Category: Ski Europe

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A trekking day with the family in Cervinia.

The sky allowed us to see for a bit the Monte Cervino, later the clouds covered it. Photo by The-Ski-Guru.

We were lucky this summer to stay for a week in Courmayeur, and we had a couple of days out going on different trekkings. I’ll write about our week in Courmayeur later. We decided to visit Cervinia one day with the family. From Courmayeur to Aosta, you have 40’ through the national route or 30’ through the A5, and then you continue to the east and for half an hour to the north through a windy road you arrive to Cervinia. All in all is about 1 ½ hours away.

 

Arriving into Cervinia through the last tunnel. Photo: The-Ski-Guru. Family day in Cervinia
Arriving into Cervinia through the last tunnel. Photo: The-Ski-Guru. Family day in Cervinia

Arriving in Cervinia

The first thing you start seeing on the road is the majestic Matterhorn, which is called Monte Cervino in the Italian side. The Matterhorn/Cervino is surely the most photographed and known mountain in Europe, not the tallest- that is the mighty Mont Blanc (just between Courmayeur and Chamonix)

I have been a couple of times in Zermatt now (and will write a must-read guide soon), but the first thing that called my attention, is that the Cervino’s peak seems much bigger on this side. This is, I was told, because you are at a higher altitude in Cervinia than in Zermatt, so you are just more near the peak.

The boys with the Monte Cervino in the backdrop. A trekking day with the family in Cervinia.
The boys with the Monte Cervino in the backdrop. A trekking day with the family in Cervinia.

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Crans-Montana Must–Read Guide

Denis Emery - photo-genic.ch- Courtesy Crans Montana Tourism Office.

Crans-Montana Must-Read Guide

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

Check no more! Here is your must-read guide to Crans-Montana:  Crans-Montana is a world-renown ski and summer resort in the Valais area of Switzerland, celebrating its 125th year this year. Easily accessible by train and a funicular, the resort has two big towns, Crans and Montana that are almost now linked into one bigger town.

Crans-Montana is a lively town, with lots of people that live there year-round. This is not the classic resort that opens only for the season and then nothing happens anymore; it is pretty big and busy.

Crans-Montana unique selling point is its vista and the sunny terrace where the valley is sitting.
Crans-Montana unique selling point is its vista and the sunny terrace where the valley is sitting. Your must-read guide to Crans-Montana.

Crans and Montana are located in a wide sunny valley, perched at 1500m, with magnificent south views of the mountains of the Rhône Valley in Valais, from the Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn- 19 peaks over 4,000 meters are facing Crans-Montana.  Hotels and condominiums are dotted in town amongst hotels, from 3 stars to deluxe 5 stars with all the services.

Crans-Montana has been a magnet for stars, from Roger Moore who had a house there, Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo, who used to stay at the Grand Hotel du Golf & Palace. The Kennedy’s family and Mr Bourvil used to holiday in Crans Montana. Also David Guetta comes for a discreet winter holiday to Crans-Montana.

Chez Croux, a painting by Martina Diez-Routh. Chez Croux is an on-mountain restaurant on Courmayeur. You have panoramic views of the Monte Bianco from there. In my shop for sale, to check it out, click here.

People go to Crans-Montana for the vistas, they are magnificent; for it’s skiing, with nice sunny pistes to all type of skiers, and in the rest of the year for its golf. With an 18-hole golf course by Severino Ballesteros and a 9-hole by Jack Nicklaus, and many hotels offering direct access to the golf course (or the cross country trails in winter), it is the best you could get in Switzerland! Plus the biking is pretty big now, lots of hiking and water sports around, to make it a year-round resort.

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Planning your ski trip

Heavenly gondola. Photo by: The-Ski-Guru. Heavenly is another of the resorts that will roll out Emma later this season. Emma, the World's First Digital Mountain Assistant, Kicks Off the 2018-19 Winter Season in Beta at Keystone Ski Resort.

When should you start planning your ski trip? For me it should be at least six months in advance to your trip, more if you are planning to travel in school holidays.

If you are travelling in the shoulder season (low season), such as early December – before the 20th), January, March in Europe (not in the US and Canada as they have Spring Break) and April (outside of Easter weekend), you can plan a bit more on top of the time and maybe see how snow conditions are.

Ski Touring Vallée de Saint Bon - Les Trois Vallées.
Ski Touring Vallée de Saint Bon – Les Trois Vallées.

For me, I need to know I have a trip in sight to be able to cope with routine. I always have my winter trip arranged by July (we go skiing with the family in February), and I do reserve the flat we use year-on-year as soon as we leave the place when our week is finished- so I book it one year in advance! That is because I have such a great deal, and my kids love going back to the same place, that is a no-brainer.

So where to start for planning your ski trip?

Well, you can try to start thinking where you want to go. Talking of the Northern Hemisphere- if you live in the UK as we do – are you going to drive (so that is only Europe and it would be France, Switzerland, Italy and maybe the Pyrenees’ or Austria, or fly, where you can add also the US, Canada or Japan. You can see the different websites with information on resorts and try to sort what resort is for the type of skier/boarder you are, or which one caters a diverse group.

