening we all went to the luge at Les Saisies.   There were 36 of us, the youngest 3, the eldest 73.  We try and do this every year with all the staff, the guests and anyone else whom we want to invite.   The last two years it has been snowing and very cold.  This time it was chilly but not freezing.
It is on rails above the ground, so for the first few minutes one is hauled up the incline.  Then you reach the top, the light goes green and you push the handles down and off you go.  It is basically a roller coaster with tight bends.  There is a notice at the end that tells you to slow down but mostly it's ignored and the automatic brake jerks you to a halt.  You can go down individually but it's more fun to go down with another.  Most of the children grab any adult around for a trip down but Lizzy (granddaughter aged 9) and Phoebe (aged five) went down together.  Lizzy just managed to exceed the height limit to go down without an adult.   Most people managed about 7 goes in the hour, except for Anna Booth who said she managed a record 9 times.  Anyway, here is a photo of Lizzy and Phoebe.

Helicopters

Yesterday I had a trip in a helicopter.   Clive Emerson, a guest, was having instruction in flying a helicopter in the mountains. He asked Jonny if he would like to be a passenger, but Jonny was knocking holes in walls in the Sylvana and couldn't go, so I got the chance.   Sadly, it was a misty day so I didn't get very good photos.
We took off from the Altiport at Cote 2000, flew down the gorge to Albertville, took a right and passed over Annecy.  We then flew over the mountains to Bonneville, passing La Clusaz and Flaine, to Sallanches, St. Gervais, passing Les Contamines ski resort before crossing the ridge back to the Altiport.  We were airborn for about 1hour 10 minutes.    They were hoping to do a longer circuit but the weather looked as if it was closing in and Ian, the instructor, didn't want to take any chances.   It was amazing to see all the familiar places from the air.  These pictures are the lake at Annecy and the top of the cable car and Caboche lifts at Rochebrune.

I had my skis in the minibus so I went up from Cote 2000 to join the others at the Radaz for lunch.  I shared a tartiflette with Steve, my younger son-in-law, and very good it was.

Family holiday

All the family is here, including the grand children, Anna, Emily, Lizzie and Tommy.   We also have 2 other families staying in the Clochettes, Kevin and Nicky and their two children who are Elizabeth's and John's friends originally, and Graham and Rachel with their 3 girls (Rachel was Caroline's best friend from school).  There is no room for John and me to stay at the Clochettes (8 adults and 9 children do not leave much room for us) so we are next door in the Sylvana.  We had a lovely day today, after getting the children sorted. The 3 older girls are being taught by Katie Campbell, who has taught them from the beginning.  The 2 little ones are in the Piou Piou club, and they seemed happy there.    That meant that the adults were free to ski without children for the morning.  We had lunch at the Staduel and ended up wearing silly hats as it was so hot.  The 3 older girls, all 11 years old, were allowed to ski by themselves for the first time.  So far, I am still faster than them, but it won't be that long before they are racing past me.   

Vallee Blanche

Yesterday was a gloriously sunny day and we all set off for the Vallee Blanche (except Tracey who did not want to do it and Chris who had gone home the previous day).  Unfortunately there was a problem with one of the top cable cars so there was a delay in our getting up the mountain so we had to hang around for about an hour and a half.  Still it was worth it when we got up there.
After we had walked down the arrete the guides put us in two groups, one doing the classic route and the other the Grand Rognon (there is a big rock sticking up in the glacier which is supposed to look like a kidney).  We were in the latter group.  We had no untracked powder and some of the snow was wind crust but we had a great ski down.  We had one rather gripping coulour where the guide said there was ice on one side and rocks on the other and we should go down the middle.  The inclination is to head immediately for the rocks!  I got down it by shouting at myself.
 We all met up for a picnic lunch on the glacier.   4 opted to ski all the way down which the guide said could be done but involved several places where you had to take your skis off and walk.   I've done that and it isn't a great deal of fun.   The rest of us walked up the stairs.  Every year the glacier recedes and more steps have to be added to climb up to the station.  When we first skied the VB we herringboned up the moraine to ski down the track to Chamonix (they didn't run the railway then in the winter).  Now it's about a 20 minute walk out before you get to the track.  It's alarming how much the glacier has receded since we first skied the VB.
There were two sit skiers coming down the VB with helpers.  One of them was just ahead of me on the stairs at the end of the run.  He had about 6 men taking turns in carrying him up the stairs.  It looked like seriously hard work.
Anyway here is a photo of us all after the picnic:  Back row: Sebastien (guide) Sam, Emma, Dave, little Emma, me, Frank (guide), John and Tim    Second Row: Megan, Jonny and Hannah  Front Row:   Sarah P, Santa and Lara.

Vallee Blanche

We are hoping to ski the Vallee Blanche on Friday with the staff as an end of season trip.   We have 2 guides booked and the weather looks OK.  We had another morning yesterday skiing off piste with most of the staff to introduce them to falling in soft snow.  Hopefully, most of them will have got it out of their system before Friday.  Today John, Gordon and I skied the trees at La Giettaz and found some untracked powder.  There was noone around and we had virtually every piste to ourselves.  We were even the only people on the bus!
Yesterday evening we had our French dinner to which we invite people like our bank manager, head of the tourist office, head of marketing for Megeve etc.   Sam cooked us an exceptionally good dinner, ably assisted by Hannah and Tracey.  We started with prawns in a coconut and spicy sauce, followed by beef wellington and then a trio of desserts.  It was excellent and was a very good evening.  Even John's speech in French went well (though Solange had written most of it!)

