Savoie
News from the Savoie ski areas
Friday, 14 November, 2008
Urban toll for les Arcs
This season anyone wanting to visit les Arcs 1800 will, baring legal challenges, have to pass through a turnpike. Drivers staying for longer than 3 hours will have to pay a fee to leave. The resort has built a car-park for 70 cars at the entrance to the resort but this is aimed largely at season workers.
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Friday, 05 September, 2008
Holiski resorts angry with the CdA
The relationship between local communities and the ski areas run by the mighty Compagnie des Alpes has not been great over the last few years with resorts accusing the CdA of favouring well heeled guests and is tight fisted with investments and lift pass receipts. The CdA has countered that it invests heavily in the ski areas it runs and is operating in a very competitive global market. Resorts were further angered by the introduction of the Carte Skier Fréquent pass last season. Mayors claimed the lift pass would homogenize ski resorts.
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Tuesday, 01 January, 2008
Happy anniversary le Corbier
The Savoie ski resort of Le Corbier opened its doors 40 years ago last weekend but the gestation of the resort was not an altogether happy affair and would lead to the ruin of a family. Unlike many promoters Christian Guerin was not a rich industrialist or banker. He had made his money playing in Jazz bands in Paris chic St Germain des Pres district but the arrival of “anglo-saxon” pop had left him without work. A chance meeting with Maurice Michaud, the government official in charge of development ski resorts, would change his life.
St Germain des Neiges
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Friday, 02 November, 2007
The Keys to the Espace Killy
This is the “must have” Christmas presents for off-piste skiing fans. The Tarentaise based high mountain guide, Didier Givois, has published the third of his “Keys” books, this time covering l’Espace Killy. Over some 240 pages filled with breathtaking photographs Didier takes us on a journey unlocking a hundred of the best descents that the area has to offer. Even if you thought you’d been there and done that you will discover some hidden gems.
Piste Perdu/Hidden Valley
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Tuesday, 19 June, 2007
Val Thorens Tarps Glacier
Local ski instructor Philippe Martin summed up the problem “This map, it is 20 years old, you see all these areas marked as glaciers, come back this summer and you will see they are gone”. Val Thorens may be the highest ski resort in Europe but even its lofty summits and twinkling glaciers are suffering from the changing climate. The resort is fighting back. From the spring of 2008 the Savoie resort, on the edge of the Vanoise National Park, plans to cover part of its glacier with a giant tarpaulin.
Glaciers at Val Thorens, snow covered, but for how long?
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Wednesday, 14 February, 2007
Spanish practices in mountain rescue
British skiers have long complained about sharp practices by ski resort rescue services: holding skis hostage, asking for credit cards from injured skiers, haggling over ski insurance unless it is the Carre Neige policy sold with the lift pass. First a recap on why you need insurance. If you are ski touring outside of ski domains the rescue is handled by the emergency services including specialist police units (PGHM, PGM, CRS) and fire brigade (GRIMP, GREP) backed up by the helicopters of the sSécurité Civile. The tab is picked up by the French tax payer. You will still need insurance to cover hospital costs as the French state system, and hence other European systems, only cover around 75% of hospital bills.
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Tuesday, 13 February, 2007
Three deaths in avalanches
An off-piste skier has been killed by an avalanche at Tignes around midday in the Grattalu sector of Val Claret. The avalanche occurred at 2,150 meters altitude in a sector between two open ski runs. The 41 year old French skier was not wearing an avalanche beacon and the poor visibility made it hard for the rescue services to localize the slide.
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Friday, 09 February, 2007
Val d’Isere On and Off the Piste
This five minute film introduces the ski resort of Val d’Isère and takes views on a descent of the Vallons de la Sache in the company of UIAGM guide Pietro Barigazzi from Alpine Experience. The Sache is in the linked Tignes resort, part of l’Espace Killy. The domain offers 300km of marked ski runs and numerous off-piste and touring routes.
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Thursday, 11 January, 2007
Guided group in Val d’Isère avalanche
A group with a ski instructor were hit by an avalanche while skiing off-piste yesterday in Val d’Isère. The accident occurred close to the open ski runs in the Manchet sector. The group were at 2700 meters altitude.
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Friday, 05 January, 2007
Piste Patrollers hit by avalanche at Tignes
Two off-duty members of the Tignes piste patrol have been injured, one seriously, by an avalanche shortly after midday today. One of the men, a Tignard, was trapped under the snow for half an hour. He was taken to hospital in a severe state of hypothermia; his body temperature was 28°C. Reports are that the large slide occured under the Petit Col in the Chardonnet Bowl close to the Aiguille Percee.
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