WHAT'S NEW IN LES ARCS: Two new places to eat

What's new in Les Arcs for 2013/14?  Well, alongside what's here, a couple of things to report on. These cover two of the essentials of modern life: food and parking.

First, food.  The new restaurant above the pistes at Arc 1800 is now open.  Chez Grillette has a brilliant location on the home runs above the golf course, with great views across the valley.  It's a great addition to an area which has been crying out for a piste-side refreshment stop for years.  There is a big outdoor terrace, and a fair-sized indoor area, which does get busy.  It's more upmarket than the Arpette, but nothing like the Chalets de l'Arc: €12-14 for a one-pot casserole, and, in a possible first for Les Arcs, a selection of "wok" dishes.  

Chez Grillette

Expect to see more developments in this part of the resort over the next few years, as part of the reorganisation of the Chantel slopes and lifts - details here.

There is also news over at Arc 1600.  The original Les Arcs village suffers more than Arc 1800 for not having a proper front de neige with restaurants, places to meet etc.  The facilities are all rather set back from the lifts.  Step forward a new hostelry, just to the side of the Cachette piste, below the Hotel Beguin.  Not sure what it's name is - it appears to be called "restaurant" at the moment.

The new restaurant is at the foot of the
beautiful Mont Blanc piste

Strictly speaking the newly-openend Aiguille Grive Hotel may not count as a "mountain restaurant", as it is only a stone's throw from Charmettoger.  But you can ski to the door, and directly to the lift afterwards, and the location does feel quite away from it all.  Resort old-timers will still miss the "Gilles and Annick" restaurant which used to sit on this site. But at least Gilles is back running the restaurant, and the new construction is quite something:

The hotel's opening was delayed due to problems
with the electrical licence - here is the restaurant

Although the area will win no prizes for its mountain restaurants, things are definitely improving, both in terms of quantity and range.  For more on piste-side eating in Les Arcs, click here.

NEW SKI SEASON: 10 Things You (Possibly) Need To Know

Here are some fascinating facts you can use on the chairlift to impress/bore your companions:

1.  We have lost 300,000 British skiers since the start of the recession.  Last year just 900,000 of us hit the slopes.  France remains the market leader, with Austria in the ascendency and North America in freefall.  More here.

2.  This has contributed to a pretty flat market in France.  The financial results of lift operator giant Compagnie des Alpes are disappointing, and the French ski resort association is in open revolt about changes to the French school holiday calendar which mean the Easter break now starts after many resorts have closed.

3.  Even if a slow recovery has started, the concern is that skiing, never a cheap activity, is losing market share to other travel destinations/pursuits.  This has been the spur for various rebranding initiatives, for example Méribel, Chamonix and, most notably, Val Thorens (United):

#WantToSki: Website here.

4.  Other resorts are looking to build their share of the wallet by developing new products.  The 100% freeride area below the 2877m Pic du Midi in the Pyrenees looks a neat idea, not least if it is accompanied by a night in the observatory at the summit.



5.  Swiss Connections No1: 2013/14 sees resorts coming together in bids to enter the premier league.  Lenzerheide joins with Arosa in a CHF50m project which will create a 225km area.  It opens in January, apparently.

6.  Swiss Connections No2: The Val d'Anniviers is celebrated by all those who visit. This year the previously separate Grimentz and Zinal ski areas will be linked by a new cable car.

7.  The original and best?  The Vanoise Express celebrates 10 years of Paradiski with a makeover of the cabins.

8.  On the Les Arcs side, there are some new developments for 2013/14.  There is a new roundabout at the foot of the climb, a new 4 star Aiguille Grive hotel, and a new mountain restaurant on the golf course.  More here.

9.  And there are BIG CHANGES planned for Les Arcs over the coming years. The masterplan for Arc 1800 includes a reorganisation of the Chantel slopes, a new indoor pool and new links to both Edenarc and Arc 2000.

The Alpages du Chantel and Edenarc developments
will (finally) be linked to Arc 1800 over the next few years

10. The "British ski hosts banned" row rumbles on, with Crystal now having done a deal with the Evolution 2 ski school.  The ESF is starting to respond/think about the implications of all this, for example offering free hosting in La Rosiere on Sundays - more here via Planet Ski.

