Le Praz New Lift Work Continues Apace & Lake Being Drained

The old gondola station has already been flattened and work continues rapidly on the new €27m Alpinium Building, 500 space underground multi-storey car park and new gondola lift up to 1850.

There’ll also be a tourist office, lift pass office, function rooms with bar and kichen facilities, kids play area, 120 ski lockers and public toilets The new 10 seater gondola will now arrive near the top of Tovets chair (which will be shortened) – making an easier walk up to La Croisette area and will be over 25% quicker taking less than 6 minutes to get to the top.

The gondola base station will integrate in to the new base building which will have sports facilities and a running track effectively on the roof and the 2023 The Alpine Ski World Championships will have the Men’s races finish here.

As part of the work the lake is temporarily being drained too which means no wake boarding park this Summer but the new faster, bigger, better lift will open this December for Winter 2019 / 2020.

When completed we hear that the lower level of the car park will host an electric go-kart circuit from May through to November.

Thanks to Claire from the Drop Inn at Le Praz for the pics. They’re open all year and don’t forget Tapas Tuesdays….

Win one of the last few 3 Valleys Charity Day T Shirts at the Bring Your Sisters UK Gig on 26 May 2019

We’ve the final few limited edition Bring Your Sisters T-Shirts from 3 Valleys Charity Day to give away – but you must be at the BYStival gig in Cobham on 26 May 2019…

We’ve only got Ladies medium to give away (the only ones left!) – to enter email competition@latania.co.uk with the subject line BYS with your answer to the following:

A regular feature of Bring Your Sisters gigs is the band and the crowd getting naked – who originally sang the song they get naked to?

Winners will be announced at the show, see you down the front…
#GetYourselvesDownThere

The annual Bring Your Sisters Bank Holiday extravaganza takes place on Sunday 26 May 2019 at Avorians Cricket Club, Cobham.

It’s Bank Holiday “Super Sunday”, no work Monday. BYS and friends will be playing in the Avorians Cricket Club, Cobham from 4:30pm.

BBQ, outdoor bar and a chance to catch the 3 Valleys Charity Day Headliners only UK date this Summer.

Limited tickets so book early online through eventbrite by clicking the link here. Tickets £12.00, kids under 12 free!

 

Congrats to La Tania regular James Williams on a London Marathon World Record

La Tania regular James Williams broke the Guinness World Record for fastest marathon dressed as a snowboarder at the London Marathon on Sunday.

Completing the Marathon in a time of 5 hrs 21 mins 50 secs, James was dressed in snowboard gear including helmet & boots while carrying a snowboard with bindings around the course.

James was raising money for the Round Table Children’s Wish Charity – Fundraising Page here

Season Over… Time for the UK Reunion – Bring Your Sisters present BYStival

The annual Bring Your Sisters Bank Holiday extravaganza takes place on Sunday 26 May 2019 at Avorians Cricket Club, Cobham.

26th of May 2019 – Bank Holiday “Super Sunday”, no work Monday. BYS and friends will be playing in the Avorians Cricket Club, Cobham from 4:30pm.

BBQ, outdoor bar and a chance to catch the 3 Valleys Charity Day Headliners only UK date this Summer.

Limited tickets so book early online through eventbrite by clicking the link here. Tickets £12.00, kids under 12 free!

See you down the front…

BYS through the years…

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Rich Roberts – Guitar, Vocals
Stevie Hay – Drums, Keyboard, Guitar, Vocals and anything you can hit, blow, strum, play etc…
Ben Westaway – Guitar, Vocals
Gareth McKane – Bass, Vocals
And The Roadies… Aaron, Joey, Rachel, Phil & Paul

 

It’s All Over… A Great Final Day on the Mountain

While Val Thorens and Orelle carry on until 5 May that’s it for the rest of the 3 Valleys but a great final day skiing (and more Marmottes!). Have a great Summer everyone wherever you may be heading…

Great snow cover but windy today, yesterday was better. Still tonnes of snow.

The last day started slightly cloudy which was good as the snow hadn’t frozen overnight and so the groomed pistes were like velvet first thing. All resorts open although greatly reduced lift service but plenty to go at.  Fantastic snow cover and most of the pistes had plenty of snow although not necessarily open due to the reduced lift system. This doesn’t really matter if you know your way around. Travelling around the Three Valleys wasn’t recommended today due to the Foehn/Lombard wind blowing. 

