3V Closing Day Snow Report 25 April (VT open until 11 May)

A bit of a gloomy cloudy finish to the season, Folyeres, Dou des Lanches, Lanches, Bouc Blanc and Arolles all open today.

Over 200 pistes and 83 lifts open today but from tomorrow only VT. Very quiet on the slopes which were still nicely groomed but hard early on due to lack of sunshine.

What a difference a day makes, blue skies yesterday on Chenus and gloomy and alone on Saulire today.

See you next season, Nick, www.nickskithreevalleys.co.uk

What’s New Next Winter In The 3 Valleys? 6 New Lifts!

The Tourist Office and S3V have briefed tour operators with the confirmation of the new lifts and developments on the 3 Valleys ski area for the 2014/2015 season.

In the Courchevel Valley, the new Foret and Aiguille du Fruit 6 seater lifts are shown and Park City is being re-classified as a blue (the top bit used to be called Turcs which was a black and is now red!) – maybe the Turcs name is coming back and Park City will start lower down.

The new Foret lift will be a 6 seater chair with hoods and come up from Le Praz to just above the La Tania gondola.

The Aiguille du Fruit new profile is lower down than the current lift on the return from 1650 to 1850 but high enough to access the Marmottes / Chanrossa area as well as return to 1850.

In Meribel we finally see the upgrade of the Loze chair to a hi-speed detachable quad.

While 3 new lifts and some new pistes go in around the Val Thorens ski area.

Finally the opening times and 3 Valleys prices (cheaper single valley prices are also available) for Winter 2014/2015. We’ll have full news of the work and all the other developments in our comprehensive What’s New Guide this Summer.

Good to see the continuing investment in the biggest ski area in the world with the most modern and efficient lift system in the world too. Full high res images to follow.

Lodge du Village Closing Party BBQ & BYS

Thursday night saw the closing party BBQ with Bring Your Sisters at Lodge du Village with the almost traditional balcony crowd surf / stage dive.

More money raised for Charity Day too – over €23,000 going to our 2 charities this year!

A great season and thanks to Dora and all the staff at LdV, the greatest bar in the village!

Troika still holding out & Folyeres fine to resort too

The La Tania resort blue run Folyeres is still open, with good cover, wide & complete for nearly the whole run and the Troika area is still skiable too although the little used right hand side track will probably give up to the relentless sun today. That said, there could be some snow, at least high up coming on Easter Sunday.

The green Plan Fontaine run down in to resort is now officially closed but of course downloading is possible on the gondola for complete beginners.

Since snow cannons were installed over 10 years ago on Folyeres there’s only been one occasion when the run hasn’t been open until the very last day of the season. Looking ok to last another week this year and very few people about next week too (Val Thorens stays open until 11 May!).

Higher up still great skiing at the right times of day and the Bouc Blanc is looking absolutely magnificent again this morning. Have a great Easter everyone!

Message of Thanks from UK Paralympics Skiers to La Tania

Nice message from James Whitley (14th & 15th in Sochi the youngest man competing!!) and Ben Sneesby (team mate, sit skier) who are enjoying a leisurely week skiing in Courchevel!

We blogged about them at the time of the Sochi games and they wished to thank all in La Tania for the support.

After all the pressures of training, and then racing at Sochi, the boys are having a great time relaxing on the pistes in the 3 Valleys.

Charity Day Pics, Meribel Village, 9 April 2014

Well done everyone – a great day!

The Rollercoaster Ride of putting Charity Day on…

Probably the favourite photo of Charity Day – beers and smiles! More photos soon and more Thankyou’s to come too – For instance Monkey aka DJ Terry Barbados raised round €800 in a night at O’Sullivans (aka Dick’s) with the staff contributing their tips for the night too.

Great to see everyone coming together, volunteering and helping in loads of ways – really showing a great spirit of camaraderie & friendship all working together to support great causes that touch us all – you’re all stars.

The work, difficulties, logistics and organisation involved is immense – Power, Water, Fencing, Staging, Bars, Beer Coolers, Fridges, Ice, Seating, Tables, Insurance, PA and Sound Desk, Toilets, BBQ, Hog Roast, Curries, Bouncy Castle, T-Shirts, Beanies, Sunnies, Tourist Office / Mairee permissions, Comedy, Silent Disco & Bands organisation, Security, Transport plus the clean up afterwards, staff food and some accommodation too etc etc etc.

The full roll of honour will appear soon. But hey, I think we’re getting the hang of this now!

Don’t think I’ve seen T Wall work a straight 6 hour shift all behind the bar (with one arm) for a while either – for Mini, Crispy and the youngsters it’s a given, I was knackered after half an hour but something like 4,000 pints of Amstel in 6 hours sold at The Ski Lodge bar alone! The more you drank, the more you raised for Charity!

Saisonnaire Awards 2014 – Announced Mon 7 April at The Ski Lodge

The 2014 Saisonnaires Awards will be announced on Monday 7th April at Pub Le Ski Lodge from 10pm with Les Deux Roux on the Wheels of Steel…

There’s still time to vote on-line until noon on Monday (or in the ballot box in The Ski Lodge) and a few categories are still too close to call including Best Band – currently a 3 way tie with The Dominos, Bring Your Sisters and Cod Fish.

So if you haven’t voted yet – VOTE NOW