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:

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: Property Prices in the Alps

Although the season has started well, the ski industry has most certainly not been immune from the financial crisis.  Last year was just about OK for France and Austria, with Switzerland faring badly - more here.

This week Les Echos published a survey of the latest property market trends across the northern French Alps.

Bargain basement? Arc 1800

The headlines include:

• A slowdown in sales.  Prices aren't tumbling, but buyers should be able to negotiate.  Recent tax changes haven't helped
• The resorts in good locations with the right accommodation are doing OK
• Big differences, even within a relatively small area.  The price per m2, for example ranges from 1,911€ in an Arc 2000 studio, to €13.108 in a larger pad up the road in Val d'Isere
• The old 1970s flats are not in vogue - indeed there is a movement among some proprietères to join two apartments together to form one larger, more attractive space. "Those with the money are looking for big apartments or chalets for 10-20 people", says M. Le Notaire.  He also notes that prices in Morzine, Avoriaz and Les Gets have been rising, although they remain cheaper than the 3 Vallées and Chamonix 
• The other tip is to invest in areas close to the ski areas - for example in the attractive villages of St-Jean-de-Sixt or Manigod rather than Le Grand Bornand or La Clusaz
• Year-on-year prices are quoted (see below), but don't seem to tally with the overall story, and look on the volatile side.  For example, why would prices be rising in Morzine and falling in Les Gets?

The league table (in € per m2) is as follows (% change in the year to 31 Aug 2012 in brackets):

• Courchevel 1850: 11,170 (-5)
• Val d'Isère village: 7,357 (+2)
• Méribel village: 8,327 (n/a)
• Megeve: 7,262 (+9)
• Méribel Mottaret: 6,667 (+10)
• La Clusaz: 5,333 (+3)
• Courchevel 1650: 5,293 (n/a)
• Chamonix: 5,049 (+1)
• Les Gets: 4,816 (-7)
• Morzine: 4,711 (+13)
• Tignes Val Claret: 4,447 (+2)
• Avoriaz: 4,356 (-1)
• Tignes Le Lac: 4,333 (-7)
• Le Grand Bornand: 4,249 (-5)
• Valloire: 4,028 (no change)
• Arc 1800: 3,333 (+13)
• La Plagne: 3,280 (-7)
• Arc 1600: 3.169 (+9)
• Arc 2000: 2,046 (-13)

For a good guide to what's out there, follow @FrenchSkiHomes: website here.

WHERE TO SKI? Winners and Losers 1995-2013

The excellent Where to Ski and Snowboard 2013 is now available - it's easily the best guide to resorts, their rude comments about Les Arcs' architecture notwithstanding.

As its name suggests, it's an annual publication, which first appeared in 1995.  A look at that first book tells us which resorts have maintained and/or strengthened their position, and which are on the wane, at least in the British market.

One change, of course, has been in the title of the book - the original guide did not include the word "Snowboard", although there was a chapter devoted to the growth of "Le Surf", as the French used to call it.

"It is estimated that by the year 2000, 

one in three people riding the lifts 

will be a snowboarder"

Not sure if the snowboarder ratio ever got to quite that level; certainly in Les Arcs last year, the number wasn't getting much above 10%.

Back to the resorts.  Then - and now - the bulk of the guide is devoted to chapters on the main destination.  There were more chapters in 1995 than in the latest edition, with the net effect being there are more resorts who have "lost" their individual chapters than there are winners/newcomers.

In France, the winners - each now proudly boasting their own chapter - are Samoens, La Tania and Les Gets.  The losers are La Clusaz, Les Contamines, Valloire, Isola 2000 and Valmorel.

In Austria, the main winner this year is Soelden.  It was in the original guide, but then lost its place, and has now been rightly restored as "Austria's best kept secret", with its 130km of pistes, near-2000m vertical descent and, er, varied nightlife.

Hochsoelden

WTSS 2013 also gives good coverage to the Vorarlberg region.

A number of Austrian resorts are no longer covered in detail - the most notable perhaps being Zell am See, Zell am Ziller and St Johann in Tirol.  Each were mainstays of the ski brochures during the 1980s and 1990s.

Other Austrian resorts no longer covered include BKK, Fieberbrunn, Galtur, Innsbruck and Niederau.

In Italy, Bormio is out, with Passo Tonale and the Trentino region on the rise, each boasting a chapter for 2013.

Finally, Switzerland.  Arosa, Flims, Lenzerheide and Les Diablerets no longer justify a chapter.  The rising star is clearly the Val d'Anniviers, with four pages now devoted to Zinal, Grimentz et al.