|
If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.
We only send around four newsletters a year so you will not be bombarded by us!
NEWS
HENRY’S AVALANCHE TALK
Tel: 00 33 682 33 49 68
UK Tel: 020 8144 5202
www.henrysavalanchetalk.com
email: hat@henrysavalanchetalk.com
Not a ski school at all – though the eponymous Henry is an instructor with Alpine Experience – Henry Schniewind has developed an off-piste safety programme, starting with a basic talk, to piste-side sessions on snow behaviour, avalanche procedure and equipment training.
Basic Talk:
Mondays at the Moris Pub 3.30–5.00pm and Wednesdays, at the Pacific Bar 6–7.30pm, €7.50
On Snow intro: Tuesdays, 2pm €40
On Snow part 1: Wednesdays 2–4.30pm, €40
On Snow part 2: Fridays 2–4.30pm, €40
Beeper Training: Wednesdays and Thursdays, 2–4.30pm, €30
Back
to top of page
Val d’Isère Update
The village of Val d’Isère has made some great improvements for this winter. The Press Centre built for the hugely successful 2009 World Championships has been turned into a fantastic Sports Centre, with 5000m2 of sporting facilities, including two pools (one with slides and fountains), a climbing wall, gym, fitness and spa rooms with sauna, Turkish bath, hydro-massage etc, plus two squash courts. Even better, a 2–15 day lift pass gives 1 free entry ticket to the pools.
Outside, the main nursery slopes now enjoy a bigger protected area for beginners – much needed – and there's a similar area on Bellevarde by the new Marmottes chair.
For children, there is a kids’ toboggan run set aside on the nursery slopes.
Finally, good news for romantics: the 1200m2 skating rink is now completed. It’s very often quite empty, so the idea of gliding across the ice hand-in-hand with one’s loved-one is irresistible… until the après-ski muscle-ache kicks in and the bubble bath beckons! More realistically, it’s another great option for non-skiers. Entry and skate hire is 6€ for an adult, 3€ for a child, and the rink opens from 2–6pm every day.
Back
to top of page
Grenoble Airport
Grenoble Airport has unveiled its exciting innovations for the coming winter, and they are… three new ladies’ loos and four bee hives!
At the spring briefing, a few more lavatories were the only improvement Grenoble’s users could suggest. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! What we want from an airport is convience, efficiency, and a nice smile from time to time. At Grenoble, the aircraft, passport control, baggage reclaim and coach park are all within about 100m, and guests can hardly believe how quick and painless their arrival is. Departure is even more amazing: our man calls their girl as our first coach approaches, and she dedicates anything from six to a dozen check-in desks to our flight. Queues are almost unknown. And everyone is genuinely happy to see us: Grenoble Airport is averaging zero flights per day at the moment, and only handles about a dozen on a busy winter Sunday. Saturdays can be a bit stressful, but our bus reps actually look forward to their Sundays at Grenoble!
We’re not sure who suggested bees, but Grenoble must be the only airport in the world making its own honey. Their ops manger said it was so they could impress rival airports with their flight figures. ‘We’ve done two billion rotations this month,’ he announced proudly!
Back
to top of page
French Restaurants to Prune VAT
News from Val d’Isère is that restaurant prices seem to be coming down slightly across the board. It isn’t easy: bars and restaurants in France never make money anyway, but an empty restaurant makes even less than a full one, and everyone now accepts that the Brits can no longer afford what we used to.
VAT in France on restaurant meals has dropped from 19.6% to 5.5% this summer. This will enable restaurants to more than absorb the annual rise in food prices, wages and taxes (residential tax rates are low, so it’s Val d’Isère's businesses who pay for the snow clearing, piste preparation, new sports centre etc).
Restaurants are allowed to display a notice saying that VAT has dropped and their prices with it, on condition that at least seven items on a government list of ten staples (coffee, water, plat du jour, and so on) have actually come down.
Having said all this, not many places have decided their prices for the winter yet, but there will be very few if any price rises, and reasonable decreases on certain foods in most restaurants. Last winter, several restaurants already brought down prices or introduced new bargain formulae.
Back
to top of page
Power to the People
Where to Ski and Snowboard are asking their readers to review their favourite (or perhaps least favourite!) ski resorts across the globe. All you need to do is click on the link below and you will be asked your thoughts on all aspects of your holiday. You will have the chance to review the resort village, quality of the slopes, lifts, mountain restaurants, ski schools and much more. Where to Ski & Snowboard will give away their 2010 book to the authors of the 100 most useful reports.
Click here to air your views.
Back
to top of page
The travel industry ‘Oscars’ vote Val d’Isère as Best Winter Resort
The British Travel Awards is the largest awards programme in the UK created to reward the best areas in travel. With categories spanning over sixty types of holiday experiences, including transport, destination, cruise, customer service, holiday extras and accommodation – a British Travel Award is an easily recognisable benchmark for excellence when it comes to finding out who really is the best in the business. Furthermore, the featured charity for The British Travel Awards 2008 is The Variety Club Children’s Charity, and donations can be made via justgiving.
Back to top of page
Val d’Isère is making strides to cut traffic and improve access and air quality in the village centre
Every Thursday evening during the ski season the resort centre is open exclusively to pedestrians, with cars and buses banned. The high street will buzz with entertainers, light shows and concerts, and holiday-makers can relax and enjoy the improved ambiance. Also, the resort has introduced a new traffic and parking plan, restrictions to noisy delivery vehicles, and priority to the excellent resort bus service, in a further effort to reduce traffic.
Back
to top of page
Dorset Cereals
We are delighted to have teamed up with Dorset Cereals and we are serving their delicious muesli in all of our chalets. We also have a selection of their fruity porridges available. To find out more about Dorset Cereals please click here.
 
Back
to top of page
Today's Weather and Snow
See our Today’s Photo for pictures, regular up-dates on weather conditions, and interesting views of the village and pistes. From December to May Today’s Photo is updated daily (Monday to Friday) – forget stodgy snow reports and unfounded rumours, this is where you can see how conditions really are every morning of the season!
From May to December our photographer sends occasional pictures of interest to the inquisitive skier, showing, for example, progress on the construction of a new lift, or a shot of the first snowfall in autumn.
If you would like to receive this photo directly into your inbox, please click here.
Back
to top of page
Five-star review
Our website has been given a five star review, click here to read more.
Back
to top of page
 
|
