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.

STE-FOY-TARENTAISE: Part 3 - On the Piste

Update 21 Sept: The Grand Plan chair out of the village is being replaced by a fast lift for 2013/14.  The new Where To Ski And Snowboard guide reports that there will also be a new restaurant at the foot of the Marquise lift.

For years, I've been looking across at Ste-Foy's ski area from Les Arcs' Villaroger pistes, without ever making the effort to get over there to see what all the fuss is about.

They say it's where the Val d'Isere instructors go on their day off.  That the ski area, though small, packs much more of a punch than a look at the map might suggest.  That the off-piste is quite simply Premier League.  And that the resort is developing in a gentle, vaguely up-market kind of a way, with a loyal band of British visitors.  I can't vouch for the Val d'Isere instructors, but all of these seemed to be true this March.

It's only about 20 minutes from Bourg-St-Maurice.  First, you pass through Ste-Foy village at 813m.  It boasts a Logis de France, and is well placed for back-door access to Les Arcs via Villaroger.  Then you take the next set of hairpins towards Val d'Isere and then turn off to the left - the road up to the resort is not bad at all.  You can read a little bit more about the commune on the modest wikipedia page.

The lift pass, at 27€, makes a change from the 46€ Les Arcs price.  Indeed, the resort gets into the Chris Gill and Dave Watts Reasonably Affordable Ski Resorts guide.

This is one of the few resorts not owned by Compagnie des Alpes, but there is some money going into the system; there will be a new detachable lift in place from the resort for 2013/14.

The runs are long and there's a good mixture of open and tree-lined skiing.  There are a couple of cosy restaurants half-way up - they get quite crowded, as indeed does the restaurant at the foot of the slopes next to the ESF office.

Back on the slopes, the La Marquise lift is the newest, and has opened up a fine area of mountain.  The prospect of the ski area expanding beyond its current 35kms now look remote - more details on the background here.

The local mairie wants to expand the area.
"Non" say environmental campaigners -
and the French Ministry agrees

For more, see the We Love 2 Ski guide - or watch the videos below, which weave on and off the pistes:

                        

For Ste-Foy Part One, which covers the debate re the resort's expansion, click here.

Part Two looks at the off-piste; more here.

STE-FOY-TARENTAISE: Part 2 - Off Piste

Ste-Foy may be a small resort in terms of piste skiing, but it is clearly in the Premier League for off-piste.  There is skiing from 3000m (if you're willing to take a hike from the top lift) down to about 1200m.   (For more on the debate on extending Ste-Foy's ski area click here.)

Ste-Foy offers off-piste slopes for all abilities (easier on the south side; more challenging on the northern flank).  Along withe La Rosiere, it also makes a bit of a thing about heli-skiing.  This is banned in France, but they "cheat a little" by dropping skiers off over the Italian border for their descent back.

In honour of these possibilities, the local ESF has set up a special "pole hors-piste".  

Some links:

1.   The White Room Chalet guide, which covers the special off-piste areas which are secured from avalanches by the pisteurs, but otherwise left to nature.

2.  Premier Neige also gives a pen picture of the various runs.  

3.  And here's the guide from pistehors.com

Meanwhile, here are some shots of the run to Le Monal:

The start: Col de l'Aiguille

Looking down on Le Monal, with
Tignes in the distance

Le Monal: many of the chalets
are being renovated.
Deserted in winter

Le Rocher de Pierre d'Arbine

Looking back from the track to Ste-Foy

To see some real skiers take the route, have a look at the video below.  It's from the Quebecois Plaisir de Skier series, with our presenter taken round the local slopes by local monitrice Marian Bréchu.  In addition to the run to Le Monal, they take to the north face and ski down for a meal at Le Miroir, just above the road to Bourg St Maurice.

The White Room Chalet

STE-FOY-TARENTAISE: Part 1 - Le Vallon du Clou

The debate has been going on for some time.

Should the tiny resort of Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise be allowed to expand its ski area into the beautiful and islolated Vallon du Clou?

This week, we appear to have closure.

There's a full report in Le Dauphiné on the decision to give the valley protected status.  Here is a belt-and-braces translation:

******

Ste-Foy will not be extending its ski area into the vallon du Clou.  The site, at c2000m, has just been given protected status - in its entireity - by the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy.  The two new lifts which the ski resort wanted to install in the north of the valley will therefore not be happening.

                                 

With this addition to the list of Savoie's "sites classées", the Ministry is looking to protect "the quality and riches of this savoyard countryside".  "It's a remarkable location, which still features traditional pastural activities....with amazing scenery all around: lakes, glaciers, the high mountains".

Further down, at entry of the valley is the famous hamlet of Le Monal, which was given protected status in 1987 (and is a mecca for off-piste excursions by the way).

Off-piste above Le Monal.  The entrance to
 the valley is on the left

For the mayor of Ste-Foy-Tarentise, if this decision "isn't a surprise", it's still bad news:

"We were only looking at the highest part of the valley", says Raymond Bimet.  Just 150 hectares out of the 2,692 which make up the site.  For us, this is not incompatible with the site having protected status, because it would only have had minimal impact on the eye. In addition, we were ging to build an "entry point" to the site which would show visitors the differeent features, flora and fauna of the site".

That's not enough, say the environmental associations (Vivre en Tarentaise, Frapna, Mountain Wilderness, Club Alpin Francais...) who have been battling for several years for the site to be protected from development.  "When you classify a site, you are talking about a complete geographical area" says André Collas, of Frapna Savoie.  "It's as if you wanted to protect a church but you are only taking into account the majority of the building.  It just doesn't make sense" argues Vincent Neirinck, of Mountain Wilderness.