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Remember the lifts are open in July and August for hikers and bikers with plenty of fêtes, BBQs, fireworks, mountain biking events, The Summer Ski Jumping World Cup, Triumph Bikers weekend and a stage finish of the Tour de France in Val Thorens. See La Tania Summer Life

 

It’s that time of year… Marmotte Spotting at the bottom of Creux

3 Valleys Charity Day Roll of Honour – The Big Thankyou!

The total amount raised on 3 Valleys Charity Day 2019 and at the La Tania Charity Ball after all our associated costs have been paid is €33,000.

The 8th annual 3 Valleys Charity Day (and 19th charity event since we started in La Tania in 2002)  held on Wednesday 10th April 2019 in Méribel Village was another incredible success.

This year’s slogan was #getyourselvesouthere – so a massive thanks to all of you who did!

To raise €33,000 for our two charities after all our increased costs to improve the event is a truly great effort. Thanks to everybody who got involved as the total raised represents an amazing achievement by you all.

Due to your efforts, attendance and generosity we now have another €33,000 that we can donate to the The Sebastian’s Action Trust and the Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer.

As in recent years we were faced with a pretty unfavourable weather forecast for the day.

However, a pretty cold day and some drops of rain in the late afternoon didn’t in any way dampen the fun or atmosphere as we saw a total attendance of 1665 people on the day including 1317 tickets sold in advance through our new online ticketing system for 2019.

Once again, the venue was pretty much full and rocking from 2pm and at one point there was a pretty big queue to get in! The ambiance created by those who attended this year was really good so thanks to all that got involved in a positive way and made a contribution.

We saw people travelling from as far afield as La Rosierie, Tignes & Les Arcs to attend. You guys really did get yourselves over here!

The fancy dress competition at 3pm saw some of the brilliant handmade costumes that people had put a lot of time into, in the spirit of the bygone charity days that were held in La Tania.

This year’s fancy dress winners were the Vikings, the Trolls and the Cleaners. Also, a special mention to T Rex who we couldn’t find in the crowd when it came to judge the winners but T Rex, we loved your costume! Nice work guys and enjoy those meals and drinks at Copina Courchevel.

A special thanks goes out to our main sponsors Pub Le Ski Lodge for sponsoring the stage this year and also a special mention must go out to Bring Your Sisters who headlined the event, very generously for no fee (see them in the UK in May).

Because of these two incredible contributions from Tim & Debbie Wall and Bring Your Sisters we were able to invest some extra funds into the sound and stage system to improve the overall event experience for you. The extra investment certainly had the desired effect as the new stage looked awesome and the new sound system and line array sounded amazing.

A huge thanks as always must go out to all the local bands on Wednesday who again gave up their own time, and paid gigs on the day to play at Charity Day. We really couldn’t do it without you and you all absolutely rocked it!

There was an incredible amount of unseen unglamorous work carried out behind the scenes to prepare this event at unsociable hours of the day, including setting up the stage, tents, toilets, tables and barriers, BBQs, food preparation, amongst countless other tasks. Thanks to all my crews on Tuesday, Wednesday and also on Thursday morning which is always the hardest shift after a long day of working and partying the night before. You guys really are the heroes that help me stage this great event. Thanks guys I love your work!

On a personal note thanks and gratitude to Tim & Debbie Wall and Chris Ball for your continued support and sponsorship of the event and for bringing the Pub Le Ski Lodge bar over to Meribel Village. It’s a significant part of the overall total that is raised which cannot be understated.

In a year where the team was a little stretched in terms of volunteers to share the workload, a big thanks go out to John and Carol Warren, John McMorland, Lyn McMorland and the whole Gorman family, the Bakers, Alan, John and Natalie Earl for stepping up and giving me a hand in the final days running up to the event. I couldn’t have done it without you guys!

I know I say it every year and I will again here, it’s the volunteers that assist me on the day and those who give up their own free time and lend their support selflessly that makes the event what it is and gives the event its unique flavour which cannot be replicated.

To finish then, on a year when all of you really did #getyourselvesouthere – see you all again next year!

Next year sees our big birthday so look out for an extra special charity day tee shirt design to commemorate our 20^th year…..

Ralph Corner
3 Valleys Charity Day

A massive thank you to all of the following …

Organisers – Ralph Corner, Tim Wall, Chris Ball, Charlie Gorman, Ben Westaway, Rich Roberts, John McMorland, Lyn McMorland, John and Carol Warren

Presenter – Russ Desmond

Band Line Up – Ben Westaway

Sound & Stage – Westy, Rich Roberts, Stevie, Gareth, Paul, Chris Hall, Fernando

Bands – Bring Your Sisters, The Maps, Daisy Chain Band, Sian Hayley-Smith, Freddie Fingers, Al Jones, Ali Wright, The Dominos, Pink Miami, Queens of the Snow Stage, Les Lunettes, Gallie.

