Dear All,
Well it is now looking very wintery and we can feel that the season is already starting to kick in. Avoriaz is opening up tomorrow for the weekend as is Chatel and the Grand Terche ski areas. The resort is already starting to get busy with shops and restaurants starting to open and all the Christmas trees and decorations are being put in place ready for another magical Christmas time in Morzine.
Our staff all turn up this week so we thought that we would introduce you to them:
Kim - Chef at the Desmeuniere - Australian - mad about everything to do with food and skiing. Has lived in Tuscany for the past 6 months and this influences her cuisine. She has a quiet confidence about her.
Sophs - Chalet host at the Desmeuniere - British - Sophs worked for us cleaning a few seasons back and is a great girl. Lots of get up and go and lots of chat. She has a nothing is too much trouble attitude.
Sophie PB - Chef at the Alpine Refuge - British - Sophie speaks fluent french having spent the last 6 months as an au pair in southern France. She loves cooking, skiing and is looking forward to the work and play!
Joanna - Chalet host at the Alpine Refuge - British - Joanna has worked in Morzine during the winter and summer and has come highly recommended having both hospitality management and silver service experience. She knows the area extremely well both on the mountain and off.
So that is the main team for this season. They and us are all looking forward to those guests who will be joining us this winter.
Just for the record we still have catered availability in the Desmeuniere and the Alpine Refuge for Christmas week so please ask us for special offers in these chalets.
More snow forecast for this weekend and we are going to take our son Jack who is 4 out for his first ski of the season. Not sure how much time we will spend standing up but should be fun.
See you all soon.
Sam
Friday, December 4, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Christmas in Morzine
Fed up with spending your christmas holiday in the kitchen - cooking, cleaning and then cooking again! Then why not take advantage of our special offer in our luxury catered ski chalet la Desmeuniere. For just 600 Euros per adult and further discounts for children and those with 3 to a room then you could have someone do all the slaving away in the kitchen for you. The price includes your half board stay plus a lavish Christmas Day spread consisting of a champagne breakfast, christmas cake, mince pies, mulled wine and a 5 course evening meal with all the trimmings.
The Chalet la Desmeuniere is a beautifully restored 18th century farmhouse with 7 en-suite bedrooms each with flat screen tv and dvd player, spacious lounge with log fire, sauna and sunken outdoor hot tub.
Morzine is a superb resort to spend your Christmas break. It is a working french town, not a purpose built resort, so there are plenty of activities for all the family. The French celebrate Christmas in style and Christmas eve in the resort is just superb with fireworks, vin chaud and pastries galore, christmas trees all lit up lining the streets, plus of course the parade of elves, reindeer and the Big Man himself.
So please take a look at our choice of accommodation in Morzine and join us for a Christmas holiday to remember.
All the best,
Sam and Darren
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
New to our portfolio of Ski Chalets
We would like to introduce to you our flagship catered ski chalet, the Chalet la Desmeuniere in Morzine. This lovingly restored 18th Century farmhouse, with 7 en-suite bedrooms, sunken outdoor hot tub and sauna, combines a wealth of traditional features with modern luxury. The spacious dining area and lounge with log fire, are open to the roof and leads on to the covered balcony with spectacular panoramic views of the mountains. There is also a second mezzanine lounge with media facilities plus wi-fi internet access.
We are offering a 10% discount for all bookings in the Chalet la Desmeuniere made before 1st September 2009 so please book early to avoid disappointment. We still have Christmas and New Year availability.
So drop us a line to find out more.
All the best,
Sam Woodley
Friday, July 31, 2009
Starting them young!
There is the age old saying that 'You are never too old to learn' - turn this around and with skiing 'you are never too young to learn'! Being given the opportunity to learn to ski from an early age really does help. You can usually tell if someone has been taught from as little as three years old as they seem to be more natural at getting down the hill - almost as if they don't have to think about it - just like running or walking.
With this in mind we enrolled our 3 year old, Jack, into the Club des Piou Piou with the ESF in Morzine and it turned out to be brilliant. Even though he is quite small for his age (no surprise there - Darren and I are not exactly giants) - he coped well and learnt initially how to balance and how to move around. They then increased the slope slightly and by the end he was skiing well (although not that great at stopping just yet)!
