Happy Easter Sunday!

Happy Easter! The weather today was absolutely dismal, a real pea souper so no photos of the mountain I'm afraid, though I did venture up. Instead here are my adorable Easter Cows! ( Yes, I am a spoilt brat, but how totally gorgeous are they!!! Dont think I'll ever be able to eat them).

Come Skiing to Val for 30 Years...

..... and get a cute little pin badge ( for free!!).

Our very regular guests, John and Janet Denholm have now both been awarded their badges for having been to Val d'Isere skiing for the past 30 years! John was awarded his last April, and Janet got hers on friday evening.

(L-R, Fiona, Janet ( with her shiny new badge) , Richard, Elizabeth and Anna)

In order to get a badge, you need to find a local to sponsor you and claim you have been coming to Val for 30 years, without fail. John and Janet both have Findo (who used to coach the UK Ski Team) from the Bar du Sport as their sponsor.

(Findo showing off Johns Chest and badge!)

We all went along to the plush Hotel Tsanteleina to see Janet get her award and make her speech in French, horror of horrors though, we arrived at 7pm when we thought it was supposed to kick off, and it was all over! Whoops! Janet had just made it there in the nick of time to get presented, but the 7pm start actually turned out to be a 6pm start. Doh. We'll know better in another 10 years when they can be presented with the next badge for having come to Val for 40 years! There is then another badge for the half a century mark, I'm more than certain they will both get those badges too!

Having missed the presentation, we just enjoyed the free flowing champagne at the Tsantaleina, and then from there moved onto Findos establishment for more champagne! Happy days.

Well done John and Janet for being so loyal to Val d'Isere and acheiving Badge number 1 !

Respect to the Mogul Makers!

It's another snowy day here in Val today which is great for us, but VERY hard work for the pisteurs who do work very hard to secure our pistes and make them lovely, smooth and safe! Extra respect and credit though goes out to those pisteurs in charge of the mogul fields, not a job I'd want. A guest asked a few weeks ago how the mogul fields were made and I jokingly told them by moles who lived in the mountains and made 'mole hills' with snow! Amazingly this story was bought hook, line and sinker, but me being me, had to relent and tell them that they are in fact painstakingly and lovingly hand crafted and created by the pisteurs. Hours and hours are spent creating each mogul individually to give them those lovely mounded tops and ridges in between.
Love moguls or hate them, there is no denying, it's a tough job creating them, so respect to the 'Mogul Making Pisteurs', well done chaps! Never take those Moguls for granted again!!

Powder Day!

Whilst all the Finlays staff were busy scrubbing and doing 'changeover' day yesterday, our two week guests, John Frazer and his son Rob, were out enjoying all the fresh powder up at Le Fornet! On an 'Alpine Experience' morning, this shot was taken in 'Pays Desert'. Looking good! With it snowing most of the day yesterday and us having more than 30cm fall in resort and a lot more up top, it's a fantastic boost to our slopes, just in time for the Easter holidays too! Winter is not over yet!

A Very Snowy Friday

We had an amazing amount of snow fall in just an hour this morning, it 'stuck' too! We had around 20cm fall in 2 hours, then it stopped, then the sky cleared and the sun came out for a while and it was all looking fab! The downside was the wind, but with the new snow, people were happy.

More snow is due over the weekend so conditions should be great for the Easter holidays.

Sheila Comes to Play!

We're lucky enough this week to have Sheila from our Kelso office staying with us in Val d'Isere.
I met up with Sheila and her husband Bill this afternoon for a scoot around up the hill, all good fun and they were VERY much in holiday mode which was fab! They're having a great time and with the sun blaring down, sitting in deckchairs supping drinks after skiing, even I felt like I was on holiday too!

To Drain or Not to Drain?

In 2000, and every 10 years prior to that, the water held back by the dam has been emptied for surveillance and repair work on the dam wall. If we use that logic then it is due to be emptied again this year. Only problem is, we cant actually figure out if it will be or not. Usually, according to Richard, there is some information in resort regarding the operation, but this year we have heard nothing. Some guests were telling me there are now little submarine robot things which will go and examine the dam wall etc whilst water is still there, and then report back with results, so maybe we're going to get one of those in, who knows?!
One thing I do know is that the water level is dropping and the old bridge is now visible above the water line which is quite exciting. I do hope they do empty it so I can have a poke around down there and see the foundations of old Tignes Village, I missed the last time they emptied it so fingers crossed.....