The Ski Blog

BIG Snowfalls in the Alps - and Chalets Direct gets first tracks!

Since Friday most alpine mountain resorts have been enjoying truly stupendous snowfalls! The word is out - les Deux Alpes, Val Thorens, the Grand Massif and Flaine, to name just a few areas, have been watching as the snow dumped throughout Friday and during Saturday, accompanied by sub zero-temperatures.

And more great news on the way - this week's temperatures are set to remain below zero, Today our friends in the Alps will enjoy a brief respite, with even a sunny spell or two, before it starts dumping again tonight, with another 15-20cm of snow forecast tonight in some areas.

So that's great news if you're still looking for your early ski holiday - there are even rumours that some resorts will open earlier than expected. Watch this space.

The photo was taken this morning - first tracks from one of our roving Chalets Direct team members, so keen that he couldn't even wait for the lifts to open!

Holiski - the new multi-resort lift pass

This winter sees the launch of a brand new concept for lift passes in the French ski areas managed by the Compagnie des Alpes.

The Holiski card is a credit-card sized, hands-free lift pass which covers 6 ski areas, accessed by 10 different resorts. With this in your pocket there is no need to queue up to buy your pass, or to charge it up each time you ski - as you walk through the barrier onto a lift, the card is recognised. Your credit card is then charged for the lift pass - and you only pay for the days you ski! So if you decide to take a day off mid-week that's fine. What's more the Holiski card will give you discounts of between 15 and 25% on a day's skiing in most of the resorts covered.

How does it work? Well you sign up online and create your Holiski account. The card costs 32€ and is valid until October next year. You register your credit card and then each time you ski your credit card is charged the following month.

The ski areas covered by Holiski are Les Arcs/Peisey-Vallandry, Paradiski (accessed from the Les Arcs side), Meribel Alpina, Les Menuires, Serre Chevalier and the Grand Massif. So if you're doing a week in the Grand Massif for example and then are planning a weekend in Les Arcs a bit later on, followed by Easter in Serre Chevalier, the Holiski pass could work out cheaper for you.

There are also various promotional offers promised throughout the winter - currently the Holiski site is offering a 50% discount on the cost of 4 or more cards for example.

The cost of a day's skiing depends on the ski area of course but with between 15 and 25% off throughout the season it certainly makes it more attractive to get in a quick ski weekend or short break to supplement your week's holiday. In the Grand Massif for example you can get up to 5.80 euros off a day pass, and in Serre Chevalier a Saturday skiing will cost 29.40€ instead of 39.20€. (NB discounts vary according to resort and days of the week - look at the Tarifs page for more details)

If you're a frequent skier the cost of the Holiski card will be quickly offset by the discounts you get, so it will soon become worth your while. The scheme is also set to expand to cover more resorts and ski areas, such as Avoriaz, Tignes, Val d'Isere and Chamonix - although at the time of writing there are no definite dates for this.

New improved Solutions Room goes live - now it's even easier to find what you're looking for!

The Chalets Direct Solutions Room has long been a useful and pretty popular tool for skiers and snowboarders looking for that holiday with a certain "je ne sais quoi"!

The Solutions Room is a different kind of bulletin board - holiday seekers post up what sort of holiday they're looking for, and then our members can come back to them with solutions. It means that you can say roughly what you want - or you can say exactly what you need - and then wait for the proposals to flood in.

Well we're glad to announce that after listening to lots of feedback we have just made live an improved super-charged Solutions Room - now it's even easier to say what you're looking for and let the answers come back to you.

What's new?
Firstly there's the Solutions wizard - this makes it easier for holiday seekers to put in their requirements. You can specify dates and places and numbers, or if you're not so sure you can just say "well I know I want to go in January, but not sure when or where. You can keep it general - in that way you'll get more options coming back. If you have specific requirements then you can say that too.

There's also the new Share on Facebook option - so if you're the group leader, charged with finding the holiday, you can put up your post and then add it to your Facebook profile - so all the group can see the progress of their holiday search.

