J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

The battle between British tour operators in France and the 'French authorities' in some of the country's top ski resorts, back by the all-powerful Ecole du ski Francais (ESF) has taken a new turn.

As we reported in the spring, French Authorities took action last winter against several British Tour Operators whose staff had been working as ski hosts, providing 'social skiing' – essentially showing skiers and boarders around ski resorts ion arrival, sticking to easy runs, pointing out good routes, how to avoid queues, best places to eat and so on.

This on-going legal action, continues in November when a test-case against tour operator Le Ski will continue in the French courts on 6th November, with the ESF seeking damages against the company which brings tens of thousands of skiers to the French Alps each winter. Le Ski is being supported in court by around a dozen other British tour operators.

Last month the biggest operator, Crystal, announced that while it could no longer offer what it calls its 'social skiing' service while the legal action continues, its staff would meet clients at key lifts in the morning and provide similar advice, as best they could, to that which they previously provided when skiing with them.

In a new development, Crystal Ski now say they will offer customers a free social skiing service run by qualified ski instructors from one of the most respected ski schools in France, Evolution 2, to help them get the best out of their chosen resort.

In eleven key ski resorts (of the 30 or so they offer) in the French Alps Evolution 2 instructors will ski with Crystal Ski customers every Sunday from 10:30 – 16:00hrs. The service will be offered in Avoriaz, Chamonix, La Clusaz, La Plagne, La Rosière, Les Arcs, Les Menuires, St Martin de Belleville, Tignes, Val d'Isère and Val Thorens.

Customers will meet the Evolution 2 instructors at 10am to discuss a plan of the day which will take into account the snow and weather conditions as well as the ability of the group. It will aim to include all the key routes and lunch hot spots in the resort, experience the best runs in the ski area and provide tips on how to make best use of their time as well as avoiding bottlenecks and queues.

Crystal Ski reps will also be on hand at various points during the day to assist and share their local knowledge and expertise.

"The main aim is to assist skiers and snowboarders to discover the ski area in a fun and safe way giving them some tips along the way if needed," said Hervé Favre, founder of Evolution 2. "We are delighted that we can show our expertise and guide Crystal Ski customers through our beautiful mountains."

"With this new service we are providing a more comprehensive, flexible ski school product to our customers as well as days out on the slopes for those who don't want instruction, but want to discover the ski area as part of a group," said Crystal Ski overseas director Nikki Hooper.

Evolution 2 ski schools are one of the most respected organisations in the French Alps and are winners of several awards in their 25 year history. They offer a personal approach to learning in small groups and put an emphasis on real progression and fun.

Social-skiing or ski hosting is offered in many resorts around the world without problem. Most larger North American ski areas offer a similar volunteer-run programme offered by locals and Davos and Klosters in Switzerland is introducing a similar service this winter, 'Davos Insider'

Still comparatively little known to the British, Serre-Chevalier Vallée (www.serre-chevalier) is one of the largest ski areas in the Alps with 250km of lift-linked piste above 13 villages which stretch for 15km along the Guisane Valley to Briançon, France's highest Alpine town and UNESCO site (and accessible by rail).

New for the 13-14 season is the Serre-Ratier gondola. The first section of the cable car dated back to 1941 and has now been replaced by a next generation panoramic gondola with eight seats in each cabin providing views of the surrounding scenery.

The resort has a special deal for people booking direct on selected low-season dates this winter. Book seven nights self-catering from 199 Euros per person which includes a 6-day lift pass (value 227 Euros) while children 6-11 years can benefit from the same deal from 173 Euros pp and seniors 65-74 years from 186 Euros pp. The deal is available pre Christmas-week, most of January and from the start of March to the end of the season.

But a 7-night/6-day lift pass deal for families of four (2 adults + 2 children) for 1301 Euros covering Christmas and February half term is also available.

Freeze, promoted as, "the UK's biggest winter sports festival," is back for 2013 with a longer festival, a new venue and a later date in the year.

Freeze 2013 (www.freezefestival.com) will take place over five days from 27th November to 1st December at Clapham Common in London.

The extended event, back for its sixth year, will provide the opportunity for skiers and boarders to compete for a £14,000 prize purse and enjoy five days of what a statement from the organisers describes as, "après ski madness." Dicks Tee Bar, the Bavarian Haus, La Folie Douche and Krazy Kangaroo will all be there for thye aslps to make that possible.

