The La Tania Ski Blog
Latest news, snow, pics, gossip and information from the locals in La Tania – latania.co.uk
All the latest news from around the Three Valleys from the La Tania locals. A real blog since 2006, not just endless re-posts for search engine optimisaton! Photos, gossip, snow reports, what's on and all the latest on the Apres Ski scene... Now fully optimised for iPhone, Touch and Android Mobiles - just go to latania.co.uk/blog and view on your phone. Our other past blogs & favourites here
La Tania Video Snow Report 12 February 2014
Tim Wall out skiing with the family a few days before the half term holidays begin. Another glorious day in La Tania with blue skies and fresh snow. Wednesday 24 February 2014.
Ski Progression Eric takes Nick Ski Plumbing…
Guess where this is taken from? Clue, we were with Eric from Ski Progression
Nick
www.nickskithreevalleys.co.uk
Sky TV in The Alps & lost BBC Channels 6 Feb 2014
Back in the 90s you could hold up the old anologue Sky dishes by hand and get a signal in La Tania by just roughly point in the direction of Col de la Loze.
With the introduction of Digital the dish position had to become more precise and then the free to air channels started to move satellites giving poorer and poorer reception unless a bigger dish than the Sky 50-60cm freebie mini dish was used.
On 6 Feb 2014 the latest major change happened which effected lots of ex pats across Europe as BBC channels transferred to the Astra 2E satellite that has a much tighter beam footprint focused on the UK as can be seen from the image above.
With the Olympics and 6 Nations Rugby being broadcast on the BBC this is suddenly big news! Note that the BBC2 Red Button Olympic Coverage should be transmitting on the pan european beam that Sky uses for it’s channels so you should be ok – and there is coverage on other channels such as Eurosport too.
Latest news from La Tania and The Three Valleys area of The Alps is that those with dishes over 90cm seem to be ok (as long as they’re decent quality and accurately mounted). Signal strength / reception is also affected by the quality and type of dish & LNB in use plus the cable quality and length from dish to box.
Some sites report that some boxes are better than others – Sky badging Panasonic, Pace, Amstrad and Grundig amongst others but the dish, LNB and cable run are certainly the main factors (but don’t forget the weather too).
ITV channels are set to move too, as soon as this week so you may want to get your bigger dish ASAP!
UK Broadcasters quote copyright laws, transmission rights, advertising rules etc around not being able to broadcast European wide (except that they have done for years and continue to broadcast to Eire, Belgium, Holland, Northern France etc).
Lots of info in the links below including accessing TV via broadband internet (ultimately the way forward in the future even if by 4G etc) from services such as Film On, TV Player, Zattod and Overplay.
www.eyeondemand.com/2014/02/05
3 Valleys Charity Day 2014 – The 2014 Colours
The years colours for the massive 3 Valleys Charity Day to be held once again in Meribel Village on Wednesday 9 April 2014.
Are We Ready To Take It Next Level? The 2014 Logo (and it’s rad dudes) coming soon…
Thanks to Rich at AltiVisual for the graphics.
Mountain Adventure Ski & Snowboard Holidays Launch
We know everyone is different, so that’s what we do, ski & snowboard holidays with a difference!
2014 marks a new era for the Mountain Adventure Team as we introduce our new company – Mountain Adventure Ski and Snowboard Holidays (M.A.S.S.H).
Those that follow us regularly will know that we’ve been looking into a winter option for our guests for quite a while now and January 2014 saw our inaugural Winter Experience take place.
For the remainder of the season we will be based in La Tania where we will offer a winter programme that is based on the traditional chalet skiing holiday, but with added twists.
Still allowing guests to get out on the slopes, we also offer some adventure activities, designed for those that may want to see more of the Alps, or just take it a bit easier on a particular day. Below is breakdown and a small insight into what we got up to in January and the basis of what we propose to offer (as optional extras) for the rest of the 2014 winter season.