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Vail Resorts closes its acquisition of Stevens Pass Resort in Washington

Cowboy Ridge at Stevens Pass, one of the areas bought by Vail Resorts in its last shopping spree.

Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN) today announced that the Company has closed on its acquisition of Stevens Pass Resort in Washington from Ski Resort Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of Oz Real Estate. The final purchase price, after adjustments for certain agreed-upon terms, was $64 million. Less than 85 miles from Seattle and renowned for its plentiful snowfall, the resort sits on the crest of the Cascade Range within two national forests – the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest on the west side, and the Wenatchee National Forest on the east.

Stevens Pass is the last acquisition of Vail Resorts and will be included in the EPIC Pass.
Stevens Pass is the last acquisition of Vail Resorts and will be included in the EPIC Pass.

The 2018-19 Epic Pass, Epic Local Pass, Epic Australia Pass, and Military Epic Pass now include unlimited and unrestricted access to Stevens Pass; the Epic 7 Day and Epic 4 Day Passes now offer seven and four unrestricted days respectively. Additionally, Whistler Blackcomb’s 5 Day and 10 Day EDGE Cards, which are available to residents of Washington State and Canada, allow pass holders to use two of five, or three of 10 days at Stevens Pass or any other Vail Resorts’ owned and operated ski resorts.

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A Day Visit to the Terminal Neige-Refuge in Montenvers, Chamonix.

The Terminal Neige-Refuge in Montenvers is a great day out, or a magnificent place where to sleep for a couple of nights up in the mountain. Credits : Villa Marie – Saint-Barth / L. Benoit, L. Di Orio

A Day Visit to the Terminal Neige-Refuge in Montenvers, Chamonix

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here

On our way to Courmayeur, this year we stayed for two nights in Chamonix. We had the luck to go this time up to the Gare du Montenvers and take the train up to the mountain to see the glacier of the Vallée Blanche. That in itself was a great day out! The train goes over a rack and pinion railway and through some nice forests and then climbs up giving travellers amazing views of Chamonix and the mountains surrounding the valley. Most people go up the station and then climb down the stairs to the ice cave, which needs to be carved each year in the glacier, as each year the glacier retreats many meters. It is impressive to see how high the glacier was not so many years ago. There is a small gondola that takes you to the top of the stairs, and then each year the stairs have to be extended down and down to reach the entrance of the ice grotto.

The train takes you from the station in Chamonix up to Montenvers, where the Mer de Glace awaits. Photo: The Ski Guru
The train takes you from the station in Chamonix up to Montenvers, where the Mer de Glace awaits. Photo: The Ski Guru

The day we choose was amazing, pretty warm in the sun, with some clouds menacing a storm that did not materialise, and we were happy to be up the mountain, as in the valley of Chamonix it was 31 C (this summer was way too hot all over Europe!). This considering that Chamonix is by Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe and even here it was hot!

The Mer de Glace as seen at the arrival station at Montenvers. Photo: The-Ski-Guru.
The Mer de Glace as seen at the arrival station at Montenvers. Photo: The-Ski-Guru.

Not too many people know, that 100 metres from the train station (gare), walking back to the valley, you find the Terminal Neige-Refuge. This hotel was built in 1880 to accommodate the first mountaineers and travellers who went to visit the Mer de Glace. From outside is a typical ‘rifugio’ of the Alps, with granite façades and small windows. The hotel is perched at 2049 meters over sea level (6725 feet) with magnificent views to the Mer de Glace glacier, the mythical Aiguille des Drus, the Grand Jorasses, and also the Valley of Chamonix.

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A mysterious skier who has resurfaced from the Matterhorn Ice has been identified thanks to Facebook.

Monte Cervino/Matterhorn, where Henri Joseph Leonce Le Masne was recovered and finally identified thanks to Facebook.

Story from Corriere de la Sera. – A mysterious skier who has resurfaced from the Matterhorn Ice has been identified, thanks to Facebook. He has disappeared in March of ’54: he was called Henri Joseph Leonce Le Masne, a 35-year-old Frenchman. He was identified with a DNA test. His niece Emma, who lives in Paris, replied to the Italian police’s Facebook appeal

The skis that were recovered with the Ice man that came from the cold.
The skis that were recovered with the Ice man that came from the cold.

There is a woman, Emma Nassem, who is driving through the streets of Paris; it is the beginning of July, a month ago. Suddenly the radio hears about a strange cold case, an almost impossible mission attempted by the Italian police, which on its most popular Facebook page, Agent Lisa, launched an appeal on June 29: “Help us to give a face and a name to the skier found in 2005, at 3,100 meters above sea level, on the Matterhorn, in Valle D’Aosta ». Here, we will say, what are the social media: a post that in a few hours becomes viral made the record of shares and rebounds throughout Europe.

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Planning your summer holiday in the mountains and beach – our next trip

The view from the top of the Skyway Monte Bianco - Punta Hellbronner- Amazing rotating gondola that takes you up to the highest point in Italy to see the Mont Blanc and all the surrounding mountains. Photo: The-Ski-Guru.

