The Portes du Soleil closed for the season last Sunday with superb conditions for the final weekend. The slopes were surprisingly busy and the bars in Avoriaz even more so as everyone was keen to go out with a bang! Sylvie and I spent Saturday around Chatel and couldn’t have wished for better snow. On the way back to Lindarets we were still skiing over chalet roofs to get back to the car and the photos below show the stunning views. Its hard to believe that the mountain bike season opens in just over a month and surely this year there will be extra work for the piste basher drivers in scraping the snow away to make way for those lunatics on bikes!

The ski season is now over for me unfortunately, having spun it out that little bit longer with a fantastic three day trip to Zermatt. It is time to head back to the UK, catch up on the administrative side of running a chalet business, and see my doctor about the back problem that has been troubling me since hitting a mogul too hard several weeks ago! I hope that you had a great winter season wherever you skied and thanks for reading this blog. It has been a pleasure to write and looking back through my old posts has just reminded me how much I love the winter. Only 7 months to go before it all starts again! Enjoy the summer.

    Andy Turner

Following the departure of our last guests on Monday 14th April we have been getting in as much skiing as possible and not just here in the Portes du Soleil. Whilst the snow conditions here have been pretty much impeccable from mid-December it is always good to ski new places too and so in the space of 7 days we hit 3 of the biggest ski areas in France - namely the Portes du Soleil (obviously), the Grand Massif and the Espace Evasion Mont Blanc. In total these areas offer a total of over 1300 km of piste and we managed to ski 9 resorts, finding that the snow was great everywhere and that anyone who doesn’t enjoy these conditions is really in the wrong sport!

The final day of the season in Morzine/Les Gets was Sunday 13th April and I never would have believed that we would have been getting first tracks in powder at that time of year. That was exactly what happened though and the pictures below will deal a crushing blow to the ‘Global Warming’ brigade!

The following day saw a dramatic change in the weather as we headed to the upper reaches of the Portes du Soleil, skiing Avoriaz and Chatel in heavy snow and tons of fresh powder. We made our way through the trees above Pre la Joux and found that the pistes had a fresh layer of snow about a foot deep all the way to Linga on the outskirts of Chatel. These areas are still very much open at the moment and all links are complete with fantastic conditions. My ski day was cut short by needing to leave at 1pm for the airport but the photos below suggest that Sylvie, Jo and Chris had a lot of fun in my absence! I didn’t mind too much because I was back in time for the main event… Skidooing at Le Praz de Lys!

Incidentally, the Chris that I mention above is the very same old buddy that in the first week of March used his head as a brake on the slopes of a Chapelle. He is now back in the game and sporting a ‘Ribcap’ beanie hat to protect his head. For anyone who hasn’t seen these hats they are a great compromise between hat and helmet with fluid that hardens on impact. Expensive at £65 but well worth the investment. Incidentally, does anyone else think that Chris looks like a member of the royal family?!

On Thursday and Friday of last week Sylvie and I went on a two day road tour (ok so its a very small road tour!) with Andy and Will skiing the Grand Massif and Mont Blanc Evasion, with an overnight stop at Hotel Les Campenulles in Les Houches in between (a great overnight stop at a reasonable price - 30 Euros per person for B&B, and yet only 10 mins drive from Chamonix).  The Grand Massif Express at Samoens was our gateway to the awesome slopes of Samoens 1600 and the higher slopes of Flaine that were still covered in powder. The bowl at Flaine was surprisingly busier than expected but who can blame anyone for wanting to drag this season out as long as possible. The whole day had a feel of summer glacier skiing to it as we went quickly from the green of the valley and 15 degrees to the virtual whiteout at the top of the Grands Platieres with temperatures as low as -8 degrees. We skied hard and to be fair the snowboarders kept up most of the time when they weren’t lying down on the piste. I think I taught them a few tricks in the Jam Park though!