10 YEARS OF PARADISKI

Paradiski is 10 years old this season:

To celebrate, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac has given the Vanoise Express a makeover.

There will be tightrope walking on 16th December, again at the Vanoise Express.  A "world premiere" is promised, with a 60m walk between the two cars:



It's also the 10th anniversary of Arc 1950, whose arrival marked a complete departure from the original Les Arcs' approach.  (See interview with Claudie Blanc for some history).  I personally find it hard to love the place, but it certainly means that Les Arcs and Peisey-Vallandry can offer a pretty full range of accommodation options, for all budgets and tastes.  And it certainly has helped fund the transformation of Les Arcs' lift system.

Here's the official Les Arcs press release on Paradiski's 10 years.

YES WE CANNES: Film and the Mountains

Some of the best film and TV moments were of course shot in the mountains, for example many of the best James Bond scenes and unforgettable pop videos by Wham, the Police and the Jacksons.  Not to mention the, er, iconic Apocalypse Snow, shot on Les Arcs' slopes in 1983:

But a number of resorts have developed their own niche in hosting film festivals, as part of their bids to broaden their appeal - for example in Les Arcs.

The season kicks off above Bourg St Maurice with the  Les Arcs Film Festival which runs from 14-21 Dec.  This year includes a special focus on film from  "Yugoslavian countries", for example the 2011 Serbian/Macedonian production "Punk's Not Dead":



Prior to all this excitement, next week sees the 30th Mountain Film Festival taking place at Autrans, over in the Vercors:

Click here for the official Autrans site

Over Christmas, Autrans' neighbour Lans-en-Vercors will be holding its own festival, this time centred on childrens' cinema.

It looks like some of the new Belle et Sébastien film was shot in the Vercors - in cinemas from 18th December:



Finally, at the end of January, Alpes Magazine will be hosting a 3 evenings looking at alpine cinema, including this classic film from 1944:

28-30 January, Palais des Congrés, Chambery

NEW SKI SEASON: Dates for the diary

Regular visitors to Les Arcs will see one or two new things in and around the resort, including the new Aiguille Grive Hotel and a mountain restaurant above the golf course. And there's more to come - with a transformation of the slopes above 1800 planned.

Back to this season...

To celebrate 10 years of Paradiski, the Vanoise Express has been given a makeover by designer JC de Catelbajac.  I am not sure that everyone is going to like it.

It's also 10 years since the opening of Arc 1950 - much loved by British travel writers, but not by all the "pioneers" of Les Arcs who see it as out of step with the original vision for the resort.

Les Arcs has taken the plunge and updated its website.  It looks much better, but still feels a little difficult to find your way around.  For example to find the opening dates for the season (14 Dec - 26 April), it's easier to find the information via www.france-montagnes.com.

Key dates for 2013/14 include:

1.  The 5th Les Arcs Film Festival, which runs from 14-21st December, this time majoring on Yugoslav cinema.  A "movie pass" costs €28, although it's not clear whether this will be enough to entice the various British student ski trips (including @SussexSnow) who will be present in Les Arcs during this pre-Christmas week.  (For a bit more background to the film festival, click here.

Sadly, the cinema over the hill in Arc 1800 is no more

2.  The Red Bull Linecatcher "back country" ski competition runs again - I can't find the exact dates but according to the Les Arcs Press Office it will be in January, and one assumes it will be around the middle of the month again.

Bad weather delayed the 2013 event
for a number of days

3.  School Holidays.  Beware.  Here's a guide to how to avoid at least some of the February crowds.  The big half term week for British skiers is likely to be w/c 15 February, the same date that French Zone C (Paris, Bordeaux...) hits the autoroute for their vacances.  And be careful about assuming there will be no-one about in late Feb - the French school holidays continue until the first weekend of March.

4.  The scarily titled GMX Gavaggio Monster Cross will be in town between 4-7 March. This is basically the French youth skicross championships, and will be based in Arc 1800.

