First “Worst Snow Ever” Forecast of Winter…

But the first prediction this Autumn comes from The Sun – not our favourite weather forecaster, The Daily Express – who headlines below have predicted Snowmageddon over and over again for the last 6 years….

However, they’ve been doing this for a while… This from THE Winter of 1947

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Snow! The Webcam Pics from 18 September 2016

Snow to about 2100m on the morning of Sunday 18th September 2016

Saulire Summit – the last snow from Winter 2015/2016 melted on here only 3 weeks ago!

Saulire view from Courchevel 1850 La Croisette

View from the Signal Chair 1650

Mont Vallon with a covering on the Merinet Cam

Val Thorens with snow to resort level

The Bouc Blanc cam just showing the snow line

Finally from La Tania – is it me or is that crane a bit over the top to cover the Swimming Pool? Or is it for something else?

A couple of clips below of the snow from the Col de le Loze cam showing Sunday’s snow and a time-lapse from October 2015 to September 2016.

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Time to get fit for Skiing – All the UK Slopes

Great map of all the UK skiing options here from The Ski Club of Great Britain.

This list includes the 5 Scottish Ski Resorts of Nevis Range, Glencoe, Cairngorm, Glenshee and The Lecht plus the not so well know English Ski “resorts” of Raise, Yad Moss, Weardale and Allenheads too.

Lots of dry slopes plus the real snow indoor experiences too available across the country – the full list here

Into the second week of September – have you booked your ski holiday yet? Book Now!

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La Tania Medical Centre now open all year round

The La Tania Medical Centre will now be open all year round as our Doctor Aude Joncquiert-Latarjet has accepted the role to replace Dr Noblins in Le Praz who retired in March.

The opening dates for inter-season from 1st September are above.

More information on the La Tania Medical Centre here

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Saulire, Courchevel – 2 views of the snow melt during Summer 2016

The snow melt on Saulire from the beginning of June until 21 August 2016

View from the Chenus Webcam

View from the Saulire Webcam

All the 3 Valleys WebCams at: www.latania.co.uk/webcam

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The 25th Fête des Bûcherons in La Tania

A good turn out and great weather for the 25th annual Fête des Bûcherons on Monday.

The overall podium results were:
1. Christophe GEISLER (SUI)
2. David KNECHT (SUI)
3. Alexandre MEURISSE (FRA)

Well done to all those involved.

Photos courtesy of the La Tania Tourist Office.

And of course, no Lumberjack Festival would be complete without a mention of Monty Python…

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New McDonalds at Geneva Airport

Probably more important for those workers stuck in the mountains all season who need their fast food fix every now and again… (like the transfer drivers who requested Chambery Airport trips when the KFC opened!).

Located in the food court upstairs before security (replacing the Burger King and having a complete refurb) the new McDonalds is not cheap – reckon on around £10.50 at the moment for a medium Big Mac Meal compared to around £4.50 in the UK.

When the Swiss stopped pegging their currency to the US dollar a few years ago and the rates were almost 1 for 1 against the Euro I remember paying nearly £28 for 2 Whopper Meals…. It can be an expensive place – even with “real” non EC Duty Free it’s only tobacco products that are just about worth getting and they’ll be cheaper at the other end anyway usually.

At least it’s Pokemon friendly…

Thanks to Ralph at Freeride Republic Chalet Holidays for the heads up on this one.

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Hotel Courcheneige New Owners & Refurbishment for Winter 2017

The new owners are completing a comprehensive refurbishment of Hotel Courcheneige this Summer with an upgraded terrace, new entrance, new bar & restaurant plus a new roof top terrace with hot tubs up near the trees.

As many of you will know, The Hotel Courcheneige has been a refuge in the massively overpriced on piste restaurants in the Courchevel Valley since 2009 when Australian owners took it over.

With a huge sun facing terrace and pints of Stella for €5 (up to €6 last season) plus a full on 3 course meal including a fantastic buffet (€15) with choice of soups and what you wanted from the desert trolley for €30 was real value for money in Courchevel 1850 – it really was as good a value as La Tania!

The best deal however was bottles of Veuve Cliquot Champagne at €50. Try finding that price at a hotel restaurant (or even a bar) in the UK!

Last Season we were introduced to La Pomme de Pins (just above the Chabichou) which is the previous Courcheneige owners new place and they have some great plans in the pipeline for this place – keep an eye open…

The new owners of The Courcheneige are local restauranteurs, Christian Sturm and his head chef Franco Roméo. They promise “to keep the best possible 3 Star service in Courchevel 1850 with excellent food and dining selection, friendly service and the traditional low Courcheneige prices”.

Whether €50 bottles of Veuve will be available or not there’s some serious investment gone in to the hotel with all the rooms being modernised, a new roof top terrace with hot tubs in the trees, a whole new entrance and atrium with a new bar and lounge layout inside with cocktails a speciality, sheepskin rugs and throws over sofas plus a new bar on the terrace with new fireplaces and seating areas.

The new restaurant is now Italian and named Le Rendez-Vous and there’ll also be a Pizzeria serving pizzas on the terrace. The great value snack bar underneath will continue.

So all in all this looks like good news and we’ll hear from the new owners soon for some further info and price details.

At least it’s not been flattened and turned in to yet another 5 star resort hotel or worse still remained empty for a couple of seasons in true French style.

As usual we’ll have more info in our What’s New in The Three Valleys page around October

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New Lifts in Val Thorens & The 3 Valleys

Val Thorens Tourist Office released photos of the new Stade detachable chair lift construction work yesterday with helicopter lifting work in progress.

After some discussions it does look like the old drag lift will be removed (it is useful in a Stade situation to be able to drop off if gates are lower or for marshal work and was a useful short cut to parts of the resort too).

Meanwhile replacement of the Boismint chair with a high speed detachable 6 pack continues. This is towards the lower end of the resort above Plan de L’eau and will be 160m longer giving easier access to the Cime Caron cable car.

Other work this Summer includes the Grand Fond Funitel having a complete refurb including some stabilisation work on the top station due to earth movements being blamed on the permafrost melting.

Elsewhere in The 3 Valleys it’s a little quieter than previous years, the Chalets gondola lift (mainly for access around the resort) in Meribel Mottaret has been refurbished and some magic carpet improvements have taken place.

Main piste work appears to be on Jerusalem being re-re-graded to a blue – although the lift company assures us it will remain a fantastic roller coaster piste and retain it’s magic.

There’s also a lot of earth movement around the top of Lac Bleu between La Tania and Courchevel. Maybe some re-grading work with the top of Anémones becoming green to link to the Loze Est track or it could be just more snow cannon work.

No news on other developments starting such as the work on replacing and extending the Ariondaz gondola in Courchevel 1650 Moriond or indeed the Moretta Village development (& chair to meet the Bouc Blanc lift) in La Tania. Looks like work may start towards the end of 2017 but nothing confirmed.

Similarly no further updates on putting a lift to the Borgne area in Val Thorens – looking like this is not going to happen now with the new Stade lift and a piste towards this area perhaps? Also no news on the rumoured Moraine and Col lift being combined – stabilisation issues and glacier movement continue to cause difficulties up there.

More as always in our full and comprehensive What’s New page in October. Anyone know what the new building at Le Plantin is?

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Hottest Day of Summer – then a big storm

Another beautiful day today and could be the hottest day of Summer on Thursday before a big storm coming in on Friday.

Top lines are temperature models and bottom lines precipitation.

Sunrise from the Saulire Webcam this morning

And the La Tania 360° Cam yesterday

All The 3 Valleys Webcams

La Tania Weather Station & Forecasts

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