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You can keep up to date with all that goes on in Villaroger, Les Arcs and the surrounding areas via our Facebook page ( Skivillaroger) and Instagram (Skivillaroger1)

Well the season has ended and would to say a massive thank you to everyone that came to stay at Skivillaroger this Winter. Thank you for your your loyalty and support in a year we need it the most. Jonny and I loved this season and to see old faces and new enjoying their skiing like us was fantastic. Lots of sun to end the season and we had spring like conditions from end of March onwards. Easter skiing saw us skiing right down to the bottom of Villaroger until the 17th of April, we skied in Les Arcs right up until the 24th. We actually had fresh snow at the end of April and Val d’sere and Tignes enjoyed a great end of season too which finished early May. Lots of music concerts on Terraces , great one at the Marquise Restaurant in Sainte Foy with Andy and Ritchie. We are now heading to Mallorca for a bit of cycling.. cannot wait to eat some seafood and drink some Sangria. Bookings are coming in for the Summer, as well as next Winter so pleased not hesitate to get in touch to get the dates you want.    

The season has started well with good snow, a guest ready chalet and an exciting menu for you to all enjoy. Then Macron closed the Border to Brits. Bit of a worrying time but luckily our guests were flaexible and we managed to defer them to later in the season ( well most of them , the rest will come next year) What a pain. However onwards and upwards. We had some lovely German guests book for New Year and luckily there is talk of the border reopening mid January. All resorts are open and it feels good to be back on the lifts and enjoying a full day’s skiing. We have the best conditions at the moment in Villaroger , Les Arcs and Sainte Foy. Val d’sere and Tignes have been open since the end of November Lots of changes in Sainte Foy for the children. New border cross and a children’s run with Nuts and Foxy. These 2 are making regular appearances around the Resort and kids are loving it. The new 6 man second chairlift is fab . no queues to date even at New Year. In Villaroger the first lift is still free. They have made a new piste off the top of the second lift making it easier to descend for beginners. They have also provided a ski school out of Villaroger which is a first this year. There is talk of a new Gondola to replace lifts one and two for the season 24/25 so watch this space. This will actually transform Villaroger and Les Arcs. We look forward to seeing you during the season.    

The Valley and trees are changing colour here in Villaroger and we are starting to think about the Winter although we are having Spring like temperatures at the minute. Fingers crossed we will have a normal winter with all the ski lifts open in every Resort. Villaroger and Les Arcs are due to open on the 11th December 2021. Sainte Foy has an opening weekend on the 4th/5th December before their proper opening on the 11th. Val D’Isère and Tignes will open at the end of Nov, although Tignes Glacier is due to open on the 23rd October. Lots of work been done over the last year in the Resorts. In Les Arcs the Vallandry lift has been changed to a Gondola so no more queues at the bottom in the height of the season. In Sainte Foy the second lift is now a fast 6 man so this will help any queueing at half term and new year as this is about the only time you queue there. Villaroger have been making their pistes wider to cater for beginner skiers. A big plus point is that the first lift is still free in Villaroger. They have also been making new areas for kids in Sainte Foy with fun trails and things. We are practising new recipes and ordering in the wine, gin etc. Bookings are coming in and we are going to busy so excited for the start. We still have 1 place left on our off piste week 9th – 16th Jan if we can tempt anyone or alternatively put together your own group. We can cater for any level if you want to put a group together. Jonny and I walked  the Tour du Mont Blanc this Summer with friends. Jonny guided it and we had a fabulous time. The views and route is stunning and we would highly recommend anybody with a reasonable level of fitness to do it. You start in France and walk to Italy, Switzerland and back to France ( all the way round Mont Blanc) I did a write up on my Facebook page Skivillaroger for anyone interested. We can organise a  group trip for next year. The cycle path from Villaroger to Aime is nearly complete meaning you ride a long way without having to go on any roads  ( just a little bit when leaving the chalet) Perfect for families and mountain bikers. Electric mountain bikes have been all the rage this Summer and of course you do not need the uplift. You can hire them here in Bourg Saint Maurice and Sainte Foy and they enable you to travel miles in a very short time. You can do this at any time in the Spring and Autumn. Please don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Hope to see you in Villaroger soon.        

Well the good news is we are now able to come and go as we please, no overnight curfew and no restrictions on travel within Europe other than a PCR test to leave and arrive back into France. We still have not been able to receive UK guests due to Boris’s restrictions on quarantine on return back to the UK. Such a shame as we had lots of families booked in who will now hold over until next Summer. Life in the mountains is good. We are doing lots of cycling and walking and the weather has been lovely and warm here in Villaroger. The Col de Petit St Bernard is open and we are able to do a day trip to Italy for lunch or a shop. The Col d’Iseran is closed to traffic next week so we will ride that on our bikes. It’s a perfect time to do it with stunning views of the Valley. Lots of activities opening up in the area including the open air swimming pool in Bourg Saint Maurice. The ski  lifts are  due to open early July in Les Arcs, Tignes and Val d’sere. We can ski on the Tignes Glacier from mid June as well as the Glacier in Val D’sere. Bookings are starting to come in for the Winter. Xmas Week (19th -26th) is self catered this year and we are offering a 4 day break Wednesday – Sunday for those who cannot make a week. There are not many chalets left offering a fully catered package but we are so please get in touch to get the dates you want. Hope to hear from you soon.      

