Mountain Air Blog

We have had a really busy summer season, each year mountain biking, walking and family holidays in the mountains seem to get more and more popular which is great to see. However our attention now turns to preparations for the winter season. As winter bookings come in we begin work to prepare for our 7th winter season in Chatel!

Winter 2010/11

As in previous seasons we offer you our 2 fully catered ski chalets and our lovely 4 bedroom self catered Chalet du Caire. All available from mid December 2010 to the end of April 2011.

What New This Winter

Chatel continues the recent huge investment in what is already a superb ski area. Despite seeing around 7 metres of snow fall again last winter Chatel is working hard to guarantee great snow conditions for everyone for many years to come.

Snow Guarantee - A new high altitude resesvoir containing 139,000 cubic metres of water is  turned to snow from November using only water and air. The resesvoir has the capacity to make 500,000 m3 of snow!
  

Resort Opening / Closing Dates 2010/11:

Saturday 4th December 2010 - Ski lits open at weekends in Chatel for winter 2010/11 season.
Saturday 11th December 2010 - Chatel ski area opens everyday for the 2010/11 winter season. 
Sunday 25th April 25th 2011 - Chatel ski area and the 2010/11 season closes. 

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!

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 are nearing the end of July and plenty still to do yet before this summer is finished. The weather through July has been a bit mixed with plenty of warm sunshine but a few thunderstorms as well. We have had loads of events around Chatel and the local area already this summer with more to come in August. Its been a busy summer so far with plenty of mountain bikers, walkers and families enjoting the lakes & mountains.

I know the winter is coming when I start booking ski lessons for groups coming out at New Year and Feb half term and that job started this week. As flights are released everyone seems to now be looking ahead to the winter season and their annual skiing holiday. We have an even bigger range of accommodation available this season including our 2 catered chalets and a good selection of large self catered ski apartments, so get in touch if you are considering skiing this winter.

In the mean time enjoy the rest of the summer!

With the summer well under way we took the opportunity to take some friends on a 2 day mountain walk staying overnight in one of the highest refuges in the area. The day began with temperatures climbing steeply and that was to be our theme for the day too!  Beginning in Chatel we walked out of the village towards the Pas de Morgins and then along the Val de Morgins, zig-zagging across the bridges, heading first for the Salon de They and then onwards and upwards to Tovassiere and the Col de Portes Du Soleil.  It’s a steady climb, beginning at around 1200 metres, reaching 1600 metres at Tovassiere.  The valley has picnic spots all along the banks and as the river was looking very inviting in the heat. Shortly after the Salon de They, the path left the riverbank and began a fairly steep ascent up to Tovassiere.  By the time we got there the skies were looking rather black, but we decided to press on.  Lightening and thunder were soon crashing around us, not to mention rather painful hailstones, so we took shelter in a barn and waited out the storm.  When the weather had calmed down we took the wide track up to the Portes du Soleil and gazed across over Le Crosets to the magnificent Dents de Midi mountain range.  A few minutes later we were at the highest point of that day’s walk at the Point d’hiver just over 2,000 metres and then it was just a short descent  to Lac Vert and the Refuge which sits at 1980 metres. The recent warmth has still not melted the last of the snow.

A great meal, a few games of cards and a pretty good nights sleep set us up for the 4 hour walk back to Chatel the following day. Taking the track towards Avoriaz and via Linderets, Plaine Dranse and Linga completing our circular walk at around 3pm on the second day. A really nice refuge and a great 2 days of walking!

Following 2 or 3 weeks of warm spring like weather during March we are back to more fresh powder and cold temperatures.  The snow conditions for the remaining 4 weeks of this winter season look like being superb.

Chatel will again be one of the last resorts to close in the Portes du soleil with the lifts due to stay open until around 26th April 09, so if you fancy a late skiing holiday let us know. In our catered chalets we have availability from Sunday 12th April.

As this season draws to a close we are now taking bookings for next winter 09/10.  Let us know as soon as you can if you are considering a skiing holiday next season.

Our blog is a great way for us to wish all our friends, family, old and new guests and very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Enjoy the festive period and best wishes for 2009 from Paul, Helen & Joseph

Following numerous customer requests, SpeedFerries is again giving customers a chance to purchase its phenomenally popular SuperTicket – enabling you to travel even at their busiest times for just £30 each way on any crossing until the 31st December 2009.

This ticket is ideally suited to those customers wishing to book their Easter or summer holiday for next year.  Take a look at www.speedferries.com for more info.