The competition will take place on the
Arc 1800 home slopes

MOUNTAIN HIGH, VALLEY LOW: The Price of Skiing

Skiing has never been cheap.  Not least for British skiers, given the distance involved and therefore the need to spend a few days in the mountains.  Witness the sharp fall in Brits taking to the slopes, from 1,227,000 in 2007/8 to 899,000 last year.

In the Telegraph, Peter Hardy finds "budget" chalets for the package holiday skier in Peisey Vallandry, Val d'Isere and the Sella Ronda.  In terms of resorts, he recommends Baqueira-Beret (where you may still see the Spanish royal family), Madesimo and, in the Maurienne Valley, Aussois.

Meanwhile, Where to Ski and Snowboard has taken a systematic view in recent years.  It calculates an a "RPI" for each resort, based on a basket of indicators.  The "average" score is 100, with Ste-Foy (85) and Val Cenis (80) emerging as the best value of the bigger French resorts.

A week's Paradiski pass will set you back €277

For short breaks, the cheapest option is to stay down in the valley.  Bourg St Maurice, is one of the most obvious options, with funicular railway or easy bus access to Les Arcs/La Plagne, La Rosiere, Tignes and Val d'Isere.  (That said, the choice of hotels is limited).  Albertville may not be everyone's idea of heaven, but it's very close to Valmorel, Crest Voland and Areches-Beaufort.  Annecy is a more mainstream and probably sensible base, with Le Grand Bornand, La Clusaz and Le Semnoz close by.

And for the day-tripping skier, the enterprising www.ausommet.fr has put together a handy guide.  The chart the prices being charged by the various resorts.  Note: a significant proportion are owned by Compagnie des Alpes, who, by clever pricing, managed to increase revenues by 3% last year, thereby outpacing the modest 1% rise in skier numbers - more here.  In that vein perhaps, we see that prices are still rising, particularly in Les 3 Valleés, at 57€, beats Chamonix to the "most expensive" prize by 50 centimes.

The costs may be eye-watering, but generally the hierarchy seems reasonable (eg Valmorel's Grand Domaine and La Rosiere's Espace San Bernadino are priced similarly). Bonneval sur Arc comes in perhaps as best value: 24€ for a ski area with slopes from 1800-3000m.

SKI SEASON 2013/14: The French Market

Last season was the year when the British ski market finally halted its decline, although it remains well below pre-Crisis levels.

France remains the most popular destination for skiers this side of the Channel, and of course it has not been immune from the market conditions - for example in Les Arcs, the Edenarc development has taken an age to get off the ground.

Here are some of the current dynamics in the French market:

New Developments

Many of the larger resorts are continuing to invest in their infrastructure, for example in La Plagne, where there will be a new Montalbert telecabine for December 2014.  Ste-Foy has a new fast lift going up from the village this season, in Valmorel there are a number of new lifts and a new Club Med as well.

OK, but...

The Compagnie des Alpes, which owns the ski lifts for many of the big resorts, including Les Arcs, reports total skier days rising by 1% last year, with revenues up by 3%.  This of course was against the backdrop of a very good season snow-wise.  The view at the Paris Bourse is that these results are disappointing.

Les Arcs and Peisey-Vallandry's ski area
is now combined ina single entity: ADS.
This in turn is owned by Compagnie des Alpes

For Sale

France of course has many small ski resorts, and one of them is a vendre.  For €550,000, you can become owner of 3 teleskis, a chalet at the foot of the pistes and - drumroll - a piste bully.

Closed

The Pyreneean resort of Puigmal is €5m in debt, and is closing.

Angry

The French school holiday calendar has recently changed, and Easter hols are now much later.  This year, for example, the first zone (C) to break up for Easter holidays does so on 12th April, by which time many resorts will have closed.  Meanwhile, Zone A pupils will be waiting until the 26th until their holidays start.  The French ski resorts assoication is fuming about this and is lobbying the Government strongly.  They say that they are now only getting 2% of their revenue from the Easter season, compared with 8% before 2010.

