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Remake of Wham’s Last Christmas video in Saas Fee
Everyone’s familiar with the well-known “Last Christmas” video from Wham, but fewer people realize the film was shot, more than 20 years ago in the pretty Swiss resort of Saas-Fee
Now the Swiss Acappella Band Bliss has filmed an exact reproduction of the famous video at the original locations used at the time.
Originally shot before Christmas 1984, a group of young people, a romantic cabin in the forest, snow-capped mountains, the sky slightly overcast, lots of snow and fun beneath the Christmas tree. Add a tinge of sadness and the result is the Wham video.
The task to recreate the video appeared almost impossible at the start but has resulted in a sensational, entertaining remake of the classic video, staged and executed to perfection, according to Saas Fee insiders. Even the hairstyles and clothing are right, taking the viewer back to the happy time when shoulder pads, leggings and “mullet” hairstyles were all the rage.
This BLISS video can now be seen on TV music stations and youtube and the band will perform live in Saas-Fee on 6 February 2009 with a full programme to include concert, after show party and autograph session with the Band in the Living Room Bar of the Unique Hotel Dom.
To see the Bliss video take a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENrZQVGsiAk and the classic Wham version is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3354flS1KJs. The jury's out but at Chalets Direct HQ we do think the George Michael/Andrew Ridgeley original has it's own special magic which is difficult to recreate. We'd love to hear your opinion!
For more holiday accommodation in Saas Fee take a look at: http://www.chaletsdirect.com/saasfee/4strframe.htm
Information supplied by www.snow24.com
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Great start to the ski season
So the ski season has officially begun in most resorts, and from tomorrow pretty much everywhere else will be joining in.
It’s been a quiet start with limited opening this week but with excellent conditions. In France most resorts were blessed with a little midweek snowfall so the early skiers could practise their powder technique.
Pretty much everywhere conditions are at least as good as last year if not better. The rain snow limit has been as low as 500-600m in some places so even lower resorts can boast good snow cover and great early conditions.
Saturday 20th will see the first big invasion of holidaymakers as they head to the slopes for a White Christmas.
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Get fit for the snow with CoolBoard – Part 1
You probably are already aware of the benefits that some pre-holiday training can bring, but possibly don’t realise just how much.
Nic Smith of CoolBoard says:
"Injury is one of the worst ways to cut your holiday short. Preparation can drastically reduce your chances of injury, and as 40% of ski injuries are knee related, the knee might be a good place to start. If you have injured yourself in the past, there is likelihood that although it feels fine for normal life, the injured part is not ready for the demands of the piste making some preparation even more vital. And if none of this worries you, I bet you still want to get the maximum amount of fun from your trip, and finding yourself too tired in the afternoon or as the week progresses seems a waste of what could have been… "
As mentioned in our previous Get fit for winter post, the CoolBoard is an ideal tool to help build up your ski and snowboard fitness.
There are many exercises that can be done with CoolBoard, and CoolBoard’s master trainer, Adam Powell of Powell Fitness, will be showing you the best ways to prepare for your holiday. The first two exercises are shown below, and we’ll give you more as regular updates. Some will be ski or snowboard specific, most will be useful for both.
http://skiblog.chaletsdirect.com/files/gimnasio1web.mov
Exercise 1: Standing balance:
This exercise will take a little time to learn, but you will be benefiting from the moment you start.
Start holding on to a support and progress as you can… start with a couple of minutes, and increase up to 10 minutes as your ability grows.
By balancing on a CoolBoard you are working all the best bits. Your balance is being worked, helping to keep you upright, and increasing agility. Stabilising muscles of all the lower joints will be firing, making them stronger.
Your core strength and stability are coming into play. Dormant muscles (often unknown) will be caused to fire up again.
For Snowboarders, CoolBoard is an ideal movement simulator, especially for off-piste and powder. Rail grinders will also learn to hit that sweet spot and hold it. Grabs can be practiced.
Exercise 2: Tilt Squats:
The Tilt squat will benefit both skiers and snowboarders as the increased angle at the hips simulates different angles and therefore muscles you will encounter on the slopes.
