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Winter is here! Get ready to ski!
The view from one of the Meribel webcams yesterday (21st Nov) – thanks to Meribel tourist office for sharing!
All of a sudden the weather has turned decidedly wintry and whilst you're probably jumping for joy – it's time to get down to the serious business of ski holiday prep! Here's a few tips.
1. Holidaying in the school holidays? Take a look at our special sections.
If you're already booked for Christmas, Half Term or Easter – great! If not take a look at our school holiday sections so you can get straight to the availability and offers for those periods. Find Christmas, New Year, Half Term and Easter by clicking on the relevant link! Fortunately it's not too late and you can still find some great chalets or apartments for those dates.
2. Have beginners? Book some lessons.
If you can, get them some pre-season lessons. Snow domes, snow centres and artificial ski slopes all over the country offer beginner lessons aimed at children and adults. This can make an enormous difference to how successful the beginner ski experience will be in resort – and will often allow for quicker improvement and more enjoyment once on real snow.
Whilst it may seem like an unecessary expense think of it as an investment.
3. Physical Preparation.
Ok so you say it every year about this time – I must get fitter for skiing. But somehow, with the pressure of work, family, social life, the best intentions get forgotten. Then suddenly you're at altitude and trying to negotiate something steep and you wish you'd taken the time to do just a bit more. Make this the year that you do something about it! Just stepping up your regular fitness routine by about 10-20% will pay dividends in a few weeks – so by the time you're on the slopes you'll feel the benefit.
Just googling "exercises for skiing" will give you a great range of resources and tips. Start easy and adapt exercise to your level. It's never too late to start.
4. Learn about Snow Conditions
If you're an experienced skier/snowboarder chances are that you will at some point be skiing off-piste. Modern skis make it much easier for relatively inexperienced skiers to try the powder – and snowboarders have been doing it for years. So if you are going to do that it makes sense to learn more about the environment. During this autumn Henry's Avalanche Talk has been running regular sessions in partnership with Ellis Brigham. 90% of avalanches are triggered by the victim, and in many cases the situation could have been avoided with a bit more knowledge. Check out the link for the HAT Autumn Tour. If you're an off-piste regular you owe it yourself and your ski/snowboard buddies to go along.
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And the winners are ….
What a great response to our Ski Slick Limerick Competition! Your entries had us rolling in the aisles of CDHQ and it took us a little while to come to agreement over the winners. Thank you all for taking the time to indulge us and brighten up our day!
However unanimous decisions, with perhaps a little arm-twisting, have now been made and the winning limericks are published below. Well done to all the winners – you will be contacted by email to receive your tickets.
What's on at the Shows
Don't forget the Ski & Snowboard Show North opens tomorrow at EventCity, Manchester. There'll be appearances from top GB athletes including Jamie Nicholls, Katie Summerhayes and Rowan Cheshire. The Mountain Talks Theatre will give you invaluable information on off piste and backcountry skiing, Ellis Brigham will be offering free boot-fitting clinics, there's the chance to get a free virtual one-to-one lesson with Warren Smith, and there's so much more going on – live music, great food, free lift pass offers, pro-rider demos – phew!The London Show takes place next week – 5th – 8th November, and promises to be the best Ski Show yet! The much-loved Aimee Fuller will be among The Team GB athletes in London, Santa will be flying in, Mount Battersea will be the venue for London Ride Freestyle Competition and for the first time the Altitude Comedy festival will be coming to the Show!
At both Shows there'll be plenty of opportunity to talk tips, resorts, equipment, apparel and see what's hot for this winter. So even if you're not a winner why not get along and get buzzed for the ski season ahead!
Without further ado and waffling here's our winning limericks – thank you all!