On Friday we headed up the beautiful valley beyond St Gervais to the resort of Les Contamines - a real alpine gem that I would recommend to anyone. On the valley floor we were worried that there would be no snow to ski on but it soon became apparent that a ride up the two stage cable car would open up yet another white paradise. Les Contamines has now closed for the season but I am really glad that we saw it and will certainly aim to get back next winter. The highlight of the day was the red run off the back of the Col du Joli to the tiny hamlet of Belleville. It would be very easy to miss this part of the piste map but it is a great experience to ski past the end of a dam and into what is essentially a hydro-electric station, before catching the one lift back up. It was like a summer’s day when we stopped for waffles at the bottom but the piste was a credit to the people who obviously work tirelessly on it.

We finally made it back to Morzine in time for a fantastic dinner at ‘L’Auberge de la Combe a Zore’, having stopped off in Megeve to find ice cream. I suppose its a bit of a cheat to include this in the list of 9 resorts! As I write we are still experiencing great skiing here in the Portes du Soleil and Andy & Will are out playing in the powder (yes we actually had another dump last night!) before heading back to the UK tomorrow morning. I will post some more pictures of our skiing before the slopes close at the end of this week but for now I will just sign off by saying a big thanks to both Will and Andy for their efforts this season. For all the great snow and however nice the chalets are there is nothing more important in a catered chalet holiday than the quality of the hosts. Andy & Will can go home knowing that they have made a massive difference to literally hundreds of people this winter, and Sylvie and I will be sad to become a team of two again for the summer. Cheers guys!

After a season of learning new terminology I am now so down with the kids! For the more mature readers the title of this post relates to the abundance of idyllic skiing conditions that are currently being experienced in the Portes du Soleil, irrespective of whether one prefers groomed slopes or deep powder snow. There is something for everyone out here at the moment and it is hard to imagine a better end to a ski season.  

On Thursday Sylvie and I accompanied the legendary Mr John (my primary school headmaster) on a tour of the Avoriaz area to find that every piste was covered in fresh squeaky snow. To the side of each piste the overnight snow had mounted up to depths of well over a foot and the winter playground was back in full swing after a temporary  shift towards summer. This weekend we have taken advantage of the final days of the Nyon ski area and to see it close for the season today with such great snow was a sad sight. The photo below shows the conditions and for a lover of corduroy like me it was difficult to contain myself! The powder hunters on their trays have been heading higher towards Les Crosets and Linga, coming back with glowing reports amid yet more heavy snow this evening.

As I write the road outside my flat is awaiting a snowplough and we are bracing ourselves for another few days of spectacular skiing or ‘riding’! There is now easily enough snow to guarantee perfect conditions until closure on the 27^th April. This all begs the question… what are you doing reading this? Get your backside over to the easyjet website and get yourself out here!  We have 3 and 4 night breaks available at ridiculous prices for the next two weeks in both catered chalets. Come and join us as we celebrate the end of a fantastic season. If you prefer just to read about it, keep checking this page for news of our exploits.

For the first time in many seasons it looks as though the furthest outposts of the Portes du Soleil will be closing due to lack of business rather than lack of snow. By now the satellite resorts outside the main circuit are normally desperately pisting the mud in order to limp accross the finish line, but not this year. The recent snowfalls have given us a great week of skiing accross the entire area and the current spring-like conditions are scheduled to give way to another blast of winter by this time next week. For the smaller resorts however, the operating costs of a ski area have to be weighed up against the number of people passing through the gates. The inevitable conclusion is the end of the ski season in places such as La Chapelle d’Abondance and Torgon, despite conditions that most of us would only imagine possible in the depths of winter. In the past few days I have tried to get around the smaller resorts before they close on 30th March and the pictures below (click on the thumbnails) speak a thousand words. Skiing such perfect slopes with virtually nobody else on the mountain is always a priviledge and, along with Sylvie, Andy and Will, I have had some of the best ski days of the season in the past week.

It was also great to get back to Super Chatel in order to beat two snowboarders on the speed gun challenge and to see my favourite husky dog ‘Nanouk’ in the restaurant at Chalet Neuf. He was definitely the highlight of that lunch stop bearing in mind that the food was greasy and they had run out of ketchup (a crime for which waitress Laetitia was well and truly lambasted!).