DJs – Funkin English, Jaguar Skills

Event Treasurer – John Middleditch

Event Venue & Infrastructure – Méribel Tourist Office, Xavier & Clement, Méribel Technical Services

Venue Stretch Tents – Luke McDonald, Ollie Harrison, Ollie Scott, Dan Wilson, Shannon Robertson, Candace Kellough

Tuesday Set Up Team – John Warren, Luke Eastwood, Chris Ball, Tim Wall, Ralph Corner & Benedict Butler, David Oliver, Alan Slater & John Folan

Thursday Clean Up Team – Ralph Corner, Tim Wall, Benedict Butler, John Warren, Meribel Service Technique, Chris Ball & Luke Eastwood

Wednesday Night Clean Up Volunteers – Charlie Gorman, Tristan Rouet, Chris Ball, Toffa Brown, Luke Eastwood, Ralph Corner, Alan Slater, John Folan, Paul Gorman. Bev Wyn, Karen Gorman, Benedict Butler, Lindsay & Auntie Mary, Natalie Earl, Karen Bolton, Paddy Weeks, Jack Thomas Consterdine, Paul Clough & David Campbell.

Event Video – Guy Cotton

Photos – Natalie Earl, Toffa Brown, John Ruben Robinson

Social Media – Natalie Earl, Ralph Corner, www.latania.co.uk,

Radio Advertising – Radio Méribel, Mika Dae

Advertising – www.latania.co.uk

Door & Gate – Sandy Jardine, John Folan, Alan Slater, Morgan Bell, Fiona Bell, John Middleditch & Deadpool

Staff Security and Door – Auntie Mary and Lindsey

Jaguar Skills & BYS Transport – Snowbound Transfers and Freeride Republic

Jaguar Skills Accommodation – Cafe Del Mott, Hotel Mottaret, Madame Vacances & Louisa Van Vloten

BYS Accommodation – Keith Stowell, Tayla Elise Rogers

Sebastian Action Trust Ladies Accommodation – Family Friendly Ski

La Tania Maribel Shuttle Bus – Le Praz Transfers, Simon Fox & Martin

Food Tent – Benedict Butler, Carol Warren, John Warren, Tony Torti, Steve Hazel, Amanda Hazel, Adam Fairclough, Shaun Fairclough, Rory Lane, Dam Mustoe, Tomas Stranik & Oliver Sampson, Sue and Pete Booth.

Savoieire Pulled Pork Sandwiches Tent – Joey McFarland, Janet Barnett & Paul Barnett

Curries – John McMorland, Lyn McMorland, Matthew Ward, The Freeride Republic

Jelly Vodkas – Danielle Taverner & Natalie Earl

Food Donations – The Trading Post, Maison Braissard, Savoieire

Event Shopping – John McMorland, Jason Baker, Claire Baker & The Freeride Republic 

Tombola – Jane Gates, Mick Gates, Danielle Taverner, Pete Boon, Karen Gorman, Paul Gorman

Glitter / Face Painting – Katie Trott, Natalie Earl & Jenny Lean

Meribar – Connor, Jake Rigby, Rhys Llewellin, Ellie Thompson, Chrissy Palmer, Millie Mcdougie, Mark Reesy & Andrew Fidgeon

Money Security – Alan Slater & John Middleditch

Security – Horizon Security Team

Pub Le Ski Lodge – Tim Wall, Chris Ball, Claire Baker, Tristan Rouet, Jason Baker, Luke Eastwood, Paul Clough, Toffa Brown, Dan Mustoe, Harriet Graham, Dave Campbell & Rich Stuchberry

Laganitas VIP Bar – Karen Bolton & Bastian

VIP Area Staff – Ulf Stromvall, Claire Almond-Jones, Fabienne Charlet, Frederick Loire & Benedict Jones

VIP Area Sponsors – Café Del Mott

Main Stage & Event Sponsors – Pub Le Ski Lodge

T Shirt Design, Logos & Poster Design – Paul Middlewick Grid 24

T Shirt Manufacturer – Coniston Corporate Embroidery

T Shirt & Merchandise Sales – John and Carol Warren, Karen Gorman, Charlie Gorman, Paul Gorman, Ralph Corner, Natalie Earl

T Shirt Sponsors – Snowlinks Transfers, Lodge Du Village, Pub Le Ski Lodge, STS Transfers, Oxygene Ski School, www.latania.co.uk, Après Ski Bands, Cool Ski jobs, Alpine Escape, 3 Valley Vans, The Freeride Republic, Ski Higher, Alpine Intent, Snow White Transfers, Méribel Tourist Office, Snow Retreat, Slide Candy, The Trading Post