A CHAPEL FOR LES ARCS

Updates on new developments in ski resorts inevitably centre on the replacement of Lift X with a new fast 6-pack, or perhaps a new MGM or Club Med development.

Les Arcs has something completely different under construction: a new chapel, due to open next summer at Arc 1800.  It will be on the bend in the road at Chantel, between the covered car park and the Centre Bernard Taillefer.

The idea of a chapel is nothing new.  Back in 1979,  Les Arcs' creator Robert Blanc was clear that the chapel was the missing link in the developing jigsaw.  Recent years have seen open air masses taking place in Place Miravidi at Christmas, and more recently at the Centre Taillefer.

But now the funding is in place, thanks to various benefactors.  And the Chapelle de St-Esprit, designed by Robert Falcoz, is starting to take shape.  Robert Blanc's daughter Claudie Blanc is closely involved.

Local painters are working
on designs for the interior

Full details can be found on the chapel's very professional website.

NEW SKI SEASON: More new things in Les Arcs

In addition to what's here, a few more things to look out for this season, courtesy of the excellent www.peisey-info.com.

The Les Arcs Film Festival isn't exactly new, but deserves a plug as the anchor event of the first week of the season, from 14 December, with "Yugoslav" films under the spotlight.  Much to the delight of the manager of the Spa in Charvet, various British university ski trips are also expected in Arc 1800 this week...

To celebrate Paradiski's 10th anniversary, there will be a tightrope walk between the cabins of the cable cars, by what are billed in the press release as "the world's greatest": Julien Millot and Tancrede Melet.  They will be 380m above the ground, and it may look something like this:



The two Vanoise Express cabins will also have a makeover, in the form of designs by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac which will be in place all season.

Apart from that, the only other "nouveaté" is in the form of a small draglift above the Replat lift in Villaroger and some behind-the-scenes work to the artificial snow-making. The big changes this year are over in La Plagne, which sees defunct black pistes re-appearing and a reshuffling of the lifts ahead of the opening of the Montalbert telecabine in 2014: more here.

Panic on the pistes of La Plagne:
The black Derochoir piste

Big changes are being planned for Les Arcs, however, with the Chantel area due for a complete overhaul.  Here is the planning permission application for the new "Telecabine des Villards".  But this  is only part of the story...

NEW SKI SEASON: What's new in Les Arcs

Regular visitors to Les Arcs will notice a number of thrilling new developments this season...

At the start of the Category 1 climb to Les Arcs, there is an exciting new roundabout, complete with snowchain-assembly area.  The powers that be have also decreed that the official way to the N90 is along the (newly resurfaced) minor road by the river, rather than going via Super U and the McDonald's roundabout at the entrance to Bourg.  This seems a little odd, as the road is very narrow as it approaches the Isere.

The "new"way back to the N90

One of Les Arcs' drawbacks is that the front de neige is set back from the foot of the pistes, which means there are no convenient hostelries where big groups can meet up during the day.  It lacks the equivalent of a Bissac at Flaine, or indeed the cluster of restaurants at Plagne Centre.

Although not on the front de neige, the new mountain restaurant on the golf course is going to really help - and it looks like it will be ready for December:

Just above the golf course on the home runs

And at the foot of the slopes, the new Aiguille Grive hotel/restaurant will (finally) be open. Les Arcs legend (and former landlord of the old restaurant on this site) Gilles ready to welcome guests.

Pierra Menta (2714m) in the background

Meanwhile, just by the Vagere lift, a sign informs us that planning permission is being sought for a new "Telecabine des Villards".  To be continued...

SUMMER SKIING

Val d'Isere, Tignes and Les 2 Alpes are the three main remaining sites for summer skiing in France - details of opening times etc here.  Deux Alpes seems to have the slight edge over Tignes, boasting an 800m vertical drop.

It may be a poor third, but the short summer skiing season in Val d'Isere is already underway - more details on Henry's Avalanche Talk.

After the middle of July, the two remaining choices will be Tignes and Les 2 Alpes. www.summerski.co.uk is a loyal companion.

There used to be a rather greater choice of venues...