30,000 people are expected to attend and enjoy authentic alpine food stalls, parties in après ski bars, an alpine shopping village and a ski and snowboard cinema showing ski movie premieres along with the world class winter sports competitions and performances by top music acts ("to be announced shortly.")

Ticket prices range from £8 for Weds, Thurs, Fri and Sunday tickets, with Saturday tickets, when the main events are staghed, starting at £32 and 'Season Passes' for all from £54. VIP passes begin at £20 for Weds, Thurs, Fri and Sunday, £52 for Saturday and £102 for Season Passes.

Interesting research in to flight pricing online by travel search site momondo.co.uk has found that, on average, the cheapest flight prices could be found when booking 59 days in advance of departure (although note the points in the penultimate paragraph below!)

The research was carried out using the site's new Flight Insight tool which analyses millions of prices on flight routes departing from the UK, to determine when it's cheapest to fly. momondo.co.uk testing flight searches made so far in 2013 on the site's 13 most popular flight routes out of London.

Statistically, for these popular routes, momondo found travellers can save anywhere between 18% – 51% on airline fares, or on average 38% 59 days before departure. This percentage saving is compared to the most expensive day to book, which, 85% of the time, unsurprisingly, is on the actual day of departure!

"Finding the cheapest price around two months in advance, was a uniform trend, despite the individuality of each route, distance and flight time, including both domestic and international routes. All of the cheapest flight prices for these routes could be found, by booking between 54 and 66 days in advance of the date of departure," said Julie Pedersen, company spokesperson, adding "…So travellers need not book 6 or 12 months in advance, to find the best airfares."

Momondo.co.uk found the biggest saving was 51% with a fare costing £167 compared to £340 booking the same flight on the day of departure.

Along with date of booking, the cost of an airfare is strongly influenced by factors including the actual date of departure, time of day, season, airlines serving the route, and airports of departure and arrival. These factors are highly individual for each route, and should be taken into consideration by travellers wishing to save money on their flight.

The new tool "Flight Insight", was introduced by momondo to provide users with a greater insight into how airlines set their prices, showing which factors to watch out for, when searching for the cheapest fares. The tool appears at the top of the search results on momondo, after a user specifies a set flight search. It is currently available on over 1,800 routes world-wide, and being added to further routes daily.

The multi-million pound chalet in Verbier would be nice too! :)

Yes, hope I've got that much energy at 63, actually thinking about it, wish I had that much energy now!

(Picture thanks to: Chris Skone-Roberts)

Sir Richard Branson, not one to stay on the side lines, decided it was time to set another world record yesterday. He was in the water at the Virgin Kitesurfing Armada, a more than suitable event name considering he joined 317 other kitesurfers as they attempted, successfully, to break the world record for the 'Largest Parade of kitesurfers' ever assembled.

318 participants left Hayling Island beach and completed the one mile course. Sir Richard himself,f the oldest person to have crossed the channel by kitesurf, is no stranger to the sport. The event was created and hosted by Snow-Camp (snow-camp.org.uk) a UK charity working with young people through the medium of snow sports, and raised money for them along with Virgin Unite and the RNLI.

Participants, who each paid £20 to enter the event and each raised a minimum of £100 towards the cause, were required to complete a one-mile course in order to break the record which was witnessed by Craig Glenday, official adjudicator from the Guinness World Records.

"I'm passionate about kite surfing and I think this was a fantastic and fun event in support of some great causes, certainly the first of its kind and incredibly positive for the sport," said Sir Richard.

"We are absolutely delighted to have set this new world record," said Dan Charlish, Director of Snow-Camp, "We have raised about £60,000, which is an incredible platform to build on over the next five years."

Smaller resorts across the alps can now offer a six day lift pass for as little half the price of their larger neighbours, and indeed for less than many Eastern European resorts which have built a reputation for being cheap and cheerful.

La Bresse Hohneck, for example the biggest ski area in North Eastern France (making it the closest to drive to from Blighty) has only 450 metres of vertical and a little over 20k of piste but its six day lift pass is half that of bigger areas further south at 124.70 Euros for six days low season.

La Bresse claims to have the largest night skiing area in Europe (operational until 10pm on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays) and over 280 snow-making cannons ensure that 70% of the 220 hectares of skiable terrain is covered.

Interestingly it makes use of its floodlighting not just at night but offers a special pass, inclusive of breakfast, for people who want to get up and ski at 6am or (slightly more expensive) 7.30am. Prices are from 17.90 Euros for five hours from 6am to 14.60 for 5.5 hours skiing if you lie in until 7.30. A night skiing version including an evening meal is also available.