Mountain Air Blog

Its all been happening in Chatel over the last few weeks - a superb weekend for the VTT Passportes du Soleil where once again thousands of riders took part in one the best annual mountain bike events in Europe. 75km of downhill and single track around the whole of the Portes du Soleil.

The Tour de France arrived in Avoriaz, not the best day for Lance but a great day for us as we were able to get to and from the stage finish in Avoriaz using the chair lifts after Chatel agreed to keep them all open until 8pm, memorable day!

Bastille day was again celebrated with a huge fireworks display around Lac Vonnes

TREK have been in Chatel for the last month launching their 2011 range of Mountain Bikes to the worlds press and dealers, I even met the man himself Gary Fisher who designed and branded the first ever “Mountain Bike”

Whilst all that has been going on the temperature in Chatel has not dropped below 30 degrees for around 3 weeks and more warm sunny weather forecast.

A busy and hot summer so far which has been great fun for us and our guests, and with many winter weeks already booked, I cant deny I am also looking forward to the winter season!

The winter 09/10 season came to an end with the last lifts and pistes closing on the 25th April, at least 1 week later than most resorts in the Portes du Soleil. Chatel is turning into the green summer playground before our eyes and with so many world class events in the next few months we are looking forward to a busy summer season. We have a coupe of weeks preparing our chalets and apartments before our first summer guests arrive at the start of June.

Summer 10

The Alps continues to grow in popularity each year and with so many great events this summer many of our self catered chalets and apartments are almost fully booked for July and August. We still have some self catered and B&B availability so let us know if you are thinking about a holiday in the Alps this summer. You can see a list of some of the great events that are taking place plus all the activities on offer on the summer holidays page of the web site. 

Didier Defago the current mens olympic downhill gold medalist set the fastest time during the recent Super G event in Morgins, just across the border from Chatel. Didier clocked 43.93 seconds.

Thrupp Junior, Joseph (age 7) clocked a very respectable 68.12 seconds. Could he be a future Olympian?

Over 200 racers from around the Portes du Soleil entered the competition.

We have less than 4 weeks to go until the end of this winter season with the last ski lifts closing on the 25th April. As usual there will still be plenty of snow around at the end of the season but if its like any previous season it will be very warm.

We have had 2 warm and sunny weeks in March however its back to winter with fresh snow arriving this week. This new snow will ensure the conditions remain very good until the end of the season.

We took the chance to ski one of the most spectacular off piste routes a couple of weeks ago with our proffesional guide. Le Vallee de La Manche runs from the top of the Fornet area of Avoriaz down a superb back country route to a small village near Morzine. This has to be one of the best off piste routes around.

This weekend Joseph and the Chatel Ski Club are competing in a Super G in Morgins just 5 minutes from Chatel, the event will be opened by the mens Olympic Downhill Champion Didier Defago as Morgins is his home town.

So plenty of great skiing to be had in the next 3 - 4 weeks before we turn our attention to the summer season.

We now have around 6 weeks to go until the end of the winter 09/10 season, its been very busy for us but a great few months. Although we have not had as much sunshine as previous seasons, continued cold weather has kept the snow in great condition. The forecast for the next couple of weeks is much warmer and more sunshine so perhaps spring is not that far away. By the end of April we will have looked after nearly 500 guests this winter which is our biggest season to date. As usual its been great fun but hard work so we are looking forward to a break at the end of April! 

Summer 10

Our thoughts are now turning towards the summer. I have just registered fot the Pass Portesdusoleil Mountain Bike Race at the end of June and several other big events have now been confirmed. You can see a list of some of the great events that are taking place this summer plus all the activities on offer on the summer holidays page of the web site.  

Resort Opening / Closing Dates 2010/11:

Sunday 25th April 2010 - Chatel ski area closes and 09/10 winter season finishes.

Saturday 12th June 2010 - Summer ski lifts, bike park, fantasticable, bob luge all open for weekends and everyday from Friday 25th June.