From Nikki Willard:
There was a keen skier called Joe,
At any chance to the slopes he would go,
And with Chalets Direct,
He could always connect,
To the best deals for fun in the snow!From Rosie Dendle:
There was a keen skier called JoeWho yearned for sun fun and snowWith no need to reflectHe called Chalets DirectWhere dreams still come true…have a go!From Stella Coton:There was a young skier called Joe
Who loved to carve and slide on the snow
His life was perfect
After Surfing Chalets Direct
Christmas holiday now booked – yo ho hoFrom Steve & Lesley Jayne:
There was a keen skier called Joe
Whose aim was to go to the show
he composed a quick rhyme
which took little time
and Chalets Direct said no………..?(except we said … yes … 😉 )
From Fionagh Harding:
There once was a keen skier called Joe,who was feeling incredibly lowbut he booked for a trekwith Chalets Directand was soon high on life and the snow.
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Win Tickets for the Telegraph Ski & Snowboard Show 2015!
The Telegraph Ski & Snowboard Show returns to the UK and we've got 5 pairs of tickets for the London Show to give away in our great Ski Slick Limerick competition – read on!
Where & When:
30th October – 1st November: The Telegraph Ski & Snowboard Show North at Manchester’s EventCity
Discover the latest gear and best resort for you. Meet Team GB athletes, browse over 100 exhibitors, sample authentic alpine food, and pick-up show only deals.5th – 8th November: The London Show, Battersea Park
Be transported to the mountains in a one-of-a-kind authentic immersive experience. Indulge in alpine fine dining and street food, watch breathtaking pro rider competitions and displays on the slopes of Mount Battersea (a 50 ft. real snow kicker) and be entertained by a stellar line up of live music and comedy.What's Happening:
Authentic Alpine Food: Forget lack-lustre hot dogs, and warm beer, this year the shows will offer visitors alpine fine dining and street food including German Bratwurst & Fries, Tartiflette, Austrian Tiroler Göstl and Moose Burgers as well as a range of regional wines and beers to bring authentic mountain flavours to the city.
Mountain Talks Theatre: The Mountain Talks Theatre has a packed programme of workshops, films and talks from some of the biggest names in snow sports including Warren Smith Ski Academy who will return to share their knowledge with live demos in the Mountain Talks Theatre and 1-to-1 coaching.
Travel Genius Bar: The Travel Genius Bar is a dedicated hub which will give visitors the opportunity to get beyond the brochure and face-to-face with leading industry experts to receive free impartial travel advice.
Fashion Show: This eye-catching performance showcases some of the top snow sports apparel, highlighting new styles and trends in a fun dance off!
London Show Specials:
The Lodge: Legendary Michelin starred chef; Angela Hartnett has curated an authentic alpine menu, served exclusively in London’s pop-up restaurant – The Lodge. Indulge in a 3 course alpine menu in the surrounds of an authentic mountain restaurant overlooking the slopes of Mount Battersea, accompanied by live acoustic musicians. Tables are limited and available to pre book now.Altitude Comedy Tent: For the very first time, Altitude Comedy Festival will bring their unique blend of snow, laughs and stand up to The Telegraph Ski & Snowboard Show London with performances from top acts including Live at the Apollo’s Marcus Brigstocke, and Andrew Maxwell, rising stars and blistering cabaret.
Mount Battersea: Mount Battersea has risen within the heart of London’s Battersea Park. Gape in awe as pro riders take on our 50ft real-snow kicker with live demos and international competitions The BRITS and The London Ride.
Après Stage brought to you by Snowbombing: This year the Ski & Snowboard Show is bringing the world's best snow-fueled party to Battersea on Thursday 5th & Friday 6th November. Known as the greatest show on snow, Snowbombing will be taking over the stage with well known acts performing live, next to a raft of après bars serving up beer, wine and spirits.
Just announced, Hot Chip (DJ Set) will headline the Après Stage on Thursday 5th, supported by 2 Bears. The party continues on Friday 6th with Norman Jay MBE and The Cuban Brothers!For all the skinny on opening times and tickets for both shows go to www.skiandsnowboard.co.uk
Win tickets for the London Ski Show – compose a Ski Slick Limerick:
Chalets Direct has 5 pairs of adult tickets to give away to keen skiers and snowboarders wanting to visit the London show.
