tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48854192045488974232008-06-03T16:00:07.336+02:00Sarah Finlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055278187239335795noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-78444623780538829592008-04-15T08:49:00.005+02:002008-04-15T08:58:49.261+02:00

Well, the winter continues in Courchevel... The skies last night were very moody. It was a beautiful day here on Sunday and we enjoyed the first day of 'party week' in 1550. This is what the staff down here are naming their last week. With no guests in any chalets, with the exception of Elan, the staff are not letting the cleaning of the chalets get in the way of their fun... A BBQ on the

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-1338040217332865942008-04-08T19:53:00.000+02:002008-04-09T10:30:44.383+02:00

The Courchevel staff take a road trip to Val D'Isere! A team of 15 of us headed over to Val D'Isere today for our day off. We drove the hour and a half in convoy in two minibuses. As always, I felt completely at home in Val, having done my first season with Finlays there in 2004. There was no need to look at a piste map for those skiing with me! We headed straight over to the Grand Motte to try

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-89992933912382272732008-04-07T18:46:00.003+02:002008-04-09T09:52:24.028+02:00

The weather forecast for this week was not good, snow and rain for most of the week. Luckily on Sunday, after a bad start to the morning, the skies cleared and there were big patches of blue sky. The skies then clouded over and we thought the bad weather was back to stay. However, the perfect conditions arrived...Snow overnight, clear skies by 9am!The ideal scenario for any skiing holiday has to

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-5397390459363708652008-04-06T10:40:00.004+02:002008-04-09T09:46:06.111+02:00

There is a beautiful little chapel located on the right hand side below the road, as you drive out of 1550. For those of you who have not noticed it, it is worth keeping an eye out for it... I don't think you can fit more than about 3 people in there at a time...

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-73343450289573263622008-04-03T17:52:00.001+02:002008-04-04T10:13:50.528+02:00

Today all records were smashed and we managed to finish shopping, including unpacking the vans, by 11:15am. All the chalets are pretty full next week so it was a normal size shop; the last proper shop of the season! The girls on the second bus to leave resort were the most impressive: from leaving 1550 to go to Moutiers, until they got back having shopped for their chalets for a week, took just

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-66861930541511342912008-04-02T16:39:00.000+02:002008-04-03T08:45:58.925+02:00

From close up, these trees reminded me of those cardboard ones I used to get when I was little which grew spring blossom when you stuck them in water... However, when zoomed out as below, you can see that in fact all evidence of spring has once again disappeared and there has been more snow in Courchevel!Now, I love powder as much as the next person, but by now it should be sunny and lovely

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-84028844688961407552008-04-02T09:05:00.001+02:002008-04-04T10:29:41.169+02:00

Early in the game: the four people crazy enough to attempt the challange: Abby, Sarah, Kat and Clare As many of you will know, in January, some of the Finlays staff completed the Three Valleys Escapade (see entry from 27th Jan). Well, yesterday we upped the challenge. A hard core group of four of us (as above) decided to raise the bar. We completed the challenge, PLUS we went up and down Mont

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-56457836678661191892008-03-31T21:22:00.003+02:002008-03-31T21:26:32.343+02:00

The views today.... I definately spoke too soon about spring being here. This view is from a similar location to the photo I took outside Reposoir yesterday!Fingers crossed for tomorrow; Kat (Grand Cerf), Sarah (Reposoir), Clare (Petit Collu) and I are attempting the Three Valleys escapade tomorrow, to include the extra summit of Mont Vallon. Let's hope we can see more than today!!

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-40857651006551195232008-03-30T17:56:00.005+02:002008-03-30T18:15:01.364+02:00

After a fabulously warm February, March has been very unusual. I was worried that Spring had gone and was not coming back. Today spring is back; as these photos, taken outside Reposoir this morning, show. There was not a cloud in the sky! Temperatures soared throughout the day. It is hopefully now that time of year where seasonnaires spend the morning perfecting their goggle marks and the

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-24305686752916894202008-03-26T18:32:00.000+01:002008-03-27T08:47:28.529+01:00

Bozel, as seen from La Chouliere Our destination was Bozel, a lovely little town in the bottom of the valley, far far below Courchevel. Our tour guide was Philippe and there were 12 of us who took on the adventure. The route to Bozel starts on the Jean Blanc run towards Le Praz. This piste had lots of snow on it and was beautifully pisted. We did not see another person the whole way down; it was

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-62615877209901075042008-03-26T16:18:00.002+01:002008-03-27T08:32:38.120+01:00

Check out the pictures below... We caught on camera an unusual sight; Philippe had a fall!! And not just a little fall: he lost both skis, sun glasses and he has very snowy hair... If you look closely at his tracks you can see the root of the problem. Those blasted trees just jump right out at you if you aren't careful...