La Plagne gave up in 2005.  The Chiaupe glacier used to be a nice, quiet, mellow place to go in summer, according to Frogblog.  It sounds like skiing up here could have continued, but it was simply not economical any more.

Alpe d'Huez used to open regularly, but no more - although it was "exceptionally" open for a week in June 2012.

Apparently there used to be summer skiing on the Grands Montets in Chamonix until the 1980s.

And Val Thorens used to attract serious skiers to the steep Peclet slopes, but global warming made things more and more difficult through the 1990s, before they gave up altogether in 2002.

Back in Les Arcs, the focus in recent years has been more on protecting the Varet glacier from retreating any further, for example in spending €30,000 on a protective sheet to keep the snow away from the sun between May and September.  I haven't researched it extensively, but there seems to be some discussion as to whether there used to be a draglift on the glacier during the 1980s.  It seems that summer skiing was certainly on the summer lift map at that time, but a guide rather than via a ski lift.

Further east, there is more summer skiing to be in Switzerland (Engleberg & Saas Fee, but no longer in Verbier or St Moritz).  Austria has a number of sites: Kaprun, Stubai, Hintertux (where lots of ski teams train) and Solden (one of the few areas for Autumn skiing) - more here.  The excellent www.weathertoski.co.uk site gives the title of "best summer ski area" in Europe to Hintertux.

THE HARLEM SHAKE

Presumably this will be a one season wonder, but the Harlem Shake has duly made an appearance in the mountains.  

The ESF liked it so much, they set up a competition.  Type "ESF Harlem Shake Community" into Youtube if you are keen.  Here are the moniteurs of Arc 2000.

First among equals are the ESF at Risoul, whose efforts are notable for actually including some skiing:

More below:

1. The "skipass girls" at Arc 2000:



2. Over at Plagne Centre:



3. ESF Praz sur Arly:



4. ESF at Val Thorens:



5. ESF Isola 2000:



6. ESF Les Gets:

DOWN BUT NOT OUT: Snowboarding

"Snowboarding is no longer new, no longer extreme, and - now that your mom knows how to ride - no longer quite as cool"   

THE big change on the slopers of the last 30 years has been the arrival of the snowboard. But there is pretty clear evidence that it has reached its peak.  According to this article, sales of snowboard gear are down 21% in the last four years.  The number of skier days in the US is up by 16% since 2004.  Etc.

Similarly, after seeing a period of 300% growth between 1988 and 2004, "the sport is spluttering in the United States".

The two reasons for the decline seem to be:

1. Snowboarders are getting older, so can't go as often as they would like, now they have families...
2. The innovations in ski technology (twin tips, park skis, fat off-piste skis) have made a real difference, enabling skiing to regain its market share

It's also clear that snowboarding remains much more popular in the US than it is in France.  Even in this 'post-growth' environment, the reports suggest around 30% of slope users are snowboarders.  In France, it's running at around half this level - and lower in the more "traditional" resorts.

Even Les Arcs, home of les nouvelles glisses, including the "cult" 1983 film Apocalypse Snow, struggles to get much above 15%.

                                         

As snowboarding started to get going in the 1980s, even James Bond got in on the act, with a snowboarding scene in A View To A Kill...

Back to the present.  Here are the results of our 2012/13 survey:

% of slope users on snowboards:
Les Arcs (Xmas): 11%
Les Arcs (10-11/1): 15%
Les Arcs (11/3): 12%
Les Arcs (10-11/4): 17%
La Rosiere (9/1): 16%
Flaine (15/3): 13%
La Plagne (12/3): 12%
Le Grand-Bornand (8/1): 9%
Ste-Foy (13/3): 8%
Villars (14/3): 6%

Technical Note: All data is gathered via careful random sampling methods, with minimum sample sizes of at least 400 per measurement....