Poster Sponsors – Pub Le Ski Lodge, La Taiga, Alpine Intent, Courchevel Transfers, Ski Dazzle, Oxygene Ski School, Apres Ski Bands, Oxygene Ski School, White Storm, Café Del Mott, www.latania.co.uk, Radio Méribel

Toilets – Altimodul

Fancy Dress Competition Sponsors – Copina Courchevel

Event Printing – La Tania Tourist Office & Lyn McMorland 

La Ligue Contre Del Cancer – Mme Françoise Blanc, Mme Nadine Guicciardi, Mr Daniel Masson

La Taiga Charity Ball – Chris B, Tim Wall, Debbie Wall, Russ Desmond and La Taiga Staff

La Taiga Charity Ball Prizes – Cool Ski Jobs, Sunburst Sailing, Sue and Pete Booth, La Taverne Meribel, Tsaretta Spice, Man and Wolf Beer, Rond Pont, Bistro Du Praz, Rond Pont & Sports Remedial

Water – Meribel Pompiers

General Northern Complaining – Bev Wyn

Check out all of the photos at: www.facebook.com/3vcharityday

 

The La Tania Charity Ball returns – 15 April 2019

After a hiatus of 6 years the La Tania Charity Ball returned on Monday at La Taiga with a fine looking bunch of guests…

The charity auction raised €1750 for the 3 Valleys Charity Day charities – many thanks to Cool Ski Jobs, John and Lynn at Sunburst Sailing, Man and Wolf Beer, Sue and Pete Booth, Rond Pont, Bistro du Praz, Sports Remedial, Taverne Meribel and Tsaretta Spice for the prizes and of course to Chris Ball & Tim Wall plus all the staff at La Taiga for hosting the event. Bigger and better next year anyone?

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Folyères still magnificent this morning with complete wide cover on 17 April 2019

Remember Biollay is closed (Pralong open) so head for the Sources drag when heading over from La Tania to miss out 1850. Click on the images for the full size pic.

 

More Escapaders in a Day – Good Work Nat, Maxim and Pat

From Nat:
Myself, Maxim and Pat completed the 3 Valley Escapades on Friday 29th March 2019…

The Verdet run was closed between OLYMIPIC and ST MARTIN 1 which, slowed us down. We still rode down it but it was horrible! We took a wrong turn after PLAN DE L’EAU and ended up doing this lift twice, costing us 12 minutes.We were generally really lucky with lifts. We had 4 or 5 of the old chairs in VT stop for about 1-2 mins each but that was it.

Start time: 09.02 (at LEGENDS) Start time: 09.10 (at OLYMPIC)
End time: 15.52 (reaching GOLF) End time: 16.00 (top of GOLF)
End time: 16.07 (back to where we started at LEGENDS)
Our mistake at PLAN DE L’EAU cost us 12 minutes.
Depending on the rules of how to work the time out, we did it in just shy of 7 hours. We took a few selfies along the way and on our return to Méribel, we celebrated at the SOUNDCLASH!

ESCAPADE ROUTE Friday 29th March 2019
Natasha Mortimer, Maxim La Lau and Patricia Choffel.
LEGENDS – 09.02
*OLYMPIC* – 09.10
*ST MARTIN 1* – 09.24
ST MARTIN EXPRESS – 09.33*
ROC DE TOUGNE* – 09.44
GRANGES – 09.49
COTE BRUN – 10.02
*FUNITEL PECLET* – 10.18
MORAINE – 10.36
*COL* – 10.47
PORTETTE – 11.00
THORENS – 11.10
PEYRON – 11.22
*BOUCHET* – 11.31
ROSAEL – 11.47
*PLAN DE L’EAU* – 12.08 & 12.20
MASSE 1 – 12.39
*MASSE 2* – 12.50
REBERTY – 13.13
SUNNY EXPRESS – 13.18
*BECCA* – 13.29*
MONT VALLON* – 13.39
PLAN DE MAIN – 13.55
PAS DU LAC – 14.09
ROC MUGNER – 14.26
*PETITE BOSSE* – 14.36
*AGUILLE DE FRUIT* – 14.40
*FORET* – 14.55
*BOUC BLANC* – 15.04
SOURCES – 15.17
*SAULIRE* – 15.23
*DDB* – 15.40
*GOLF* – 15.52
ROPE TOW – 16.00
LEGENDS – 16.07
*SOUND CLASH* – 17.00