 Many of us who have been skiing for years & years know we need some help but somehow cant face taking lessons & losing the opportunity of free skiing with friends & risking signing on with expensive teachers who aren't much help into the bargain.
This is the solution!
Dave Beattie is a Scottish BASI instructor who formed his ski school in Courchevel with all English speaking BASI grade 1 instructors 16 years ago (those of you who know anything about the French restrictions on other nationalities teaching there will know how good these guys need to be to satisfy the French of their ability).
Dave now lives in Courchevel all year. I sought him out having been recommended several times by my serious skiing friends! Dave has now taken chalets for the season & personally supervises their staffing to ensure good chalet accommodation & service BUT unlike other chalet operators he includes free ski lessons with the very best qualified instructors rather than just guiding. We will all therefore be able to enjoy staying together & going off to lessons together in the morning & then start our free skiing late morning (sometimes with a guide) in groups of our own choosing.
|  Those who prefer to board can pay a supplement & have 3 hours tuition a day (as opposed to 2hours ski tuition) with the boarding school that Dave works closely with. Beginners & less experienced skiers are always welcome on our holidays but on this one they will feel much more part of the group because even experienced skiers will be heading towards SKIVOLUTION. We try as far as possible to have all our lessons at the same time so that we can meet up afterwards for lunch & free skiing. Lessons are Sun/Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri with Wednesday left free for guiding
If you can stand it they will show you what you are doing on video later!
To be sure you have the right equipment Dave has his own hire department & offers servicing for those taking their own skis.
We must book early for this as Dave has agreed to reserve chalets for us in La Tania & Le Praz in Courchevel for a couple of months but after that his "regulars" will start booking & will be free to take up the rest of the spaces.
Look up the holiday on www.skivolution.co.uk & check the details for yourselves then let me know if you are interested & ask any questions you would like to. Once you are ready to commit I will ask you to send me a £100 deposit cheque payable to Skivolution so that you are contracted to them as the tour operator.
I will be happy to organise a party weekend or Sunday lunch for those who would like to get to know each other before we go.
IF YOU CAN ONLY AFFORD ONE SKI HOLIDAY THIS YEAR THIS IS IT!
Look forward to hearing from you & answering any questions you may have.
Best wishes
Ruth Paul
| This year's dates will be :
- 10th November 2007 - Tigne (Skiing)
- 25th November 2007 - Kaprun (Skiing)
- Xmas 2007 - Tigne (skiing)
- 26th January 2008 - Courchevel (skiing)
- 8th March 2008 - Courchevel(Skiing)
- May (Walking)
| November 2007 - Tignes - £499
(Dates available 10th and 17th November)
Skivolution always offer training weeks in Tignes. They concentrate on carving & steeps (technical & race training). These are quite different from normal holidays because the only area that is skiable is the glacier & so they tend to coach quite intensely from about 9.30 in the morning right through until 3pm when the glacier closes. Skivolution rents a luxury chalet for accomodation including breakfast, tea & dinner with wine.
The cost is £499 plus transfers & airfares ,ski pass & ski hire if required.
It really is excellent to get carving sorted for those of us stuck on that particular plateau! They are running 2 dates but I suggest we go on Sat 10 November (the other date they offer is 17th).
| November/December 2007 - Kaprun - £539
(Dates include Nov 25, Dec 2 & Dec 9)
Instead of running 4-5 weeks in Tignes Skivolution experimented last year by offering courses in Kaprun in Austria & they were so pleased with it they cut the Tignes weeks back to two & are now offering 3 weeks in Kaprun as well. The Kaprun course is also with coaches all day but is a much wider based programme to include all mountain terrain, powder & bumps.
The cost in Kaprun to include hotel breakfast & dinner & coaching is £539 but excludes ski pass ,transfers & flights to Salzburg.
Skivolution offer Nov 25, Dec 2 & Dec 9th but I suggest November 25th for us
| Xmas 2007 - 23 Decemeber
A group of us have booked to go with Markwarner to Chalet Hotel Hauts De Toviere, please see Markwarner's website for details - www.markwarner.co.uk.
Currently our group includes: 3 member's children aged 19 -22.
The more the merrier!!!! | January 26th 2008- Courchevel, Le Praz
Last year we had a great week in le Praz with 35 guests so lets repeat it! I have been able to reserve all the same chalets as last year. To remind you we had Nicola & Gilbert chalets eating together to make one big party & the same arrangement with Elise & La Grange making another dinner party.