THE HISTORY OF LES ARCS: Round-up

Updated 8 December 2013

A quick internet guide to the history of Les Arcs:

External inks:

The Reve des Bergers (aka "Shepherds' Dream) - Claudie Blanc's book about her father Robert and the Les Arcs story.  May take a bit of finding, but available in resort

The Espace Arcadien site has loads of history, including detailed guides covering the installation (and removal) of the various ski lifts

A long essay on the history, which will challenge your French

The culture pages of the official Les Arcs site

The English and French language Wikipedia pages

From this blog:

The timeline of Les Arcs

The architecture of Charlotte Pierrand and team (Part 1)

The architecture (Part 2)

The old ski area, which included lifts from Bourg St Maurice itself

Changes to the Les Arcs ski area, 2002-2012

Interview with Claudie Blanc about her book (see above)

Tour de France 1996, including the beginning of the end for Miguel Indurain

Tour de France 2009, with Lance Armstrong et al spending the night in Arc 1950

The now departed Chasseurs Alpins army division.  (They still keep a ski training base in Tignes Les Brevieres)

The Vanoise Express, which celebrates its 10th birthday this year

Looking back at Peisey-Vallandry from the Vanoise Express

A documentary which traces the history of Les Arcs (also taking in the Tignes dam)

PISTE-SIDE DINING AT ARC 1800

Not a topic which brings with it a lot of material to write about, it has to be said.

We have the Arpette, and the Blanche Murée.  There is the Altiport café, and I suppose you could include the restaurant at the Chantel complex.  But that's pretty much it.  (For more on food in Les Arcs, click here.)

The closure of the Aiguille Grive Restaurant, run by Les Arcs' legends Gilles and Annick, was a big loss.  This was quite a few years ago now.  The building was demolished, rebuilt as an upmarket hotel, but its opening has been delayed.  It will be coming back next season - website here.

The Aiguille Grive, 11 March 2013

The good news for the remainder of this season anyway, is that Gilles is back!  The restaurant attached to the hotel is open, and a review, courtesy of the Avenir et Animation des Arcs site, states:

"The Aiguille Grive restaurant has reopened.  The decor is more contemporary, 

but still in the 'spirit of Les Arcs'.  The ambiance is the same, Gilles Christophe returning to welcome his clients.

At lunchtimes, simple food is served either on the south-facing terrace 

or in an airy dining room with great views of the mountains.

In the evening, with a fire burning, there's the chance to dine in a friendly and relaxing atmosphere.

To reserve, call 04 79 40 20 30."

Season 2013/14 will also see another restaurant on the home runs to Arc 1800 - its foundations are already in place, just below the Transarc middle station.  I imagine there may also be more happening at as Edenarc takes shape.  At the moment it's almost disarmingly low key and quiet.

ARC 2000: The Wembley of Speed Skiing

Speed skiing is apparently the "sport of going downhill in a straight line as quickly as possible".  

Vars and Les Arcs are the two remaining French courses

It certainly goes down as something of a niche sport, but does have a history going back to the 1930s.  The French Wikipedia site gives a more detailed overview than its English language cousin.  The first races were held in Switzerland, in Murren and St Mauritz, with the Austrian Leo Gasper achieving 137km/h in 1931.

During the 1970s the Italians appear to have been the keenest on the sport with the kilometro lanciato course in Cervina hosting an annual event.  In the southern hemisphere a course was established at Portillo, and here Steve McKinney reached the 200km/h barrier in 1978.  

Unsurprisingly, the big shadow hanging over the sport is safety.  In 1978 two fatal accidents at Cervinia prompted the FIS to take speed skiing out of its portfolio altogether. Speed skiing races continued to be organised both in North America (Silverston), in Les Arcs and at La Clusaz.  These events, coupled with improved security, prompted it to be included in the 1992 Albertville Olympics - the one and only time it has been included in the winter games.  That event (which drew the second highest viewing figures of the games) saw the death of the Swiss skier Nicolas Bochatay during training.  More recently, 2007 saw the death of British speed skier Caitlin Tover, who fell from the start area.

The courses at Les Arcs and Vars are still going. But Les Arcs is no longer marketing scaled-back versions of the course to holidaymakers.  I think it is just being left to the people who really, really want to do it.  I am told that there is only one ski maker still producing the 240 metre skis required to take part.