SNOW SHOEING
Our Mountain Leader and all round winter activity junkie Marie, took our guests for a day of snow shoeing in Champagny-le-haut. All a little tentative at first, the group walked from Le Bois in the center of the valley up to Laisonnay alongside the river, being certain to stop for “une petite blonde dans la blanche” – a little white wine in the snow – for warming the spirits! For the rest of the season we envisage taking guests through the National Park in Courchevel (Moriand) 1650 to Lac de Rosiere.
HUSKY SLEDDING
This activity went down as “most interesting and unusual” and was thoroughly enjoyed by all our guests.
Guests met the dogs from Nordic Adventures and after some instruction they were let loose and were able to mush the dogs for about an hour through the valley of Champagny-le-haut.
ICE CLIMBING
This was an early evening activity, where our guests were able to ice climb under floodlights. After donning safety equipment and learning how to be-lay, it was time to grab some ice picks and head up the ice tower. All of this was overseen by our guide, Damien Souvy.
NORDIC SKIING (SKI DE FOND)
ESF La Tania provided the instruction as we headed off to Meribel with our narrow skis and relatively unsupportive boots (when you’re used to ski/snowboard boots that is). Trust me, even if you can ski, you start off like bambi.
So there you have it, optional winter activities in addition to your traditional ski holiday – the birth of Mountain Adventure Ski and Snowboard Holidays.
Take a look at www.massh.co.uk for more information and availability.
Freeride Republic Style Snow Clearing
At the Freeride Republic we call in the big boys for snow clearing ! Ralph http://www.thefreeriderepublic.com
La Tania Video Snow Report 06 Feb 2014
T Wall reporting from the centre of La Tania on Waitangi Day, 6 Feb 2014.
The Winter Olympics – Support Your Local Athletes! (& Sign Em’s Petition)
A tale of 2 local athletes based near La Tania…
James Whitley, 16, has been selected for the Paralympics TeamGB to go to Sochi. James divides his time between Le Praz & East Sussex and has been skiing in Courchevel since the age of 4. He say he owes everything to the excellent training by the ESF Stage Competition in Courchevel. James is ranked 2nd in the world under 18 and 32nd overall. He will be competing in the Slalom on 13th March and the Giant Slalom on 15th March. Please give him all your support and cheer for him in Sochi!
Meanwhile Britain is without representation in Ski Cross (arguably THE most exciting Winter Olympic sport – it certainly has the most crashes…) with it looking like Meribel local Emily Sarsfield missing out on selection due to an unbelievable decision by the British Olympics Authority despite the fact the Em finished 17th in the World Championships in November in a really unpredictable sport. She has satisfied the conditions set out by the FIS who have issued her with an invite to compete in the Ski Cross in Sochi 2014 – Please sign the on-line petition to get the BOA to accept Emily’s invitation in the team and many thanks to all who have already signed. Remember Em receives no backing from the BOA or BSS and relies solely on sponsorship in order to compete at the highest level.
Em competing in Val Thorens – photo credit Daniel Smye-Rumsby
James in full flight – currently ranked 2nd in the World in Slalom and 5th in GS at Under 18 level.
Good luck to all our athletes especially those under GBFreeski head coach and manager Pat Sharples – another local out here, TC “interviewed” him back in 1999 when he presented our Seasonnaire Awards! The Freestyle Skiers will be of interest as apart from the 6 of them (Biathlon & Cross Country excepted) the only GB skiers are Chemmy Alcott and David Ryding. We’ve got 10 athletes in the Curling though………..
La Tania Snow Report – Powder Day Sunday 02 Feb 2014
Around 10cm of fresh snow in resort and up to 30cm in sheltered areas and collected in the trees. Great to be in the first bubble of the day and first down the red and across to Folyeres.
First tracks down Folyeres at 09:10 this morning.
Getting the La Tania Gros Murger drag up to the Bouc Blanc chair (only takes 6 minutes) saw us meet up with Nick & Joey of Nick Ski. A few circuits of Jean Blanc and the Courchevel Stade & Coqs trees as visibility remained poor were in order – all in all a great morning skiing.
Remember – no such thing as bad weather, just inadequate clothing….
And it’s still snowing at 5pm tonight by the way – all looking good for a great week ahead!