How to enter:
- All you need to do is to get creative and compose a limerick beginning with the line:
There was a keen skier/boarder* called Joe …
(*You can choose skier or boarder – whichever you prefer)
Just a reminder that the format of the limerick is 5 lines; lines 1, 2 and 5 rhyme, and lines 3 and 4 also rhyme. They are usually humorous. For examples and inspiration take a look at http://examples.yourdictionary.com/limerick-examples.html - Include the words Chalets Direct somewhere in your limerick.
- Send your limerick to news@chaletsdirect.com – please put Ski Slick Limerick in the subject line.
Please state the day you wish to attend the London Show in your email. Winners will be notified by email! - Closing date is 28th October – so get your poetic thinking caps on!
For competition rules please see here.
- All you need to do is to get creative and compose a limerick beginning with the line:
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Get first tracks in Breckenridge!
You too can be a ski VIP!
We’re all getting excited about the upcoming ski season & can’t wait to hit the slopes & make some turns. In just a matter of weeks now ski resorts will be preparing to open – there's been the first snow in the Alps overnight!
But have you ever wanted to have the mountain all to yourself? Have you ever wished there weren’t hundreds of people on the same ski slope as you fighting for the fresh snow?
Well now those clever people in Breckenridge have the answer – Be a ski VIP in Breckenridge USA!
When you book a stay in Crystal Peak Lodge, Breckenridge you will get VIP access to the mountain with “First Track’s Fridays”.
Every Friday from mid Dec to the end of March, Crystal Peak Lodge guests will be given access to the pistes in Breckenridge a full hour before the general public, allowing you to ski those fresh lines before everyone else! Skiers & snowboarders will start at the Quicksilver Superchair of the Colorado Superchair & can ski or ride to the Mercury Superchair. This gives access to blue / intermediate runs so skiers & snowboarders should be at intermediate level or above.
See you on the slopes bright & early!
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Zermatt celebrates 150th anniversary of Matterhorn first ascent
There are some mountains in the world which are truly distinctive – and the Matterhorn is certainly one of them. The famous triangular shape stands out in the alpine panorama and on a clear day can be seen from far afield. It is the trademark of Zermatt, the beautiful alpine town which grew up at its base. This summer Zermatt is celebrating the first ascent of the mountain by a roped team – which took place on 14th July 1865.
©Zermatt TourismusThe team was led by two Zermatt mountain guides – father and son Taugwalder – and included famous Chamoniard Michel Croz and Briton Edward Whymper. It was Croz and Whymper’s eighth attempt at the summit and tragically was to claim the life of Croz and three others in the party following their victory and success at the the top. After this tragedy, Queen Victoria tried to outlaw further attempts by British climbers but without success. Nowadays around 3000 climbers a year reach the summit at 4478m.This first successful expedition led to many more and can be seen as the catalyst for the growth of tourism in the area. So it’s only fitting that Zermatt should honour and commemorate the event.
Events are taking place throughout the summer with exhibitions and festivals. From 9th July – 29th August there will be open air theatre performances of a specially written dramatisation of the first ascent on the Gornergrat. Each evening solar powered lights will illuminate the route of the first ascent – with white lights to show the route and red lights to show where the 4 deaths took place.
There is also the re-opening of the Hornlihutte base camp on 14th July – now extended and improved to accommodate more climbers. In Zermatt itself there will be pop-up events throughout the summer as part of the celebrations.
So it’s a great time to visit Zermatt – as beautiful in the summer as it is majestic and awe-inspiring in the winter. Explore the area and learn about the men and the events who helped to make this mountain famous. Check out the summer accommodation available in Zermatt on Chalets Direct and for more information on the special events see the Zermatt website.
© Robert Bösch, Mammut und erdmannpeisker -
Avoriaz to open season with free concert by Shaun White
Avoriaz, in the heart of the Portes du Soleil, will be kicking off the winter with a bang in just a few weeks' time.