Chalet Elise £729 (including flight from gatwick). Once Elise is full we will be offering La Grange at £629 including flight------same deductions/additions as below ------& these guests will eat with the Elise guests & enjoy the Elise "premier" standard food & wine.
Chalet Nicola £629 --- Nicola should by then have mostly ensuite rooms, is about 5 mins walk but a favourite chalet with a hot tub! Once Nicola is booked we will be offering Chalet Gilbert at £599 including flight------same deductions/additions as below----& these guests will eat with the Nicola guests making one large dinner party.
All prices are for shared room including Gatwick flight, 5 days ski lessons at all levels with Skivolution & chalet meals including wine.(except Wednesday when we eat out)
deduct £130 if you want to find your own flight but use Skivolution transfer from Geneva, Chambery or Lyon.
(Please bear in mind that minibuses are typically only available at the airport between 10.00am and 5.00pm, a surcharge of £20 per person will be applicable for collection and drop-off outside of these times. You must check this with our office before making the booking. Many more minibuses are available at Geneva than Lyon so Lyon clients may experience delays whilst waiting for guests from other flights to fill the bus (but where possible I will share flight info to try to get Singlesport clients on the same planes)
- deduct £160 if you want to find your own train but want collecting from Moutiers
- deduct £180 if you want to drive all the way
- add £180 if you want to have a single room
During the day guests from all 4 chalets will of course be able to ski, lunch & après together & sometimes share pre-dinner drinks as well. Wednesday eating out will be shared too, the party will only therefore be divided for 2 big dinner parties.
| March 8th 2008 - Courchevel, La Tania & Le Praz
Last year we had a group of 45 in march. Orchis/Murettes with additional chalets in La Tania can cater for up to 26 and the remaining 20 or more will stay in Le Praz Chalet Nicola & perhaps Chalet Gilbert as well once Nicola is fully booked.
Chalet Orchis & Murettes in La Tania £649 mostly ensuite easy to ski almost in & out but real beginners will need to catch a free bus.
Chalet Nicola in le Praz will be £679 and will be more suitable for real beginners.
All prices are for shared room including Gatwick flight, 5 days ski lessons at all levels with Skivolution & chalet meals including wine except Wednesdays when we eat out.
deduct £150 if you want to find your own flight but use Skivolution transfer from Geneva, Chambery or Lyon.
Please bear in mind that minibuses are typically only available at the airport between 10.00am and 5.00pm, a surcharge of £20 per person will be applicable for collection and drop-off outside of these times. You must check this with our office before making the booking. Many more minibuses are available at Geneva than Lyon so Lyon clients may experience delays whilst waiting for guests from other flights to fill the bus (but where possible I will share flight info to try to get Singlesport clients on the same planes).
- deduct £180 if you want to find your own train but want collecting from Moutiers.
- deduct £200 if you want to drive all the way.
- add £180 if you want to have a single room.
We will therefore have a large party centred on Orchis/Murettes in La Tania.
We will ensure that clients in le Praz will get included with the La Tania guests for ski lessons & the local buses make the apres easy to share between the chalets for those who wish.
| Walking - May 2008 (date to be finalised) - £450
Join our: - Courchevel, Pralognan, Vanoise National Park Walking trip.
Day 1. Uk to Geneva
Upon arrival in Genève, Transfer by mini bus (aprox 2 1/2 hrs) to your chalet in Courchevel, Le Praz is a picturesque village located in the trios Vallees. This is a genuine Savoyard village with its narrow streets, quaint centre and old warm charm.
After dinner there will be a short talk regarding your holiday events.
Day 2.
After breakfast, there will be a warm up guided walk which will wind down the valley through the forest into the valley to the village of Bozel. We will lunch on the grand terrace of the Saint Roc restaurant with magnificent views. During the afternoon we will visit the lac du Bozel before our return hike to Courchevel 1300 (up hill)
Afternoon tea and Dinner in Chalet.
Day 3. Breakfast 8am.
Depart 9am for a days hiking to the summit of the Dent de Villard. The climb will begin at the beauty spot of Lac Rosiere. The trail will then begin to climb through the forest, it will become increasingly rugged and challenging, but with marvellous views far below. We will have our picnic lunch at the summit. After lunch we will traverse the col de Villard passing large craters created in the lime stone which gives the terrain a moon like appearance before our descent back down to Lac Rosiere.