The Vars course has a 98% gradient at the start

Les Arcs does appear to be the Wembley of speed skiing, and both the male and female records were set there (251 km/h by Simon Origone and 242 km/h by Sanna Tidstrand). It starts at 2710m, below the Varet lift, and finishes, 1.7km later, at 2145 metres, at Arc 2000.  You can watch it all unfold from the Chalets de l'Arc restaurant.

                           

The top speeds can only be achieved be gliding on the thin watery layer above the melting snow, and so the records tend to have been set right at the end of the season.  And, from 6 April, the piste will be back in action, during Les Arcs' speed week.  This will see attempts at the world record on skis, monoski, handiski...and mountain bike.  It's the brainchild of Eric Barone, who will be getting back on his bike with a view to breaking the 200 km/h barrier again.... 

THE SEASON SO FAR

It's been a pretty good season so far - snow depths are looking healthy, with La Plagne reporting 102/102 lifts open, and the Ski Club of Great Britain giving piste conditions an "excellent" rating.

And the skiers have duly arrived in resort to enjoy the snow.  Pierre et Vacances report a better season than 2011/12, and Odalys say they are 95% of the way to reaching their targets.  "We are surprised.  Everyone is surprised" they say, bearing in mind the depressing economic backdrop.  It's a bit early to know what this means for the British ski market, or indeed whether the Swiss are starting to recover.  Another barometer is the performance of the giant Compagnie des Alpes, who run the lifts for most of France's Premier League resorts.  The first part of the season was "satisfactory" - we need to wait until 25th April to see if they upgrade their assessment.

Les Arcs is one of the resorts run by
the Compagnie des Alpes

From a British ski business point of view, the big news is the "banning of ski hosts" by the Albertville court.  It's a complex issue - more here - and one which the tour operators have vowed to keep on fighting.  Twelve ski holiday providers, including Inghams, Crystal and Thomson, met last week, although they are pausing until they've seen the written judgement.  A useful update from the Telegraph is here.  And here's another perspective on the issue from The Good Ski Guide.

The abundant snowfalls also bring reminders of just how dangerous it can be.  Le Monde reports that 8 people have died over the last week in avalanches, including a guide and their client in Tignes.

Looking to the future....which resorts should we watch out for?  La Rosiere is clearly on the up, but watch out for more coverage of Montgenevre in your Saturday travel supplements.  There's been a lot of investment in accommodation, it's reasonably easy to access via Turin, and is having a marketing push aimed at Parisien and Northern European skiers.  It could do with a new website though...

DECKCHAIRS IN THE SNOW

Apparently, there is a history of folding chairs in Northern Europe which dates back to the Bronze Age.  Wikipedia reports that the first deckchairs were patented in the 1850s, and that it is not entirely clear as to whether they are a US or British "invention".

They are of course an excellent way to sit and reflect.  Here, for no particularly good reason, are some spotted in and around the Tarentaise:

Aux Enfants Terribles, Peisey-Vallandry

Hotel de la Vanoise, Plan Peisey

La Cordée restaurant, just above Plan Peisey

Le Solliet restaurant, above Villaroger

The last deckchairs in France: La Rosiere,
next to the new "Fort" lift

The first deckchairs in Italy

The first deckhairs in Italy (2)

The first deckchairs in Italy (3)

The Snowpark at Les Arcs (1)

The Snowpark at Les Arcs (2)

For more on eating in Les Arcs, click here.

For more on La Rosiere and La Thuile, click here.

NOT QUITE THE ENTENTE CORDIALE: Ski Hosting in the French Alps

Updated 21 September 2013:

Crystal have teamed up with ski school Evolution 2 to offer social skiing on Sundays in 11 French resorts - more here via Where To Ski And Snowboard.  The Telegraph points out that the ban is still in place (these outings will be led by qualified instructors), and that Le Ski still plan to appeal.  Meanwhile, We Love To Ski say that this appeal will take place in November, but also note that this marks a broader shift away from the ESF, widely seen as having instigated/supported the ban in the first place.  These social skiing excursions sit alongside a broader agreement, with Crystal having now made Evolution 2 their preferred ski school partner.