Sunday 12th Septemeber 2010 - Lifts and summer season close in Chatel

Saturday 4th December 2010 - Ski lits open at weekends in Chatle for winter season.

Saturday 11th December 2010 - Chatel ski area opens everyday for the 2010/11 winter season.  

Look out for the dates for all the great events this summer which will include the Tour de France, Montreux Jazz Festival, Bastille Day and much more.

As we near the end of January the snow has continued to fall, over 30cm last night alone and now over 2 metres on the mountain - the conditions are superb! We have had some very busy weeks during January and some lovely guests, it’s been a fun month! The weekly slalom event has been great fun and very competitive, the Mountain Air team managed to win the chalet trophy last week for the first time in a while and then take second place in yesterday’s competition. We are looking forward to next week’s event and enjoying the rest of the winter season.

Most of our accommodation is now fully booked for the rest of the season so our minds are focused on ensuring all our guests this season have a truely memorable winter holiday.  

With registrations about to start for the Passporte du Soleil mountain biking event in June and bookings coming in for the summer months, many people are clearly thinking about their summer holiday in the Alps.

It’s been a while since my last blog report so a few things to catch up on. The winter season in Chatel started well around the middle of December and as expected Xmas and New Year were both very busy weeks. The weather has been mixed with very cold temperatures and plenty of snow but little sunshine so far this season. The snow conditions are great so we cant complain too much.

The next few weeks are usually a little quieter around the resort however its pretty full on for us right through until the end of April as both our catered chalets are now almost fully booked for the rest of the season.

We have had 2 slalom races in the last couple of weeks for our guests along with the other tour operators from Chalet Group Chatel and we came very close to winning the chalet cup yesterday but missed out by one place, we will try again next week. One of our guests Nigel was the overall champion though which was superb!

We will enjoy the next few weeks before the resort goes mad again for Feb half term and then on the home straight until the end of the season. We still have limited self catered availability for this winter but we are now taking bookings for the summer season and the peak weeks next winter.

We have had our first really good dump of snow over the ast 24 hours or so and now have a good 50cm on the mountain and around 30cm in Chatel. Temperatures look like staying cold and more snow is forecast later this week.

The winter 09/10 season is about to begin so the arrival of some decent amount of snow is well timed. Chatel may open at weekends for the next week or so and then everyday from 12th December. Our first guests arrive in a couple of weeks and I am hoping to get my first ski of the season this weekend!

Keep up to date throughout the season with the latest weather and snow conditions on our own web site:

http://mountainairholidays.co.uk/latestnews.htm

The winter season is nearly here and the arrival of snow at resort level this week has made it feel all the more real!

Chatel is planning to open at weekends from 28th November, if we have enough snow, and everyday from 12th December 09, closing at the end of April 2010.

You can keep an eye on the very latest snow conditions in Chatel and the whole of the Portes du Soleil on the “latest news” page of our web site from December. http://mountainairholidays.co.uk/latestnews.htm

Its been a few weeks since I updated the Blog and there are a number of things worth telling you about so here goes:

This winter season promises to be another exciting one in Chatel and around the Portes du Soleil. Chatel continues its huge investment in the ski area with fast new lifts and much more.

New Lifts: The “Echo Alpin” 6 seater chair lift is currently being installed in the Linga area. The new lift will take skiers to the Col du Linga at over 2000 metres and will have the capacity to carry up to 2700 people per hour. It will also be one of the fastest lifts in the Portes du Soleil.

Guaranteed Snow: Additional snowmaking cannons are being installed in the Linga and Combes area bringing the total number of snowcannons in the Chatel area to 180.

Redesigned Slopes: Much work has been done through the summer on redesigning some pistes making the skiing even more enjoyable, especially for beginners

Resort Opening Dates: The resort is planning to open for the 2009/10 season on the 12th December 2009.