Val d’Isere Legends Celebrate with Le Ski – 21st February 2012

Le Ski have had a special relationship with Snowberry since they first opened four years ago and especially with the talented duo that run it – Jock and Susan Dun. This season see both of the pair reaching their 50^th Birthdays and so in true Snowberry style they arranged a party to compete with the Oscars!

It is very rare for the girls to be in heels and the boys in suits in a ski resort but for this extra special occasion everyone made a real effort. Dresses and hairspray were sent out from the UK and there were several trips made down the mountain to get accessories and ladder-free tights (and that was just the boys!). Champagne was on tap and there were photos a plenty of Jock and Susan in pre-Val d’Isere life to be enjoyed (laughed at) by everyone.  Then the food was announced…the rotisserie chicken van who has a weekly spot in the market had made his pitch in Dick’s Tea Bar – a sight never seen before and probably never again!

After several speeches (generally embarrassing Jock) local band Mullit took to the floor and got everyone dancing and once they had sung all the classics, DJ Joakim took to the decks and kept everyone going till 4am…some a little later.

There were over 500 guests including all of the Le Ski Val staff and it will be the remembered as the shindig of the season – no doubt it won’t be topped however hard we try!

Le Ski take over Val Morel! – 11th February 2012

Apologies once again for the lateness of the next few blogs…

One of the benefits of being a returning staff member with Le Ski is that you know half way through the season (right before our busiest couple of weeks) we get a big staff treat! All the staff from Val d’Isere, Courchevel and La Tania get taken in coach loads to Val Morel for the day to ski and mingle and enjoy being cooked for.

This season we have got a fair amount of new staff who were all equally excited after finding out about this away day from the returners and so when it came to the big day there had definitely been a lot of hype and build up. Luckily the day lived up to expectations.  Quite often there is a bit of friendly competition between resorts, especially when it comes to clothing and hair growth…this year was no different with the Chalet Manager of Courchevel and Val d’Isere’s longest running chalet host competing for best moustache.

It was a gorgeous sunny day and everybody got a great ski in; there were a couple of injuries including a broken leg and a broken shoulder but both staff members are now back at work and nearly ready to get on the slopes again. A lot of fun was had a Jimbo Lolo’s which seems to be taken over by Le Ski at this point each year; something about the novelty of a bar with swings never grows old!

By 10pm everyone was on travelling back to their own resorts, many of them chatting about the outfits that will be worn next season and of course who will have the biggest tache!

 

Hors Piste Ca Dechire!

Val d’Isere and the Espace Killy is extremely well known for it’s great off piste and as a seasonnaire it is some kind of right of passage to say you’ve tracked certain routes. This week I made my first venture into this new world and surprisingly there is still some excellent snow to be had although it’s been over a week since we had snow and after the great blizzard we had which made a lot of peaks very wind swept. I have now committed by buying a beeper, shovel and probe so am filled with excitement for the next big snowfall but in the mean time am enjoying getting to grips with hiking and seeing some new terrain after trailing the same pistes for the last 3 years!

 

A Perfect Week in the Alps

I don’t want to gloat (well maybe a little bit) but we have had clear skies and sunshine all week here in Val d’Isere after having snowfall of around five meters so as you can imagine people are pretty happy around here. We’re also back to normal transfer weeks which makes the staff very happy. So happy in fact that on the first day of sunshine this week a group of them went out jumping around with joy…

The great thing is we’ve got another five days of sunshine forecast! Ahh it’s a hard life!

Val d’Isere on Lock Down

Apologies for the long wait between posts – seasonnaire life can be very busy at times! What better time to catch up with your blog though when you’re stuck indoors due to the weather.

Val d’Isere has been on lock down since about 9pm local time last night (it is now 8.30am), all the roads have been closed and the teams of diggers and emergency services have been working through the night to make the village safe for everyone. Here is the latest view from one of our staff accommodations.

The wind is still howling a gale but has calmed down considerably. Today is day off for all of our staff and last night we made sure that all the hosts walked home together as the road was being closed off at 9pm to cars and pedestrians. Everyone is now safely tucked up in the warmth of their beds.

No one can quite believe how much snow we’ve had, especially after last season. Even seasonnaires that have been here for 15 years are shocked. However, although the weather can cause a bit of mayhem to start with it is setting us up for an excellent season and already it has been amazing ski conditions. Yesterday a group of the staff were lapping the Funival and each time they reached the top there was fresh powder on piste! Looking at the weather forecast this morning looks like as of Saturday we have got several clear days which will make for perfect bluebird skiing opportunities for everybody. Happy days!

Early Bird Catches the Sunrise

I had to share these pictures of my walk up to Chalet du Berger this week. It was such a gorgeous sunrise and made the 7am walk that much more bearable.  

First Arrivals

Officially the first week of the Le Ski season in Val d’Isere! On Tuesday our first guests arrived with the new hosts prepped up and ready to go and the returning hosts eager to get back into the swing of things.  There is relief amongst staff that training is over and now they can all get on with what they have been planning for for so long.

 All the returners are very happy that this seasons’ uniform is a lot warmer than the last, especially because it has been dumping for the past week!

 It has been snowing steadily for about 4 days now which is creating a great base and some wonderful powder for guests and staff to play about in. The wind has been quite fierce though and during a skiing session yesterday many of us got blown over on piste because of the high winds on Bellevarde.  Unfortunately some lifts got closed because of the danger from the weather but the La Daille funicular stayed open which meant it was possible to lap the runs on that side where it is a lot more sheltered.  It was even more sheltered from the wind in the Rosie Blanche bar with a hot chocolate…