Updated 10 March 2013:

Here's a perspective from the Good Ski Guide asking people taking a "this is outrageous" view on the subject to think again.

And here is an update from the Telegraph - the British tour operators plan to respond, but are waiting until they have seen the written judgement.

This week saw the Albertville court rule that "ski hosting" - as practised by against British tour operator Le Ski (alongside many larger operators) - is not allowed under French law. This is the practice where guests are shown around the slopes by an employee of the holiday company.

Le Ski, backed by the big tour companies, argues that this practice is complementary to the service offered by the ski schools.  Guests are only taken on blues and reds, and no instruction is given.

The ruling appears to have fallen short of the French law saying  that it is "illegal to teach, lead, guide or animate without an appropriate professional qualification".

Here is a summary of the background to the case, and here, via @hautealtitude, is the ESF's full statement (NB made by a different Simon Atkinson - he is Director of ESF in La Rosiere).

It does feel like the ESF is distancing itself slightly from the affair over the last week - they had certainly been seen as "the instigators" of the court action previously.  This is a pretty unconvincing line, I have to say.  Le Dauphiné, for example, is pretty clear that the case was brought by the Meribel ESF.  Indeed, the France3 Alpes TV station finds the press release "astonishing": "Is the ESF worried about losing its British clients?".  The ski schools have a lot to lose, it says.

Today's Telegraph picks up on the story with  why France is wrong to ban ski hosts, authored by BASI-qualified Julian Sambles.  He underlines the role the ski hosts can play in boosting local trade and building loyalty towards the resorts.

This is not a new issue, it seems.  This week @skigrimentz shared a link to a Peter Hardy Telegraph article from 2001, with Le Ski in the spotlight again.  The Hardy article tracks the issue back to the 1970s.

All in all, it's pretty depressing.  The whole debate might be more "fun" if the ESF were a proper villain, with wealthy instructors swanning around in their 4X4s, without needing to work for the rest of year.  It's not long since the ESF in Les Arcs was taken to court (in Albertville...) for age discrimination.  This case was all about the rights and wrongs of not allowing older instructors to work during certain weeks in the low season, with the subtext being there is simply not enough work to go round.  The latest (November 2012) development saw a landslide vote, from 95% of ski instructors, to "reduce the activities of moniteurs aged over 62" to ensure that young people are able to come into the profession, as opposed to keeping their skis "on their shoulders".

Hire a mountain guide for the off-piste
runs straight ahead...

In a similar vein, this week's Le Dauphiné article about the €8m turnover, 270-instructor-strong ESF at Les Menuires is all very well.  But le big boss of the school also says that the market is pretty flat and that relatively few instructors stick at it through their working lives.

What to make of it all?  There are clearly two sides, and there are some very real issues about safety in the mountains that do need to be emphasised.  But...it's hard to see this as anything other than an own goal by the ESF.  Reports (spotted by @skigrimentz) of les pulls rouges in Morzine offering "a tour of the piste, no teaching, 34€) are unlikely to improve matters.  Anyone who reads the "ski press" in the UK (aka the Saturday travel supplements) will see endless stories about which (English speaking) ski school is best in Val d'Isere, which holiday company offers the best child-care deals etc etc.  This just adds to the sense that the ESF are remote, dinosaurs, leave your children up the mountain, stop for fag breaks.  And so on.

In my experience, the reality is rather different.  The ESF's teaching of kids (a brutal exam every Friday...) may well be up Michael Gove's street, but is perhaps not everyone's cup of tea.  But the ESF instructors all speak excellent English, are often locals who can tell you lots about the area and - of course - are always skiers par excellence who love what they do.  It just feels like such a shame.  And something which could have been avoided.

So, I'm finding it hard to disagree with the excellent @adepierrefeu, who says:

"It's difficult not to see in the actions of the ESF a protectionism and a real sense of being out of touch with client demands.  It's the whole of the French ski industry which is going to be affected by this.  We should remember that our Austrian friends - who tolerate ski hosting - are still growing their market share.  This is not something which can be fixed by a flashmob!"*

*For more on the ill-fated ESF "flashmob", click here.