Ensure one side is on the floor and the ball placed against the ring on the other side of the Coolboard. Keep your weight evenly between heels and toes, keep your shoulders level squat down ensuring your knees don’t track over your toes and your lower back doesn’t hyper extend or flex too much.
Remember the lower you go the greater the effort required, keep your core muscles fired up and ensure good form for every repetition.
Aim for a maximum of 20 reps and 3 sets. Progression is from 1 set of 10 reps upwards.
Also look to do pulses and squat holds at various angles looking to increase your time each session.
If you would like to know more about CoolBoard, click here, http://www.coolboard.co.uk/, and if you would like to arrange a training session with Adam, call 07917 765372 or visit http://www.powellfitness.co.uk . Adam can train you in person at home or at his Fitness Studio if you’re local, or arrange a long distance training program.
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And it’s still snowing!
France, Italy and Switzerland are continuing to see huge snow falls.
Italy, where Milan airport has been closed by snow, is expecting another 90-120cm (3-4 feet) of snow in the next few days.
Similar falls are expected elsewhere in the Alps. The country’s Passo Tonale ski area has the greatest snow depth of any resort in the world at present with a 370cm (over 12 foot) base.
It’s a similar picture across the Pyrenees, Dolomites too with most major resorts now open for the winter and reporting superb conditions. All the fresh snow has led to a high avalanche risk however and there have been several deaths in recent days so skiers and boarders are being advised to stay on piste.
France has been one of the main beneficiaries this week with Meribel posting the greatest accumulation over the past seven days of up to 1.5m (five feet). Skiinfo issued five powder alarms on Saturday for Les Gets ( 60cm/2 feet), Avoriaz and Morzine both 50 cm(20 inches), Val Thorens 35 cm (14 inches) and Le Grand Bornand (30 cm/12 inches).
More snow is forecast and French resorts opening this weekend include Flaine, Les Arcs, Pra Loup and Valloire and Vars.
Switzerland’s leading resorts have been open for a month now having enjoyed great snow conditions through November. Bases are approaching three metres (ten feet) in many higher resorts. Saas Fee will offer free skiing in Kreuzboden-Hohsaas this weekend December 13th-14th. It has 80km (50 miles) of piste open from top to bottom.
Zermatt has more than 100km (63 miles) of piste open including the Italian link to Cervinia/Valtournenche and up to 250cm (over eight feet) snow depth. Elsewhere Laax has 170cm (Nearly six feet) of snow on the glacier and St. Moritz 180cm (Six feet) of powder with still more snowfall expected at the weekend.
In Austria the big resort opening this weekend is at Söll on the Skiwelt. The country’s glacier ski areas have the most accumulated snow depth with 195cm (6.5 feet) on the Pitztal Glacier and the same at Sölden. Snowfall has eased in the past week with areas typically reporting 20-40cm (8 – 16 inches) of fresh snow in total.
In North America, temperatures are very low on the East Coast with resorts in Vermont reporting up to three feet of snow. The Rockies have also had snow but along the pacific coast temperatures are above the seasonal average and open terrain is limited.
Report from Skiinfo.com
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Get fit for winter with CoolBoard!
The winter season is fast approaching – many ski resorts are on the brink of opening, snow is falling with lots more due this weekend – so if you haven't started to think about upping your fitness levels, then now is the time to do it!
Yes we know Christmas is coming – with all the pressures to eat, drink and be merry that involves, but a little preparation now will mean you'll get much more out of your ski or snowboard holiday. After all we all know that ski holidays are not cheap – particularly in current times, so wouldn't it be great to be able to be on the mountain each day without getting exhausted? Get the best value from your lift pass and improve your fitness at the same time.
So where to start? Well as we mentioned previously in our What makes a great Beginners Week post, ideally you should be combining both aerobic and anaerobic exercise. But simply pumping iron is not the most effective way to fire up your body for the slopes. You should also be doing stuff to improve core strength and proprioception. One of the most effective ways of doing this is by using equipment designed to improve balance and posture.