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-5628582718346015592008-03-23T18:14:00.001+01:002008-03-24T19:25:17.057+01:00

I have had a visit from some of my family this weekend, and the fun and games have been continuous. Today, there was yet more wonderful powder to be found; and believe me, we saw it at very close quarters... My younger cousin Hannah was adorned with bunny ears to celebrate Easter; as you can see, the ears were more upright than she was at times... We also discovered a hidden valley in 1650

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-64847021019689209912008-03-21T19:03:00.001+01:002008-03-24T19:14:42.039+01:00

It has been snowing solidly all day and the powder is unbelievable. It is going to take a lot of digging to rescue my poor car who is stuck in his car chalet! Many of the old local mountain goats are saying that they have not seen such in intense and heavy snowfall for many years. The skiing today has been brilliant. Visibility was a bit patchy but when there is powder over your knees to

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-39773041193639274882008-03-20T15:45:00.000+01:002008-03-24T19:03:54.085+01:00

An interesting piece of parking I think you will all agree!! This car had been parked on the side of the road as normal. None of us are quite sure what happened, but we think that another car nudged it and it slid over the bank!By the end of today it had been replaced onto the road... It soon got driven away and if the driver has any sense he won't park it there again!

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-76450561542635896222008-03-19T20:09:00.008+01:002008-03-23T09:45:44.531+01:00

The Col from the bottom.... Views from the top over towards Saulire. Today I was extremely lucky to do my first bit of proper hiking... I set off from La Tania with an ESF instructor as my guide. We headed up to the top of the Dou des Lanches chair and started the climb. We strapped our skis to our backpacks and off we went. Towards the start, we met up with another ski instructor

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-31357449467086700822008-03-18T22:34:00.000+01:002008-03-19T20:24:58.300+01:00

Our glass next to a conventional pint glass... Day off is always worth celebrating and this Tuesday was no exception... Clare (Petit Collu), Sarah (Reposoir) and I decided to head over to La Tania. While there we popped into the Chrome bar and ordered a big beer... 3l worth of big! As you can see, we all look totally natural with it!! However if you think this is good, some of the other Finlays

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-30754093676163252442008-03-17T18:16:00.003+01:002008-03-17T18:31:36.749+01:00

So much fresh snow has fallen that it is actually quite difficult to tell which month we are in out here. There is fresh powder everywhere as you can see in these photos from around 1550. It is quite tricky to see, but these pictures are actually in colour! I love seeing the trees laden with snow. Who says you don't get fresh powder in March? They should come and see this... Tomorrow is

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-53066138771160925862008-03-16T14:23:00.000+01:002008-03-17T18:27:56.356+01:00

This was the view from the Loze piste earlier today... Bad visibility and murky weather but it is a lovely view for a seasonnaire: fresh snow!! It is supposed to continue for a day and then clear up for a couple of lovely days, so there should be good conditions for all our guests this week and next... It does make it tricky for the first skiing day, but in among the trees down runs such as

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-15660644387251391672008-03-14T18:12:00.000+01:002008-03-17T18:16:14.205+01:00

Isn't she beautiful??? I am now the proud owner of this Burton Custom, which I have been buying in installments over the last month... She is so pretty!! And of course, great to ride... I am looking forward to trying her out in all the snow which is forecast next week. I just cant decide on a name. My old board is called Doris. Any suggestions? I am thinking of Beryl or Delilah at the

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-71135151125358550472008-03-14T09:12:00.003+01:002008-03-14T09:21:25.168+01:00

Another stunning day up here in the mountains...Temperatures have risen and we are back to the spring like weather of a week ago. I was very pleasantly surprised by the snow conditions when I went up the hill yesterday. I thought the rain would have washed all the nice snow away; but the pistes are in really good condition. There was not really any ice about because the warm sun had softened

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-86006305892473982222008-03-12T11:30:00.006+01:002008-03-12T11:46:35.294+01:00

If you thought the photos in the blog entry below were amusing, then see these videos... The first is Sarah (Reposoir) attempting to get up after a big wipe out on the Stade de Slalom in 1850. This run is normally closed to the public but as the fence was not up, we took the opportunity of testing it out in deep powder. It went better for some than others... Next up is me. I manage to look ok

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-61662194959246243882008-03-12T11:13:00.008+01:002008-03-12T11:30:11.571+01:00

(Left to right) Abby, Clare (Petit Collu) and Sarah (Reposoir) enjoying the soft landing! We were so keen to get cracking yesterday, that a gang of us caught a bus up to 1850 so that we could be first down Tovets before the lifts opened. It was CJs last morning and she was determined to have a few hours on piste before leaving at 11am. So off we went! It was incredible, well over a foot of snow

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-40001738224778812912008-03-10T19:10:00.001+01:002008-03-10T19:14:41.797+01:00

Here in Courchevel it is bucketing it down. Tomorrow could be a great day; the snow is already settling and it is really big fluffy flakes... First lift is looking tempting for day off...

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-15307947691267422762008-03-09T09:11:00.004+01:002008-03-09T10:24:47.688+01:00

Flying over Courchevel - tempted? Why not get a birdseye view of Courchevel and try a tandem parapente? It is a great experience and so peaceful when you are in the air. You jump with a qualified instructor so there is nothing to worry about, they are in control; and then you just float around in the thermals and enjoy stunning views. You can either call Craig on 0033 681 646 970 or try

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4885419204548897423.post-30649519131617498582008-03-07T09:06:00.001+01:002008-03-09T10:21:40.758+01:00

Have you ever seen such a tiny bottle of sunscreen? Or is it just a huge glass of wine??? Remember to wear sunscreen out here, it may feel cold but the sun is really strong. You only have to look at the seasonnaires' goggle marks to realise how easy it is to catch the sun...

Abbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06302569534829829993noreply@blogger.com