The resort has just announced details of a week-long festival of fun called Rock On Ultimate, taking place from 12-19th December.
With the lifts opening on Friday 12th December the week begins with a "Happy Hour Geant". On Saturday 13th December the resort plays host to Shaun White and his band Bad Things, who will be performing in the centre of the resort. Throughout the week there will be lots of opportunities to test new equipment, open air DJ sets, competitions, live music and parties.
Plus the legendary Stash, the ecological snowpark set in the forest, will be officially opening on Tuesday 16th December with live music and bbq to accompany the event! Full details here.With fresh snow on the ground this week, and the promise of more to come, it really feels like winter is almost here. The week before Christmas is a great time to ski – pistes are uncrowded and accommodation and flight costs are generally low – so it's the ideal time to treat yourself and get into the Christmas spirit. See all our Portes du Soleil accommodation or look specifically for Avoriaz here!.
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Chalets Direct’s Latest & Greatest – ski holiday offers in your inbox
From now on and all through the winter season you can catch up with some of the best ski holiday offers and promotions by subscribing to our Latest & Greatest newsletter.
We send out the bulletins every two weeks approximately and we pick out a nice selection of tempting offers to cover different ski areas in different countries. These latest & greatest ski offers are picked from our selection on our promotions listing – take a look there are currently over 800 promotions available so there's bound to be something to suit you!
Here's just a few to get you excited!
Les Arcs – Paradiski – Pre-Christmas getaway
The week before Christmas can be a great time to get on the slopes. Resorts are quiet but are starting to gear up for the festive rush. There's a feeling of excitement and anticipation in the air and best of all the slopes can be your's – with just locals and a few others with inside knowledge enjoying the calm before the storm. It's also when a lot of chalet companies are offering great prices! Alpine Motion, for example in Les Arcs, are offering a week catered for just £250pp.
So why not escape the Christmas shopping and give yourself the gift of some fresh mountain air and exercise in the great outdoors!
Les Menuires – 3 Valleys – Harrods teddies and Laurent Perrier champagne
Another one which caught our eye this week is from Three Valleys company Powder n Shine.Be pampered and have your Christmas dinner cooked for you by a Michelin-trained chef! Not only that there are Harrods teddy bears for the kids and champagne for the adults.
Xmas in the mountains can be magical so why not spoil yourself and the family this year!
Chamonix – Les Houches – Christmas reductions and free lift pass
With fabulous views and just 3 minutes from a ski lift, Chalet Chamarel is an ideal venue for your Christmas ski holiday.This year they're offering 10% off for the festive week and a free Mont Blanc pass for your group. The chalet sleeps 10/12.
Morzine – Portes du Soleil – Gourmet food, hot tub, free transfers and £500 off
Morzine is a fun, pretty, traditional alpine village and a great starting point to explore the extensive Portes du Soleil circuit which straddles France and Switzerland. SKP Morzine are offering a whopping £500 off their Christmas package price, which includes delicious food, and will throw in free airport transfers to boot.Fancy sitting in the hot tub on Christmas day enjoying stunning mountain views? Don't mind if I do …
La Rosiere – January Sales come early
January can be the best month to ski. No crowds, good snow and great prices! It's also the ideal antidote for that post-festive jaded feeling and will set you up for 2015.At Hotel La Roz in La Rosiere, January sale prices are already available. 7 nights half board accommodation for their remining January weeks is just £250pp - and includes airport transfers!
So that's just a few tempting offers which will help make your ski holiday planning a little easier. For hundreds more suggestions take a look at all the offers and sign up for the Latest & Greatest to get these awesome promotions emailed to you all through the season!
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New extreme sports movie service coming soon!
A brand new service for all extreme sports movie fans will be launching soon.