Featured on Channel 5's The Gadget Show a few weeks ago, the CoolBoard is a great fitness tool for skiers,snowboarders, (and everyone else), and will do the trick if used regularly.
Pretty much every sport and activity you do will benefit from improved core strength – from ballroom dancing to golf, from snowboarding and skiing to horse riding. Having a strong core means that your body can work efficiently, and less strain is put on smaller, naturally weaker parts of your body – such as knee ligaments.
Nic Smith of CoolBoard says:
"Free floating on a ball, kept safe by our cleverly shaped ring, CoolBoard doesn’t suffer the limited movement of other balance boards and equipment. This makes it excellent for balance, core strength and stability, and all those stabilising muscles – the muscles responsible for holding a joint correctly in use, all of which is badly needed for snow fitness."
We are hoping to be showing you more and more ways of using the CoolBoard in the coming weeks and how it can help you get fit, strong and more prepared to have the best winter holiday ever!
In the meantime if you'd like to know more about the CoolBoard and the benefits take a look at their website. It's a portable and fun way to build up your balance skills and improve your core strength, without having to spend hours at the gym!
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The snow has arrived….
Early Snowfalls In Europe Hit ‘Historic Levels’!
Europe has experienced heavy snowfalls in the early part of this week. The snowfall has been so great that it has closed roads, brought down power lines and even led to the cancellation of some Swiss rail services.
One of the greatest beneficiaries are the Italian Dolomites where 150cm (five feet) has fallen at Cortina in a 48 hour period up to Monday, with snow still falling.
Alessandro Fregni of Skiinfo.com’s Italian office commented, “In three days ski areas have seen almost as much snowfall as for the whole winter last year.”
The snow has arrived with perfect timing for the ski resorts who are seeing a boom in ticket sales at a time of economic uncertainty. Alessandro believes the snow is enough to last all season and will also mean resorts can save money by not needing to use snow making equipment.
However the snow is causing practical problems for both locals and those wanting to reach the snow with almost every pass in to the Dolomites closed on Monday and many villages without electricity. However the situation will be resolved quickly once the snow stops falling.
It was a similar if slightly less dramatic picture to the north where competitors at the annual season opening Santa Claus World Championships in Samnaun had difficulty getting to and from the event as Swiss public transport in the area struggled to cope with heavy snowfall there. On Monday rail services were cancelled in the area of Eastern Switzerland due to the snow. “We should have used their magic sleighs.” joked a bemused competitor after missing his flight home as a result.
Most other Swiss resorts have great cover and more new snow. Many major resorts now have snow depths of 2-3 metres (7 – 10 feet).
In Austria the snow cover is also superb with Heiligenblut the biggest recipient of the week’s latest dump, receiving a metre (40 inches) of powder in the past seven days.
Many of the open French ski areas have reported at least a foot of new snow in the past week. Several have much more including Les Arcs, with 80cm (32 inches). New openings this weekend include Les Orres, Chamrousse, Le Grand Bornand, Isola 2000 and Montgenevre. Alpe D'Huez and Courchevel will be fully open and Megève partly open.
It looks like the ski areas in the Pyrenees and elsewhere in Spain which dominated snowfall news in November with record pre-season accumulations leading to early openings of ski areas in the region will continue in to December, as the snow keeps falling.
A new cold front has brought still more fresh powder to Spain (Sierra Nevada has received 70 cm/28 inches more powder in the past week) all the ski resorts in Spain will open for a three day holiday weekend. For Spanish skiers and boarders the Purísima Feast on December 8 is a must every year and represents the official opening of the winter season.
On the French side of the range Cauterets opened last weekend with 80% of runs available on opening day and up to 150cm (five feet) of snow.
Elsewhere in Europe conditions continue to be very good. Norway’s Hemsedal currently has 65cm (over two feet) of snow on its slope. The country’s ski areas have received up to 38cm (15 inches) of new snow in the last week.
Information supplied by Skiinfo.com
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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!
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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.
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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.
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