The summer holidays are coming upon us and I am counting the days to leave this hot city and have some days off. I have been planning this summer holiday for at least half an year and cannot believe it is finally coming! We will be going to the mountains and the beach in one trip, to please all the members of the family.  Even though I will be having a couple of meetings here and there, it is still time to spend with the family and enjoy being and playing outside.

I love planning where we are going to go each year. For winter we always go to the Alps driving, and we have done already 5 years of going to Pila, just up from Aosta, one going to Madonna di Campiglio and one adding Courmayeur to the end of our stay in Aosta/Pila. We always travel by car, as we take all our equipment with us, and we are well positioned in SE London to get to Folkestone for the Eurotunnel station.

Start of the trip at the Eurotunnel - can't wait! Photo by The-Ski-Guru.
Start of the trip at the Eurotunnel – can’t wait! Photo by The-Ski-Guru.

Summer is not different. I find that purchasing flights for the family during the kids’ school holidays is very expensive, plus I do love our road trips. So off we’ll be going soon to Folkestone to board the Eurotunnel and get into another adventure.


One thing to remember is to get the car lights stickers that are obligatory for UK cars driving in the Continent, so you do not blind the cars coming the other way, the yellow vests per each person in the car, a triangle and I am not sure if the breathalysers are still requested in France. It was the case, then I’ve read that it was not the case anymore – just check online before travelling just in case! Have all these things inside the car, reachable if you are stopped by the police, not in your car boot, as you could be fined if you need to get out to get them!

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Spot on Gasthof Post Lech – where to stay in Lech am Arlberg

Spot on Gasthof Post Lech.

This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

Last week I was lucky to stay for a couple of nights at the Gasthof Post Lech in Lech am Arlberg. It was my third time in Lech, but the first time I was staying to sleep there, as I have been only a couple of times for lunch between meetings and going back to St Anton.

 

The Gasthof Post is a luxurious 5 star hotel in Lech, part of the Relais & Châteaux group of distinguished hotels.
The Gasthof Post is a luxurious 5 star hotel in Lech, part of the Relais & Châteaux group of distinguished hotels.       

I really liked Lech, and I will write a Must-Read Guide on the destination soon. But I wanted to single out this stay at the Gasthof Post Lech. I did not know much about it, only that it was one of the best hotels in town and that it was very well located.

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What is new with Les Trois Vallées for the 2018 – 19 ski season

Meribel is the centre of the Les Trois Vallées, a multi-linked ski area with 600 km of pistes. Photo Meribel. The Must-Read Guide to the Rhône Alpes.

Les Trois Vallées, the world largest ski area as they call themselves, is composed by renowned resorts like Courchevel, Meribel, Brides-les-Bains, Les Menuires, St Martin de Belleville, Val Thorens and Orelle. With 600 km of pistes, it can keep all guests entertained for weeks, without having to ski one trail twice! Here we’ll tell you what is new for the 2018-19 ski season.

Les Trois Vallées, an amazing expanse of pistes and off-pistes to challenge any type of skier.
Les Trois Vallées, an amazing expanse of pistes and off-pistes to challenge any type of skier.

The opening days for the 2018-19 ski season from the different resorts  are from 17th November for Val Thorens, 24 Nov for Orelle, 8 December for Courchevel 1850, Courchevel Village, Courchevel Le Praz, Vallée de Méribel and Les Menuires. On the 14th December is the turn of Brides les Bains, followed on the 15th by Courchevel Moriond, Courchevel La Tania and Saint Martin de Belleville.

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Verbier Summer News- Read the summer news to plan your holiday to Verbier!

The Verbier Bike Park and its trails of VTT and Downhill. Photographer: KifCat. Verbier Promotion.

Verbier Summer News: Verbier is starting its summer season with lots of news for making your holiday unforgettable.

The Verbier Infinite Pass or VIP Pass comes with any lodging where you pay the tourist tax at Verbier or Val de Bagnes, and allows you access throughout the resort and surrounding areas. This pass is valid from 4th June till 28th October 2018.


What is new for Summer 2018:

  • Free mountain lifts (pedestrian pass) until the top of Mont-Fort, of 3,330 meters.
  • 50% off bike lift pass for bikers
  • 50% off the pitch and putt golf course and 30% off the course at Les Esserts (par 69)
  • 50% off the aerial walkway
  • 1 free admission to one of the secret concerts at the Verbier Festival
  • Free Indoor swimming pool in Mondzeu.
Verbier is one of the well known destinations for biking, with 7 trails of different difficulty. Photo by Céline Ribordy - Verbier Promotion.
Verbier is one of the well known destinations for biking, with 7 trails of different difficulty. Photo by Céline Ribordy – Verbier Promotion.

What is new in terms of lodging and restaurants.

Vie Montagne: located in the centre of the resort, it has a gourmet restaurant and also a new micro-brewery. The site also offers a magnificent view of the mountains. For groups of up to 20 people.

More information

For more information on summer in Verbier (more actualised to summer 2021), check this post! 

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