Once you have put up your post you can sit back, relax, put the kettle on and let the Solutions Room do the talking. Behind the scenes all the Chalets Direct members who can match your request are contacted and they can then respond to your post. We do recommend that you register when you create a post so that you can receive email notifications when someone replies to you.

So if you're looking for a holiday what have you got to lose - take a look at the Solutions Room here.

For Holiday Providers:

As a Chalets Direct member you choose to receive an email every time someone puts up a request that you can match. So if you've got available beds you'd like to fill - lo and behold you could find the answer in your inbox - someone's looking for exactly what you've got to offer.

The Solutions Room is a unique tool designed to put people in touch and it's just one of the ways you can use Chalets Direct.
So with snow falling in the Alps and winter definitely approaching, get your skates on (or skis, or snowboard) and check out the Solutions Room.

What makes a great...Cheese Fondue

Does anything remind you of a ski holiday more than one of those alpine speciality dishes, loaded with cholestorol boosting cheese and accompanied by jugs of wine?

It's a traditional part of your stay - at least once you'll be going to the typical chalet restaurant to partake in surely what must be one of the most sociable meals ever. So why not have a pre-season fondue party to get you in the mood. Here's a recipe from an old Savoyard sage.

Fondue Savoyarde

You'll need:

Cheese - approx 200g per person, grated. The types of cheese you use will vary according to region but as a general rule use 3 varieties of hard cheese, one of which should ideally be Swiss. Our favourites are Comté, Beaufort and Swiss Gruyere. (Swiss Fribourg is also a good one to use).

Wine - a dry white wine. A good tip is to use a cheap dry sparkling wine - Ayze for example. Sparkling wine lightens the texture a little. Use one wine glass per person plus one for the pot.

1 small clove garlic, some nutmeg, a small knob of butter and dijon mustard.

What to do:

Crush the garlic. Melt the butter in the fondue pot and add the garlic to soften. It's best to start off with the fondue pot on the hob - so that the initial cooking will be quicker. Once the cheese has melted it can then be transferred to the burner on your table. Ceramic or cast iron pots are best, particularly for cheese fondues.

When the butter is foaming add a small teaspoon of dijon mustard and stir. Then add the wine. Do not be tempted to add too much wine. Use a small wine glass to measure. Let the wine heat through and bubble.

Once the wine has been warmed through start adding the cheese. Do this gradually and stir with a wooden spoon in a figure of eight to combine the cheeses. Once the cheese has all been added keep stirring in a figure of eight, add a little grated nutmeg and a splash of Kirsch or a similar strong alcohol. Once you are sure that the cheese has all melted transfer the pot to the burner.

Traditionally no thickening agents, such as cornflour, were used , and if you keep to the proportions mentioned you shouldn't need to thicken it. It's very tempting to add more wine at the beginning but don't, you can always add more later if you need to.

You can also add dried mushrooms - soak them first in hot water for 10 minutes, drain and throw into the fondue pot once all the cheese is melted. Use just a small handful.

Serve with cubes of stale bread. Green salad and a plate of sliced hams and smoked sausage are good accompaniments.

Zinal and La Grave - skiing and snowboarding off piste holidays

Chalets Direct has recently added two world famous freeride areas to their list of winter holiday destinations.

Located at the end of the Anniviers Valley in the Swiss Valais area, Zinal nestles in an impressive mountain range which includes the Weisshorn (4506m), Zinalrothorn, Obergabelhorn and Dent Blanche. The north-east facing slopes ensure high quality snow throughout the season - the resort actually opens at weekends on November 8th until December 13th, when it opens fully. There are 70km of pistes and an extensive freeride area of 100 hectares, known as the Garde de Bordon. The resort also has an avalanche training centre.

La Grave has long been a favourite amongst freeride skiers and boarders, and a frequent venue for ski extreme videos. Located at an altitude of 1500m and dominated by the majestic summit of La Meije at 3983m, La Grave has been a well kept secret, shared by those in the know. It is a true mountain wilderness - reached by one cable car, or by a 20 minute hike from the top of Les Deux Alpes.

Both places are off the beaten track and offer a very different kind of wintersports holiday - pack your arvas, and to get the best out of the area book a mountain guide.