So I wanted to say that just because you have young children it does not mean that your ski or snowboard holiday needs to stop. Make the most of not having to take your vacation during the school holidays - this will come along all too soon - and take advantage of the more cost efficient weeks especially in March and April when it is a bit warmer for them to learn. Use a combination of the ESF's Club des Piou Piou for the tuition and Cheeky Monkeys flexible childcare options for the afternoons and you will be able to realise that you can still get quality time on the slopes. Combine this with a holiday in one of our well located and beautiful catered chalets or luxury self catered apartments and you will find that it is not as difficult as you might think.
Seeing them learn a skill that you love so much gives you a huge feeling of pride and you know that it is something that you can enjoy as a family forever - well at least until they are quicker than you!
So look forward to hearing from you soon.
All the best,
Sam
With this in mind we enrolled our 3 year old, Jack, into the Club des Piou Piou with the ESF in Morzine and it turned out to be brilliant. Even though he is quite small for his age (no surprise there - Darren and I are not exactly giants) - he coped well and learnt initially how to balance and how to move around. They then increased the slope slightly and by the end he was skiing well (although not that great at stopping just yet)!
So I wanted to say that just because you have young children it does not mean that your ski or snowboard holiday needs to stop. Make the most of not having to take your vacation during the school holidays - this will come along all too soon - and take advantage of the more cost efficient weeks especially in March and April when it is a bit warmer for them to learn. Use a combination of the ESF's Club des Piou Piou for the tuition and Cheeky Monkeys flexible childcare options for the afternoons and you will be able to realise that you can still get quality time on the slopes. Combine this with a holiday in one of our well located and beautiful catered chalets or luxury self catered apartments and you will find that it is not as difficult as you might think.
Seeing them learn a skill that you love so much gives you a huge feeling of pride and you know that it is something that you can enjoy as a family forever - well at least until they are quicker than you!
So look forward to hearing from you soon.
All the best,
Sam
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Summer in Morzine - Introduction
Well with temperatures over 30 degrees this week it definitely feels like Summer in Morzine. It seems very strange that just over a month ago we were skiing in powder and now all of a sudden the trees are green, the meadows are full of flowers and the hills are beckoning once again.Morzine is reknowned for its' world class mountain bike routes both downhill and cross country. This will all begin to kick start in June when the lifts open up again. However, there is more to Morzine than just mountain biking in the summer. You can go white water rafting, paragliding, trekking, climbing or even just relax by the Olympic swimming pool or one of the many beautiful mountain lakes. You can venture out and take day trips to Annecy and Chamonix too.
So Morzine is not just about the snow. With plenty of activities for all the family Morzine is a truly wonderful place to visit both Winter and Summer. Our catered ski chalet, Chalet la Beziere, is available on a self catered or catered basis during the summer, is an ideal place to stay with spectucular views of the Mountains and plenty of space for bike storage and maintenance. Our self catered apartments all in the center of Morzine are superb for a long weekend break. Why not drop us a line to find out more.
Speak to you soon.
Sam
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Ski Touring
Ski Touring
Well today we are going to tell you all about ski touring. What it is. Where you can do it. Where do you get the kit from. What's it all about and to answer the famous question of why walk up when there are lifts?
So Ski Touring or Ski Randonnee is when you walk uphill on a pair of skis. You wear slightly softer boots and click into skis which have bindings that lift up at the back so that you can walk. In order to get uphill you have a set of skins which you stick to the bottom of each ski. A long long time ago when skiing first started - before chair lifts, vin chaud on the mountain and the Buddha Bar - people used to get up the mountain by using animal skins on the bottom of their skis - the idea being that the hair of the animal would be smooth one way so that you could go up and if dragged back down the hair would go the other way and the tension between the hair and the snow would stop you sliding backwards. Nowadays, the hair is synthetic (bright blue in my case) and this is what you stick to the bottom of your skis. You should also have a transceiver on you in case of Avalanche risk. You can hire all the appropriate kit from All Mountain Rental - http://www.allmountainrental.com/ So this is pretty much the equipment along with ideally extendable poles. And off you go.