In the future, walkers wil therefore be able to enjoy the whole of this high valley without seeing ski lifts in front of them or on the horizon.  But Ste-Foy's town hall hasn't given up quite yet - they are planning an appeal against the decision to classify the whole of the valley as protected.

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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 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: How They Voted In Round 2

The results are in, with Hollande scoring 51.7%, and Sarko 48.3%, on an 80% turnout. All the results, including by departement and commune here.

True to its tradition of being more to the right, Savoie voted for Sarkozy, by a 53: 47 margin.  In Haute Savoie, as ever, the result was even clearer: Sarko ahead by 60:40.

Chambéry voted for Hollande, just as it voted for Royal in 2007.  But the "Trend Tarentaise" is again evident.  In other words, the higher you go up the valley, the higher the vote for Sarkozy: First round results here.

In Bourg St Maurice and Val d'Isere, Sarko's vote held up well.  There are changes elsewhere, more in line with the national swing.  Indeed, in the key marginal of Landry, below Peisey, a 51:49 Sarko-Royal in 2007 transferred to a 52:48 Hollande lead.

Here's how some of the ski villages and towns voted.  The 2007 figures are first, followed by the 2012 scores.

All figures are % voting for Sarkozy:

Landry  51, 48

Moutiers  55, 53

Albertville  55, 54

Bozel (Courchevel)  56, 54

Aigueblanche (Valmorel)  57, 52

Beaufort  58, 58

Aime (La Plagne)  61, 58

Bourg St Maurice-Les Arcs  60, 59

Seez (La Rosiere)  61, 58

Champagny  62, 59

Peisey-Nancroix  65, 60

Tignes  66, 67

Macot-la-Plagne  68, 65

Villaroger  70, 64

St Martin-de-Belleville  73, 70

Brides-les-Bains (Meribel)  74, 68

Crest Voland  79, 77

Val d'Isere  80, 79

FRENCH SKI RESORTS: The Premiership

With both turnstiles and ski lifts closed, the important issues of the day can now be discussed.  Namely: if your favourite French ski resort were a Premiership side, which would it be?  Here’s a starter for 10: 


(1 June 2012: Follow this link for the 2012/13 version)

Man Utd = Val d’Isere

A classic resort; famous around the world, consistently performs at a high level.  Popular with rich people from The South.

Chelsea = Courchevel

Money talks; the domain of well-heeled Russians.  Oddly characterless.  Less affluent folk are scattered in distant suburbs away from the centre.

Man City = Tignes

Lots of investment; lifts now arguably superior to those of its neighbour across the mountain.  Clearly on the up.  Still lacks that je ne sais quoi.

Arsenal = Meribel

Strong Anglo-French links, not as good as thinks it is but is still very good indeed.  Will never go out of fashion.

Tottenham = Les Arcs

Has had its ups and downs over the years, but a steady transformation over last decade - by no means perfect but can mix with big league.

Liverpool = Chamonix.

Fancies itself as the home of mountaineering.  Which in a way it is.  Has a tradition, character, real sense of place that everyone respects - fans all want to visit at least once...

Everton = La Plagne

Was one of the "Big Five" in the 1980s, but no longer.  Shrewd management has papered over the cracks (slow lifts, short runs).

Fulham = Megeve

Location and proximity to nice restaurants is just as important as the skiing.

Aston Villa = Flaine

Has lots of support; good all-rounder and the infrastructure to mix it with the big league.  Could win a trophy under new management.

Sunderland = Alpe d'Huez

Great stadium, all the way to 3,300m; a World Cup venue.  It’s south-facing, though and therefore can lose its best assets towards the end of the season.

West Brom = La Clusaz

Quietly goes about its business with little attention from abroad.  If you look at it in more closely, you’ll find it has a lot going for it…

Newcastle = Val Thorens

Again, a big stadium, with great atmosphere and famous nightlife.   When the sun shines it’s great, but on a cold day...

Stoke City = Les Sybelles

Has no discernible centre; a modest kind of a place.  Has made its mark on the Premiership without anyone really noticing how far they've come.  Top lifts often shut due to wind.

Bolton = Valmorel

In the shadow of its neighbours but well-run and doesn’t get intimidated.

Blackburn = Avoriaz

Has been in Premiership for many years; respected but not really among anyone's favourites.  Are owners putting enough money in?

Wigan = Areches/Beaufort

Few people go there, but those who do enjoy the welcome (and the cheese pies).

Wolves = Les 2 Alpes

One of the oldest in the league - nightlife like the Wild West.  Summer glacier can't hide lack of strength in depth (narrow ski area).

QPR = Les Gets

Not the biggest but there's money there.  Unlikely to be so good late season?

Norwich = Serre Chevalier

Bit of a yo-yo resort between Prem and Championship.  Remote location.  But has strong support, and real character.  And good food...

Swansea = Isola 2000

Also somewhat remote geographically from rest of the league.  Was briefly in the top flight during the 1980s.  More investment has gone in recently; will it be enough to survive…

AND MORE IMPORTANTLY….

Oxford United = Chamrousse

On the Grenoble Road, big university town boasting great ski area.  Was briefly in the top flight; Jean-Claude Killy once skied there.  Has strong following from the locals; could surprise a few people.

Barnet = Ste Foy

Where the ski instructors go on their day off.  Only a few lifts but packs more of a punch than this implies.  Noteworthy gradients.  Local authority resisting its bid to expand.