23 Apr '18 in Uncategorised
Things we have learned from the 2017-2018 ski season
Things we have learned from the 2017/18 Ski Season
The 2017-2018 ski season will soon become the stuff of legend. It has been one of the snowiest seasons on record, certainly the snowiest that any of us can remember! Some resort workers have been quoted as saying they wish it would stop snowing for a week because they’ve not seen the sun for a month!
There can be such a thing as too much snow*
It’s not difficult to say that the 2017/18 season started better than the last 3 season combined with an unprecedented amount of snowfall during late November and throughout December. It got to a point where there was often too much snow, resorts such as Val d’Isere even enforced a curfew due to avalanche risk. Some of the chalet companies were even needed assistance from snow ploughs in resort to dig out their guests! Many of the high altitude lifts were closed over this time period due to the high winds and avalanche risks. All in all, whilst we don’t want to believe it, there can be such as thing as too much snow!
*what this did mean was that the epic snowfall was so high that it meant a firm base for an absolutely incredible season for the rest of the year.
All Inclusive Holidays are becoming more and more popular
With changes in exchange rates affecting the prices of ski holidays and anything you buy in resort too, we’ve are noticed how guests want to be 100% sure how much their overall holiday is going to cost them. A large proportion of our clients are now preferring to book an all inclusive option that includes your lift pass and ski hire so you don’t have to worry about paying for these in resort. We still love sending our clients to small, independent chalet companies, however the larger companies that offer all inclusive packages such as Club Med offer an definitive price and a super holiday to boot.
Easter has proven to be a huge hit as an alternative to the New Years and February Half Term weeks
Now, we’ll be the first one to mention that it may well be the snowfall that has resulted in increased bookings for Easter 2018/19, but even those guests that went during the heatwave that was last Easter still came back this year in their droves for a more affordable trip. You get warmer weather, longer days and huge savings compared to New Year and Half Term. A family of 4 can save around £2000 by going at Easter time and that sort of figure can often be difficult to ignore. There are currently incredible deals going around for Easter next year for the week of the 13th April even in high altitude resorts like Val Thorens and Val D’Isere, with Easter falling so late, these are proving to be very popular with guests wanting to make a great saving.
First lifts are actually rather good
After spending 4 seasons in the French Alps working in chalets and aiming to get guests out on the first slopes, we made it more of a priority to get ourselves out early! So this year we made it our mission to get first lifts when visiting La Tania in March, and we were pleasantly surprised (despite the gondola not opening on time which meant we could have had an extra 10 minutes in bed!). We have to say that our favourite Folyeres Piste leading down to La Tania, empty, first thing on a Monday morning is one of the finest things we experienced this season.