We were sadly advised this week that the ski lifts in all French Resorts would remain closed until at least April. This is not the news we wanted. Whilst we have had some visitors to Villaroger they have not been able to ski , only enjoy the mountains by ski touring, snow shoeing and walking. The weather has been fantastic the last 2 weeks and we have had chance to ski randonne lots with friends. All bars and restaurants remain closed other than for takeaways. The only positive is we have the mountains to ourselves, the first time ever. Covid cases are stable at the minute here is our area and we are hoping that after the French Holidays there will no be a spike. Schools remain open and Fifi is still able to study in Bourg Saint Maurice. The chalet feels strange without guests and the hotter lays idle as even for us the novelty has worn off. Hopefully we can bring  better news when I next write. Take care and keep in touch.

We are still waiting for announcements here as to whether the ski lifts will open in Villaroger and Les Arcs. Everyone is trying their best to be positive. The Chalet is open for people to come and enjoy the mountains but sadly only to French people as they are the only ones who can get to us at the minute. All over France we are in the same position. We hope and pray that things will change and we will be able to welcome you soon.

We have had our first snowfall on the mountain here in Les Arcs this week, infact it came down to 1200m so just above Villaroger. La Rosiere on the Italian Border actually had the most snow this week with 40cms falling. This is great news for the opening of the Tignes Glacier on the 10th October where conditions should be good. Val D’Isere is due to open at the end of December and Les Arcs has announced an opening date of 12th Dec this year, with an extended closing date of 30th April. We have had so much fruit on the trees this Summer, not sure why but it’s been great having a ready supply of cherries, plums, apples and pairs. Been at home has meant we could grow our own vegetables and salad this Summer and they are still going strong now. I even managed to keep the Basil alive this year. We have enjoyed a lovely Summer with lots of cycling, bit of walking and a few Pizza oven evenings with friends. Jonny cooked a porchetta in it one week and we did a shoulder of lamb too. We re insulated it in the Spring and it has made such a difference. It gets up to temperature in no time and the pizzas are cooked in minutes. We had a quick trip over to Italy the other week to stock up on Olive Oil, Parmesan, Prosecco and wine. Stopped off for a lovely Spahetti Vongole at a local’s restaurant, delicious. The town of Aosta is so stunning and so much Roman history there. Trying out more new recipes this week, just tried an apple crumble cake with the local apples which has gone down a treat. The chalet is all ready for you and we look forward to seeing you all soon for your short ski break, ski weekend or your normal weekly ski trip.    

The weather is a beautiful 26 degrees and after a wet June we are appreciating the sun. There is lots of work happening on the slopes in Villaroger. There is a new blue run going in , an easier route down from the Solliet Restaurant above Villaroger. It’s going to be a gentle track that winds round the mountain avoiding the steeper route already there. Great news for first time skiers. Villaroger is very lucky to have a free first lift so attracts skiers who can ski quite a decent run free of charge, even a bit a red in there too. We were excited to have the Tour De France pass very close on 2 days this year. Unfortunately one day the race was abandoned due to freak weather as it passed over the Col d’Iseran in Val D’Isere before arriving in Tignes. We were all waiting in patiently in Tignes Le Lac and believe it or not had no bad weather. It was all located further down near Tignes Les Boisses so very localised. Such a disappointment. The next day it did not pass through Bourg St Maurice as they had to cut short the route missing out Cormet de Roselend due to land slides. Our friends had done the Etape a week or two earlier in a gruelling heat and found it very hard. We were looking forward to seeing the pros breeze it. We have been out on the bikes as often as we can, climbing the Cols and doing the Route du Vin in Albertville. We have a Friday group Ste Foy Wheelers and it’s a great social catching up with friends. Fifi has signed up to go on a school trip to India, staying with an Indian Family. She goes in October and gets the opportunity of visiting Delhi, Jaipur and Aagrah. She will be seeing the Taj Mahal, lucky girl. We are heading to the Uk in August to see family and friends. It will be Jonny’s mum’s 87th birthday so we will be there to celebrate that. Bookings are coming in so please book early to get the dates you want.    

OMG … more snow than we have had in the last 30 years. Over 5 metres of snow on the Italian Border and in Val D’Isere and Tignes. Conditions have been epic, we have had more powder days to date than we had all last season. We haven’t seen much sun but we can’t have everything! The Off Piste Week went really well with lots of skiing in Sainte Foy in the trees. The people on the course said it was their best week’s skiing ever. We are now taking bookings for next year’s course so don’t miss out We are enjoying our new menu. Favourites to date are Fillet of Beef wrapped in herbs and Parma ham with a red wine jus, Chicken Slouvaki with a greek salad and lemon potatoes and Confit of Duck with a bean and chorizo cassoulet. Dessert favourites are the salted caramel and chocolate tart and the banana coconut pie. We have only skied to Italy once to date as the link has been closed due to so much snow. Always great to head over there from La Rosiere especially on a sunny day. Sainte Foy has had quiet slopes and no queues as normal and a bargain at 22.50 Euros a day with the voucher. Still got availability for your ski weekend, short ski break and Easter ski holiday.