Saturday update, the big hole gone

Saturday afternoon and no one at work. Shocking. The big hole is nearly filled in though. Ferg.

The hole that is Meribel high street (or a 5 star hotel car park) – see pic

Thanks to Bring http://www.bringyoursisters.com/ Your Sisters Rich for the latest pic of the main road in Meribel leading up from La Chaudanne to The Tav. You have to use the steps across from the Tav down to the car park to walk all the way around this, some work to do filling this in by December.

Lots of work in Courchevel too, more 5 star hotels going up – and we thought La Tania was being disrupted by the builders…

Proof of 20 new canons on the green run (Plan Fontaine)

Today we walked up the green run and saw all the new canons being installed on the green run back to La Tania. All canons in place and final connections of water and air hoses work in progress. At the split of Fontaine and Murrettes (red run down to Le Praz) there appears to be a connection box for snow canons indicating that they could go down to Le Praz via Murettes as well. In my poor French I asked a man working up there and he said, yes, maybe next year, they would be installing canons down to Le Praz as well. Plan Fontaine also looks like it has been widened and leveled out in places so along with the canons this is a great improvement and benefit for La Tania. Nick and Joey www.nickskithreevalleys.co.uk

Road side stone work nearly complete

Weds 22nd sept update. Crane moved to far side. Stonework nearly done on front. Still nice and sunny but a definite chill in the air. Ferg.

Col de Chanrouge Walk, Valley Les Avals. Name the lift in the pic

On what looked like the last day of good weather for a while, Andrea and Phil of http://snowretreat.co.uk/ Snow Retreat and Joey and Nick of http://nickskithreevalleys.co.uk/ NickSki embarked on a previously unexplored (by us !) walk up the Valley of Avals.

Starting from Courchevel 1650, near the Chaplets lift, up to the col de Chanrouge then back down to Lac de Tueda in Mottaret. A fantastic sunny day all day (Wed 15.9) with clear views over to Mont Blanc and almost tripping over Marmottes nearly every step of the way.

We passed by the Refuge des Lacs Merlet then passed Lac de Petre before ascending to col Chanrouge for a much needed lunch stop. From here we spotted an unusual view of a popular lift, can you recognise it from the picture? Then after admiring the views and much pontificating about how glaciers had carried boulders to certain places we descended to the Refuge du Saut. Then following the streams and rivers down the valley we finally reached Lac Tueda where we had parked a car the night before to take us back to La Tania.

Walk took 7 hours with a lunch stop, hoping to try it again in the winter with touring skis and a GPS.

Public building piste just about complete, still no roof

Only a small hole in the piste now, just keep left. Stonework going on the front but where is that roof? Ferg.

New piste past the La Tania building work and over the car parking takes shape

Piste starting to take shape past the new public building, there’s car parking spaces underneath. Cath – Avid Eaters.

Building Work from the Hotel Montana Terrace

View off the Montana terrace, piste a bit narrower than before and not very smooth…. Still no roof. Dusting of snow from yesterday just visible on the Grand Bec. Ferg.

What’s new from the S3V Lift Company for Winter 2011

Courchevel Valley:

• Extension of the snow making network with the installation of 20 snow cannons on the Plan Fontaine green run (La Tania). This will ensure that skiers of all levels can return to La Tania on skis all season long. This new investment brings the total number of snow cannons to 637 in the Courchevel Valley, covering 44% of the skiing area.
• Improvements to the Family Park modules to make them even more attractive and fun.
• Redevelopment of the Emile Allais slalom course ready for the Women’s World Cup event that will take place on the 21st December 2010.

Méribel-Mottaret :

• Improvements to the Plattières Snowpark to maximise its accessibility to all.
• Installation of 400 metres of snow fences (on the the Campagnol and Venturon pistes). This is an ecological way of accumulating snow on the pistes, thanks to the wind. Snow fences have been used successfully for many years in Méribel-Mottaret.
• Improvements made to the middle section of the Lac de la Chambre piste (coming back from Val Thorens) making it more enjoyable to ski.
• Redevelopment of the Doron ZEN (area in the heart of the resort dedicated to beginners learning to ski) to make it less steep and therefore more fun for first timers.
• Modernisation of the Côte Brune detachable chairlift (Direct link to Val Thorens and access to the high altitude skiing in Méribel-Mottaret) increasing by 15% the uplift capacity of this chairlift (capacity of 2 400 skiers / hour to cope with its success) and by refurbishing the lift buildings top and bottom.

A new angle on the building work…

A different angle for a change. Still no roof…… Ferg.