Skiing with the staff

We took most of the staff on an off piste morning.  We started off going down the field off the red Princess piste, then the Monts Rosset field and the Communailles field.  After that we did the couloirs by the side of the Communailles piste which sorted the sheep from the goats.    Finally we skied home via the Etudiant lift through the trees to Planellet where the staff wimped out and got the bus.  John, Gordon and I slogged it home down to the Chamois lift.  The staff made the wiser choice.

Can you tell what it is yet?

These are 2 photos that Jonny took on one of the Communailles couloirs.  I had taken a different route and wondered why the men weren't down at the bottom before me.

Goodbye Sunshine Hello - snow

On Friday the boys were skiing in t-shirts.  Today it was back to proper ski clothes.   It snowed on and off all day and we had a brilliant day.   We were skiing with Gordon and his 2 boys, Kit and Simon, and their friends Steve and Ilona.   We spent most of the time around Communailles skiing the off piste as there was some visibility from the trees.   Also Steve and Ilona have only skied for 9 days (they were doing fantastically well) and that meant they could go down the piste and meet us at the bottom.  We had lunch at the little old cafe at the bottom of Mont D'Arbois.  The paper holders in the loo had the original fag burns still etched in the plastic.  John and I skied back via the Etudiant lift.  I saw a hare in the forest which was no longer white so he must know spring is coming.  At the bottom of the field I ended up standing in a ditch to take my skis off and found I had a boot full of water.  Still, it has now dried out.  Here is a short video of Kit and me skiing the off piste.   Kit is a lot younger than me and far more dashing!

!

Staff ski trip

Yesterday we all went to Les Contamines for a staff ski trip.   Unlike  #Megeve  it must be a sunny day to ski there as there are no trees  and in fog or snow it would be a nightmare.  However, we had sunshine and enjoyed a great day out.  We had a picnic on the snow and Hannah made brilliant egg and bacon baguettes.  Here is the photo.  Sadly we couldn't find someone to take the pic so John is absent.

Today the weather has changed completely.   I went out for a couple of hours but the cloud is down and it is snowing.  It might be a powder day tomorrow!

Unthank Ski Club

We skied with the Ski Club yesterday and today.  It was beautiful sunshine again and once the pistes had softened the skiing was very good.  We were with the fast group skiing primarily round the Princess and Mon Rosset lifts.   This is a photo that John took of us at the top of the Marmire piste with Mont Blanc in the background.   Thanks to Mark, Dave, Martin and Richard for allowing us to join you.  The pistes were empty although the weather was perfect.  There is snow forecast for this weekend so if you're thinking of grabbing a last ski holiday contact the office.   

You never can tell

The temperature on our balcony was the same as the previous days so I wore the same layers as previously.  Surprisingly, I was cold.  There was a cold wind, although the sun was shining, and I ended up putting on my spare layer which I have carried around all season and not worn before.  The pistes were in good condition and we had a lovely morning.  I'm now sitting on the balcony in the sunshine reading the paper.
We decided to try out some piste skis and borrowed some Volkls from Ski Concept.   They seemed very short but I found them easier to carve than my old Rossignols. They seemed faster as well but that may be because my old skis have done about 6 seasons  and are past their prime.   So perhaps we might treat ourselves!

Last day of French holidays

There was a long  queue of cars leaving #Megeve this morning as the French return after their holidays.   On Monday we will have the pistes to ourselves again.   Yesterday was another brilliantly sunny day but today there is high level cloud.  The visibility is fine but everywhere is a bit misty.   We skied at Jaillet and Giettaz today and had a lovely morning.   We met up with 3 friends of friends, Fergus, John and Jamie, who had sneaked out for a week  before the end of the season.
 The tourist office announced 2 days ago that they are keeping most of the lifts open, which includes the main ski area excluding the Princess lift, until Sunday 13th.  This is great news but irritating that they have only just announced it.  So if you want an end of season's blast with empty pistes give us a call.    We often have a late dump of snow in April and there is noone but us to take advantage of the off piste.
Anyway, here is a pic of me skiing at Giettaz today.   We tried to get us all in but we skied too close to John and failed dismally. So sorry Fergus, Gordon, Jamie and John.    Better luck next time.

Back Again!

Wednesday and a beautiful sunny day.   We skied on Mont D'Arbois most of the morning although we went over to Jaillet at the end  to ski off piste from Combloux to the Princess lift, as Gordon hadn't done it.   The snow was a bit heavy towards the bottom and I have learnt a new technique - leaning back on  the tails of the ski so the tips come round.   At least, I'm trying to learn it.   We then skied back off piste through the trees from the Bridans run down to the road and got the bus home.  In the afternoon I sat on our balcony in the sunshine.  It is the first time I have done that this season and it was lovely.  What glorious weather.
Jonny and Tracey skied on Petit Fontaine yesterday and saw three deer crossing the piste.  You do see them occasionally but not usually on a piste.   However, it is quiet and they were probably taking advantage of noone being around.

Snowy trees in #Megeve

John and I sat on the Jaillet bubble looking at the cloud and wondering why we were there.  We decided to keep to Plan A which was skiing the trees at Giettaz.  As we got over there the sun came out and we had 3 brilliant runs down to the mid station chair.  It was a bit tracked but there was still powder amongst the trees.   We then came back and skied from Combloux to the Princess lift.  You come out on the road by the Demi Lune Hotel.  The snow had been crusty but had softened and was surprisingly good.  Then we skied home though the Etudiant tress to the bottom of the Chamois lift.  What a great morning.   This is a picture of the snowy trees.  They are so beautiful when covered in snow.  We are home tomorrow (one of our grand daughters has a part in an amateur production of Swan Lake) but back on Wednesday.  Hope to see you then.