This season seems to ticking along very nicely, we had one of our biggest dumps of snow a couple of days ago and it brought back memories of last season with waist deep powder every week. Although we havn’t been having mega dumps all the time we have been getting constant smaller snowfalls all through December & January, the skiing this January has been superb with the pistes in tip-top condition and plenty of blue skies mixed in too.
Roll on February and bring on the kids !
Archive for the ‘Snow News’ Category
Turned out nice again
Sunday, January 31st, 2010First Big Dump of Snow Has Arrived
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009The first proper load of snow just managed to catch the end of November, because yesterday we got about 30cms in the village. Had to give the snow shovels a dust off and quickly get the snow tyres on the car.
The lifts will be opening for the first time this weekend, with a special promo of ladies ski free when accompanied by a man !
Snowfall in the Village
Sunday, October 18th, 2009This weekend saw the first snowfall of the winter in Chatel village, only a few centimetres which didn’t stay for very long. It’s still covering all the slopes above the village but not quite time to get the skis out yet.
But definately a reminder that there’s not long to go to finish off any jobs on the garden & outside the chalet. Time to pack the garden furniture away.
The village now has a soundtrack of cow bells ringing, as all the cows have been moved down to the fields around the village before heading indoors for the winter.
First Cold Spell
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009Last weekend saw the first cold spell hit the Alps since last winter, we had a dusting of snow on the tops of the mountains although it was very wet and miserable down in the village. I had to scrap the ice off the car this morning and we lit the first fire in the chalet for a quite a few months.
After the constantly hot summer we had it was a bit of a shock to feel the cold again.
Snow Predictions For Winter 2009/2010
Friday, October 2nd, 2009So about this time last year I spent quite a bit of time researching what weather was being forecast for the coming winter.
The general consensus seemed to be an OK winter, although not a single source said anything about being consistently very cold with regular big snow falls, so it was a very pleasant surprise when last winter turned out to be one of the best winters in the Alps for over 10 to 20 years, depending on who you spoke to.
Then in spring this year the MetOffice came out and predicted a Barbecue summer in the UK, not sure if this was just an attempt to cheer people up and ease the financial crisis but it spectacularly failed to materialise, although it was the hottest and sunniest Wimbledon for years.
The MetOffice have just said the early indications are for another average winter.
But I’m thinking all these predictions seem to be fairly rubbish !
I can tell you that we had a superb hot summer in the Alps, so maybe the MetOffice just got there map upside down or something when they did the prediction in spring. Plus we’ve had a record number of spiders in the chalet this summer and as we all know this has got to be a good sign for the snowy winter to come.
Fingers crossed.
What’s new in Chatel for Winter 2010 ?
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009It’s been a very busy summer up the mountain, with a new chair lift and extra snow cannons being installed.
Chatel is currently in the middle of a 4 year program to install snow cannons on all the pistes in the Pre La Joux area, this summer has seen the creation of a new reservoir to supply the extra water to the cannons that have been added to the Les Combes and Linga 2 pistes. These new cannons bring the total number in the resort to 173.
The new super fast 6-person chair lift will be called Echo Alpin and is a replacement for the 3-person old Linga 2 lift, the new lift will start further down the mountain and only take 5 minutes to get to the top.
Anyone who has skied the huge off piste bowl of La Leiche will be loving the new lift, because instead of having to get the Leiche drag lift and then Linga 2 chair to get back to the top which used to take over 15 mins in total, Echo Alpin will now do it in a third of the time.
The diggers have also been very busy up at Super Chatel earlier this summer, they’ve reshaped the red piste which comes down towards the village and upgraded the snow cannons that where there.
What an amazing season. Best snow for over 10 years.
Saturday, February 28th, 2009Yes it really has been that good. The number of powder days this season has been amazing, and not just a little fresh topping of snow days but full on waist deep soft fluffy powder days.
For those who prefer the pistes it’s been superb too, with a base of up to 2 metres at times there is not a single muddy patch to be found anywhere on the mountain. With all the pistes in great condition even though its been very busy there haven’t been many big queues because the skiers have spread out across the whole ‘Portes du Soleil’.
Last week was almost a little unusual in that we only had 1 snowy day, next week is shaping up to be back on track with another big dump forecast midweek.
Here comes the snow again
Sunday, January 18th, 2009Looks like we’re coming to the end of another extended period of blue skies and cold temperatures, a weather system is moving in this afternoon which is promising to deliver significant snowfalls for at least the next week. The forecast is for up to a metre of fresh snow at the top of the pistes, great news if you like off-piste because with the fantastic base we already have up there it’ll be time for deep powder skiing again !
This will be quite a change from the high pressure which has dominated the weather since pretty much the start of the season, we’ve had sunshine almost everyday. Along with the very cold temperatures the pistes have been in superb condition, very smooth and fast.
Busy, busy, busy
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008It’s been a few weeks now since I’ve had time to update the blog, it’s always a busy time at the start of the season as the first guests arrive. The huge snowfalls we kept having at the end of November and start of December finally gave way to blue skies and sunshine for the last couple of weeks, but the clear skies allowed the temperature to drop very low. Last weekend we had temperatures in resort as low as -16°C first thing in the morning.
The snow conditions have been excellent for the last couple of weeks, it starting to get a little firm in places with the low temperatures. The blue skies have clouded over today and its snowing again, its forecast to be enough to give the pistes a softer feel.
Christmas week was definitely busier than last year, and now we’re into New Year its as busy as it gets in resort and out on the slopes. There are a few queues for the lifts this week, but with the whole ‘Portes du Soleil’ open it not too bad and even the worse queues are less than 10 minutes.
We still have a few weeks left available in March, so contact us soon to discuss your trip.
Waist Deep Powder Skiing
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008Last weekend saw fantastic skiing conditions, with snow so deep off-piste that it was only possible to ski the steepest parts of the mountain. Going off-piste anywhere that was not steep enough to be a black, meant sinking up to your waist in powder and having to shuffle back towards the piste.
Chatel is currently reporting snow depths of 180 cms at the top, with over 60cms of fresh snow forecast to fall in the next couple of days.
This weekend sees the full opening of all resorts in the ‘Portes du Soleil’, 600 kms of fresh corduroy !