UPDATE: The Mont Chery sector of Les Gets was scheduled to close on Sunday 30th March but a depth of over 1 metre and perfect slopes has forced the resort into an extension of the season until 6th April for this area. If you live in Morzine and haven’t been there, you now have a reprieve! Don’t forget to call in to the Grand Ourse for a bowl of Cheesy Chips!

The end of the season can be a fantastic time to ski and when conditions are good in April we chalet operators reap our rewards for a long hard winter.  The next few weeks look like being the best end of season skiing for many years. At the moment winter has come back with a vengeance and with almost zero visibility there is no way that I am heading up the mountain today. The many airport transfers over the Easter weekend will also be a nightmare, but turning my attention back to the bigger picture I can’t wait to get out in all this snow in the next few days. The photos below are taken from the window of my flat (lower than many of the runs) and the snow that is bucketing down is not even stereotypical spring snow.  It seems to be a familiar story accross much of the French Alps so if you are planning a Spring ski trip get on the phone right now! Here in the Portes du Soleil the lift passes are cheaper after 30th march and the higher slopes are scheduled to be open until 27th April at the earliest with half a metre of fresh snow on top of a 2 metre base. The forecasts are all predicting another week of snow. Come on, lets drag this fantastic winter out as long as possible!!

After a few weeks of nothing more than average ski conditions we have finally had a heavy fall of snow above 1500m. As the clouds disappeared today I somehow found myself on the mountain in glorious powder with 6 snowboarders. I’m not sure how this happened but suspect Andy and Will of a change of tactics in their quest to get me on a tray by the end of the season. Having tried goading, gentle persuasion and appealing to my sense of ‘cool’, it now seems that they have opted for bullying me with sheer numbers! Although I spent a lot of time waiting for bindings to be fastened and watching the group walking tirelessly uphill to catch big air on a gnarly kicker (the lingo still doesn’t suit me!) I must say that it was fun to spend the entire day searching for powder. The Chatel ski area of Linga / Plaine Dranse is a haven for powder lovers and the recent dump of powder should ensure that we are skiing on great snow until the season draws to a close. With another low pressure system on the way there should be another healthy top-up of snow over the Easter weekend, and I wouldn’t necessarily be averse to the idea of heading out in search of first tracks again with the snowboarders (as long as they don’t try to steal my dinner money!). Click on the thumbnails below for the photos of an excellent day in the powder.

After another late night at Geneva and heavy rain in resort when I finally got in at 1am it is no surprise that I woke up like a bear with a sore head this morning. However, it was comforting to see the white line in the trees at about 1400m that signals fresh snow on many of the slopes. According to the latest forecasts there is more on the way and the freezing level is falling all the time so, as always seems to be the case in Morzine, it should be an excellent Easter weekend. Watch this space for any updates

In a change from the regular chalet routine myself and Will last night accompanied some of our favourite guests on a proper boys night out. The group headed by team leader Patrick set off to the quaint resort of Praz de Lys,  just half an hour from Morzine, in search of an adrenalin rush on the Grand Ourse Skidoo course. Last year the same group did half an hour on the ‘motoneige’ at Avoriaz and were disappointed to find that they were touring the forest at a sedate pace more suited to a SAGA holiday. There were no such problems this week as we thrashed our way around the pisted circuit, with the pre-ride beer no doubt ridding a few people of their inhibitions! The 500cc skidoos proved to be really powerful and the guides were incredibly professional, encouraging us to give it some welly whilst always maintaining safety standards. For anyone reading this in Morzine, do yourselves a favour and get up there before the season comes to an end.  After an hour the adrenalin was flowing and everyone was aching from the constant bumps on the course. It is surprising that I can even sit down to write this after the hammering that my backside took whilst Will was driving! After all the excitement there was still something missing; the best way to round off a lads night out… The tarts. Sure enough the guys were happy to find them waiting at the chalet and got stuck in straight away. Its no surprise though, Sylvie does make the best Strawberry tarts in the alps!