So why do it when there are perfectly good lifts for you to go up on. The idea is that you can venture off to places where there are no chair lifts and find untouched off-piste areas and usually it is pretty much all to yourself. This area of the Portes du Soleil is fantastic for it. Not only do we have over 650kms of pisted runs, loads of snowparks and a great town but we also have tonnes of off-piste/back country areas. It is also a good way to keep those four course dinners that James and Rinne cook all season from not ending up completely on my behind!
We often head up into Graydon or the Valley de la Manche areas and you can find some amazing touring adventures. What to remember - never go alone, always check the weather and the avalanche risk, have the right kit with you and most of all - take an experienced guide with you. Through the ESF in Lindarets, the Avoriaz Alpine Ski School or Freedom2Ski you can hire off-piste guides that will make sure that your day is not just exilerating but also safe. For anyone who knows Darren he often wears a t-shirt that has 'Safety never takes a day off' emblazened across the front - he even wore it when I was in labour which funnily enough didn't bring a smile to my face!
So this is what it is all about. Check out some of the photos on our website under ski touring. It could be a bit of a different day when you come on holiday! By the way even if you snowboard you can still stick on a pair of snow shoes and carry your board and venture out. Or look into getting a split board - now that's another story (next blog)!
Ski touring is most of the time about finding lots of powder in untouched areas. Conditions this season so far have meant that our ski touring days have been great but also our days on the piste have been superb. January although cold has seen some great powder days and just when you feel that we could do with a bit more....some more arrives. Guests happy, staff happy, we're happy. All good.
See you all soon.
Sam Woodley
http://www.thegreatescapemorzine.co.uk/
Well today we are going to tell you all about ski touring. What it is. Where you can do it. Where do you get the kit from. What's it all about and to answer the famous question of why walk up when there are lifts?
So Ski Touring or Ski Randonnee is when you walk uphill on a pair of skis. You wear slightly softer boots and click into skis which have bindings that lift up at the back so that you can walk. In order to get uphill you have a set of skins which you stick to the bottom of each ski. A long long time ago when skiing first started - before chair lifts, vin chaud on the mountain and the Buddha Bar - people used to get up the mountain by using animal skins on the bottom of their skis - the idea being that the hair of the animal would be smooth one way so that you could go up and if dragged back down the hair would go the other way and the tension between the hair and the snow would stop you sliding backwards. Nowadays, the hair is synthetic (bright blue in my case) and this is what you stick to the bottom of your skis. You should also have a transceiver on you in case of Avalanche risk. You can hire all the appropriate kit from All Mountain Rental - http://www.allmountainrental.com/ So this is pretty much the equipment along with ideally extendable poles. And off you go.
So why do it when there are perfectly good lifts for you to go up on. The idea is that you can venture off to places where there are no chair lifts and find untouched off-piste areas and usually it is pretty much all to yourself. This area of the Portes du Soleil is fantastic for it. Not only do we have over 650kms of pisted runs, loads of snowparks and a great town but we also have tonnes of off-piste/back country areas. It is also a good way to keep those four course dinners that James and Rinne cook all season from not ending up completely on my behind!
We often head up into Graydon or the Valley de la Manche areas and you can find some amazing touring adventures. What to remember - never go alone, always check the weather and the avalanche risk, have the right kit with you and most of all - take an experienced guide with you. Through the ESF in Lindarets, the Avoriaz Alpine Ski School or Freedom2Ski you can hire off-piste guides that will make sure that your day is not just exilerating but also safe. For anyone who knows Darren he often wears a t-shirt that has 'Safety never takes a day off' emblazened across the front - he even wore it when I was in labour which funnily enough didn't bring a smile to my face!
So this is what it is all about. Check out some of the photos on our website under ski touring. It could be a bit of a different day when you come on holiday! By the way even if you snowboard you can still stick on a pair of snow shoes and carry your board and venture out. Or look into getting a split board - now that's another story (next blog)!
Ski touring is most of the time about finding lots of powder in untouched areas. Conditions this season so far have meant that our ski touring days have been great but also our days on the piste have been superb. January although cold has seen some great powder days and just when you feel that we could do with a bit more....some more arrives. Guests happy, staff happy, we're happy. All good.
See you all soon.
Sam Woodley
http://www.thegreatescapemorzine.co.uk/
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