For those with lots of energies it is possible to continue for another ¾ hr climb to view the beautiful Cascade de Dent before returning to the chalet.
Afternoon tea and dinner in the chalet.
Day 4.Early breakfast
Depart chalet 8.30 am for transfer to National Park (aprox 35 mins) with our over night bags.
Pralognan became the first mountaineering centre in the Savoie after Chamonix, it is at the foot of the Vanoise pass offering a direct route between France and Italy. On arrival you will have the opportunity to pick up any walking accessories you may need from the mountaineering shops in the village along with morning coffee before we hike to see the spectacular Cascade de la Fraiche before retuning to the village for lunch.
With our over night bags we then have a gradual hike to Refuge Roc de La Peche a scenic spot amongst the mountains for our over night stay.
For the keen hikers after leaving our bags at the refuge we will continue on the Cirque de Genepi (a 3 hr round trip)
For those seeking a relaxing afternoon there is a Hammam-jacuzzie and Sauna in the refuge. www.rocdelapeche.com
Diner in the refuge.
Day 5. This is the most strenuous and demanding day of the treck and one of the most spectacular we will see marmots in abundance and chamois. After breakfast we will pick up our picnics and leave our overnight bags (which we will pick up on our return) we will hike to 2819 mtrs Col du Soufre. The accent will take us through picturesque hamlets and undulating terrain but with marvellous views. We will have our picnic lunch at the summit, as we retrace our steps to the refuge, it is possible for any individual to stop and picnic before the summit and take a more leisurely decent to the refuge. Large beers are highly recommended on the terrace of the refuge before we return to the mini bus for our return transfer to Courchevel
Dinner in Chalet.
Day 6. Annecy
Annecy is situated on the lake and has a cycle piste of 30 kilometres, it is an idyllic setting close to Switzland and itally, the city is located at the Northern end of the lake. The magnificent Lac Annecy is now a tourist attraction, Annecy is often called the French Venice, it is a beautiful medieval town intersected by small canals and flower decked quays. The 12 Century Palais de Isle is an Island fortress in the river Thiou which was once a prison has spectacular views of the old town. The bustling streets, delightful street cafes and interesting shops make it a great place to shop or just relax.
On this day you have a choice of activities a) cycling
b) Shopping / sight seeing
C) combined cycling and shopping/ sight seeing
Dinner in Chalet
Day 7. Mont Jovet
After breakfast we will drive across the valley to hike up to the summit of Mont Jovet in the Vanoise National park, from Bozel we take the direction to Villemartain. At the summit ( 2560mts ) we will discover one of the most beautiful panorama of the French alps, a view of 360 degrees Mont Blanc, Les Ecrins and La Meije this is an ideal spot to have our picnic lunch, this will be our final decent before returning to the chalet to rest and revive our aching legs.
Dinner chalet
Day 8.
Depart Chalet for transfer to airport for flight back to UK
What is included in your holiday?
- Return transfer from airport to Courchevel
- Chalet accommodation with full board (breakfast, afternoon tea, dinner served with wine)
- Walking guide
- Walking ski pole
- Transfers during the holiday
What is not included in your holiday?
- Flights
- Lunches and picnics ( picnic cost aprox 8-10 euros )
- Insurance
Further Information
- Our chalets are selected to provide the most comfortable accommodation as the quality of your accommodation is impotent. We want you to be comfortable in your chalet and for it to be a relaxing home from home where you begin enjoying your holiday the moment you walk through the door.
- Refuge Roc de La Peche, our accommodation in the refuge will be in a dormitory, please bring a sheet sleeping bag, pillow case ,towel and torch. Jacuzzi : 7 euro’s Sauna 7 euro’s
Price:- £ 450.00
Based on 2 people sharing (we can arrange same sex / age group).
Single supp to be decided depending on numbers but it will be a lot less than a skiing supp. | Please make your booking by email & telephone in the first instance & then send a deposit cheque for £100 payable to Skivolution & post it to Ruth at PO Box 4066, Pangbourne, Reading, RG8 7BE --- those booking SKIVOLUTUION flights should confirm that their name is EXACTLY as on their passports so that tickets can be issued to match & should also confirm the address that they want their tickets forwarded to.
|
|