Thanks again for letting us come with you guys and also for a great fun week at the chalet. We hope to see you all again soon.

P.S. Nothing new to report on the snow front… spring-like conditions in Morzine and excellent pistes higher up. Will report as soon as anything changes!

When I went to bed last night the rain was lashing down outside the chalet and everyone was slightly down in the mouth. For some reason I had a feeling that we may wake up to a pleasant surprise this morning, and sure enough the rain had turned to snow overnight. As I write the sun has come out and skiing conditions seem ideal with a fresh covering of about 10cm on top of pisted slopes in Morzine and more like 20 - 25 cm on the higher slopes. Unfortunately a lunchtime airport transfer means that I can’t be out playing in it right now but it seems that my time will come. The current forecast is for overnight snow every night for the next week, with the weekend being particularly heavy. Temperatures in town are around zero at the moment and will drop again over the weekend after a temporary rise in freezing level.

And now for a shameless plug…….. Why not think about a last minute break in all this fresh snow? We have two rooms available in our catered chalet next week (or any duration within the week) at bargain prices due to a cancellation. Email or call me ASAP to snap up a great deal. See our website at www.hostsavoie.co.uk

As soon as I get a chance to get on the hill I will add some pictures of current conditions, but for now the lure of Geneva Airport is just too much to resist!

Following on from my previous post… After a good night of sleep we set off to Ardent to be on the first lifts (well almost!) and the weather was looking good. The aim was to see as much of the area as possible in a day and anyone who knows the Portes du Soleil will know that it is virtually impossible to see every resort in a day. The current closure of the pistes under the Corbeau chairlift in Morgins mean that it is better to ski the circuit in an anti-clockwise direction in order to maximise piste time and minimise the number of lifts needed. As we hit the Fornet at the back of Avoriaz the snowcross zone of the Pschott Canyon just seemed too good to resist and so the decision was made to sacrifice the Grand Paradis run all the way to Champery in favour of half an hour in some of the most glorious powder we have had all season. The longest piste in the Portes du Soleil from the Col de Portes du Soleil down the Vallon de Morgins also bypassed the T-bars of Champoussin, and meant that we were able to make up time in order be at the planned lunch stop at 1230 (the restaurant at Chalet Neuf between Morgins and Super Chatel), where piste conditions were the best I have seen in the last few years.

Having done a gentle circuit of Super -Chatel to work off the ‘Burger Savoyard’ it was time to try something a bit more challenging; the little-known black run between Chatel and La Chapelle known as ‘Barbossine’. From a distance it was looking good (see first photo below) and we still had the time to tackle it before continuing in our mission to get as many miles under our belt as possible. The reality was that the Barbossine was in an awful state with a very thin layer of powder covering rock-hard icy moguls, and the entire group did well to get down it, albeit a lot more slowly than was anticipated. Once we were at the foot of this normally awesome mogul field we experienced a slight hiccup in that Chris decided to stop with a perfectly executed headplant before skidding accross the ice to stop about 10 metres away from his skis. With time ticking away and an increasing fear that Chris may have done himself some real damage we decided to cut the circuit short and take the most efficient route back to Morzine. We did, however, make it to the view point for Lake Geneva briefly and the picture below shows the idyllic conditions in which we were skiing.

Our route home took us accross Chatel by bus to Linga and on to Pre la Joux, before picking our way up to the ridge above Ardent as quickly as posible in order to guarantee a safe return to the minibus. We were in this part of the circuit long enough though to see that the snow conditions in the Linga sector are still amongst the best in the area. Back at the Escapade bar I worked out that we had covered about 80 km on our skis and the group had a healthy tiredness that rendered the evening’s night sledging reservation somewhat unnecessary. Everyone managed to summon up the energy for sledging except Chris who seemed to think that his injuries and subsequent visit to the medical centre were sufficient to let him off the hook. I’ll let you decide for yourselves from the photo…