Vaporvue will provide on-demand, HD, internet streaming media designed to give subscribers unlimited access to the world’s most exciting sports movies whenever and wherever they are . Covering all kinds of our favourite sports from skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, surfing and more, Vaporvue offers a Netflix-style subscription-based service which you can watch online on all kinds of devices.
Surfing filmmaker Ira Opper will launch the service on June 21, 2014. “Subscribers will be able to access Vaporvue on their computer, smart phone, tablet and TV,” said Opper, CEO of Opper Sports Productions. “You can watch what you want, when you want.”
Featured content will include movies, documentaries and TV series on surfing, skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, outdoor, moto and other extreme sports. Vaporvue will also include a wide spectrum of related adventure, travel, fitness, yoga and the how-tos of extreme sports. “We’re going to provide the most comprehensive, diverse library of professionally produced extreme sports content on the web,” said Ira Opper. “That’s our goal.”
Opper is one of the pioneering filmmakers credited with documenting “extreme sports” on cable TV. He will again test the cutting edge of sports filmography when he launches this innovative website catering to the extreme sports enthusiast.
“Vaporvue offers a massive selection of content,” said Matt Warshaw, author of the Encyclopedia of Surfing. “It’s lightning-fast, and 500 times easier to use than my toaster.”
Ira Opper began producing extreme sports for ESPN in 1982 and had his own prime time ESPN series by 1985. He has traveled the globe in his quest to capture the extreme sports lifestyle. He has produced more than 200 extreme sports television shows, documentaries and movies. Today Opper Sports Productions is a recognized brand name in the industry, and will contribute vastly to the library of content at Vaporvue.com.
Find Vaporvue at www.vaporvue.com. The movie service has a free, 7-day trial, and is available for $9.99 a month. It’s just the thing to get you in the mood for your next mountain trip!
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Music and mayhem – what’s on in the Alps
FWT14 – Xtreme Verbier Teaser par FreerideWorldTourTV
Spring has arrived across the Alps over the last couple of weeks bringing lots of sunshine and that special chillaxed feel you get with warmer weather. It's also the time where it's fun to be in the great outdoors and many resorts will oblige with special events designed to keep you entertained. Here's a selection of a few taking place over the next few weeks!
Swatch Xtreme Verbier – Verbier, 22nd March (weather permitting)
If you're in Verbier over the next few days you'll be able to catch the grand-daddy of freeride events, the Freeride World Tour Final. The competition takes place on Saturday March 22nd (weather permitting), but the party atmosphere will start from tomorrow and last right through the weekend, with parties, ski and snowboard tests, a street fair, lots of animation and live music too.
The event is the culmination of the Freeride calendar, where the top athletes will be put through their paces to see who is this year's king and queen. Full details here!
Rock the Pistes, Portes du Soleil, 26-30th March
Now in it's 4th year and Rock the Pistes 2014 promises to be bigger and bolder than ever. The festival brings together international pop-rockers and concerts are staged throughout the Portes du Soleil, both at lunchtime and at 5pm at the foot of the slopes. This year's artistes include The Klaxons kicking everything off in Avoriaz and Babyshambles in Chatel on March 28th. See the full programme here.
Altitude Comedy Festival, Mayrhofen, 31st March – 4th April
Billed as mainland Europe's biggest comedy festival, this year's Altitude line up includes Al Murray, John Bishop, comic ventiloquist Nina Conti and of course Marcus Brigstocke, who helped to get the Altitude show on the road when it first began in Meribel all those years ago.
The programme also includes apres ski events every day and the Late Show every night, which features new UK talent and special guests. Full details.
According to the latest weather forecasts it seems that there could be more snow on the horizon too for many resorts. Looks like conditions could be set for some excellent spring skiing!
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Scenes from Winter 2014 – so far!
Our intrepid photographers at CDHQ have been out and about documenting mountain life. Here's a selection of alpine scenes.
Alpine chough – or the choucas – a member of the crow family, which lives and breeds at high altitude.
Powder skiing in the Grand Massif.
Looking down to the Arve valley towards the Megeve ski area.
