Thinking about whether to come skiing?..........

Here's a pretty good reason:

Fantastic conditions

I took this photo earlier on today after a spot of off piste down from the Pointe Emilienne. That's the name given to the needle of rock in the centre of the picture. After heavy snowfall on Friday and more moderate snowfall on Saturday the whole of the 'Trois Vallees" ski area has been transformed into a winter wonderland. Most places have had over a foot of powder. Today has been mostly clear with the odd fluffy low cloud passing through the Three Valleys, in the photo some cloud is trying to creep over the ridge either side of the needle.
It is possible to ski down either side of the needle of rock but to ski the left powder field (looking up) you have to ski down halfway on the Meribel side and then hike back up for 20 minutes to drop back into the Courchevel side. Because of this hike the left side gets much less tracked out (there were only three tracks at the end of the day). This is proper off piste though so should not be attempted without the necessary safety gear (Shovel, Transceiver and probe as a minimum) and skill!

Pointe Emilienne

CAR-NEIGE!

The heavy snowfall we had on Friday around midday caught alot of people out! I had driven down to Moutiers around 10am leaving behind me clear roads and only high cloud above Courchevel but by lunchtime low cloud had rolled in and started dumping the biggest snowflakes of the season. This sudden downpour of heavy snow produced some "interesting" driving conditions! At some points the road resembled a dodgems ride, needless to say I promptly put the chains on and chose not to take part! The following snaps were taken from one single drive up from Moutiers to Courchevel that afternoon:

The start of the heavy snow

Bumper cars in St Bon

The white Volvo had just slid through the town centre bouncing off loads of cars, I just had time to manoeuvre out of its path!

Failed cornering...

...and again!

This unlucky chap had just slid into the concrete central reservation

And finally taken that evening another victim of the horrible road conditions on Friday, again in St Bon the village at 1100m, just below Le Praz:

Un-textbook driving

If you do choose self drive as an option for your Finlays holiday do be careful on the way up to Courchevel!

Fantastic conditions in the Three Valleys

After the heavy snowfall we recieved on friday night the conditions have been superb! For the most part of Saturday, Sunday AND Monday we have had clear skies and extremely low temperatures which have preserved the fresh snow excellently. Even though most of the easily accessible off-piste in Courchevel gets tracked out quite quickly, there is still fresh powder to be found, especially if you are prepared to hike for your lines!! Needless to say the pistes are in superb condition.
This afternoon some high cloud slowly rolled in and it has started snowing again as I write. The forecast is for some light snow this evening, probably no more than 5cm (this will top up the pistes nicely) and sunny with some clouds in the morning. Temperatures will be rising throughout the week (good news for my poor toes!) and a dump is forecast for thursday night. keep your eye on the forecast as it always changes slightly as the week progresses.

SNOWPARKS!

Over the next few weeks I intend to do a post on each of the 5 main snowparks in the Three Valleys, covering the layout and features of each park, as this aspect of skiing and snowboarding is becoming increasingly popular! The three valleys has five main parks, of which 1 is in the Courchevel Valley, 2 are in the Meribel/Mottaret Valley and the remaining 2 are in the Valley de Belleville (Val Thorens/Les Menuires/St Martin de Belleville).

I'll begin with the least well known park in the Three Valleys, which is the snowpark situated above the resort of Les Menuires. The park has been revamped for this year and is called the BK park. It can be found close to the Becca Chairlift on the South facing slopes above Les Menuires (between Les Menuires and Mottaret). I skied through the park this afternoon and have taken pictures of what was on offer for all those with a tendancy for freestyle! The park has a really long skier/boardercross course which is not too taxing and very fun with lots of banked corners and rollers for the entire lenght of the park (and more). Similarly to the Family park in Courchevel it has a great selection of boxes to grind most of which are quite close to the ground to minimise injuries in a spill!
The following pics are of the selection of boxes on offer at the moment, from top to bottom of the park:

Flat down box

S box

Rainbow box

Beginners battleship box

Rollercoaster box

2nd flat down box

Beginners wide box

C box

Not a bad selection eh!?
There are also a couple of kickers, here is a picture from today of the smaller 'blue' kicker:

Its starting to snow again

The predicted snowfall for tonight looks like it will definitely deliver! Its just started to snow heavily here in Courchevel. The first picture shows the Finlays minibus just as I had parked up outside Chalet Delage, and the second picture is of the van only minutes later! Hopefully it will keep on snowing like this all night!

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Un Bon Croque

I'll let you into a little secret here....after extensive research I have concluded that the best croques at the best price can be found in a lovely little shop on the side of the slopes down in La Tania. If you're still in the dark about what exactly i'm talking about, a croque monseiur is a french toasted sandwich, rather like the one in the picture. Wiki has a bit more info on them here. The establishment in question is a small shop next to the "pub le ski lodge" and is called La Saucisse Savoyarde.
The shop is just on the left hand side as you ski into La Tania on the blue "Folyieres" run, turn left just after the beginners drag lift to find it. The croques are a fab filler for lunch and at only 2 Euros 50 each its a bargain! Don't worry if you only opt for the Courchevel valley ski pass, as La Tania is covered by it!

Grand Couloir

The infamous grand couloir has been open for a few weeks now and this year is an official black piste coming down the Courchevel side from the Saulire peak. (In previous years its grading has altered between an off-piste 'itinerary' or a black run). Today two more of the Finlays Courchevel chalet hosts, Sarah (Chalet Reposoir) and Katie (Chalet Delage), took on the challenge and here's the proof!

Katie (L) and Sarah (R) tackling the main section of the Grand Couloir

Anyone who knows about this run will know that the ridge to access the couloir can be the trickiest part of the whole run, as one slip could land you in a lot of trouble! I have skiied the Couloir a couple of times this week and the conditions are pretty good. The snow is still reasonably soft from last weekends big snowfall and the moguls that have formed on the main part of the couloir are not yet too menacing in size!