Mountain Paintings / Mountaineering Books

May 11, 2012

I have a connection with Tony Astill of  Mountaineering Books  and Mountaineering Paintings  because of my interest in mountaineering. I would not say that I am a collector of mountain memorabilia but I do have an interest in how the environment has changed over recent history. The Alps were “discovered” by Victorian mountaineers in the mid 1800′s, they were extremely commercially minded and documented everything they found which has left us with a rich resource of books and paintings from the time.

The Summit of Mt Blanc 1853

The Summit of Mt Blanc 1853, taken from a NARRATIVE OF AN ASCENT TO
THE SUMMIT OF MONT BLANC 21ST SEPTEMBER 1853 BY J. MACGREGOR, ESQ., M.A. – available from Mountaineering Books

I came across a book written by Edward Whymper when I was about 16, I was alone and hitch-hiking to Scotland to go hill-walking. I found myself needing to shelter from the rain near Skipton and dived into a little bookshop. I started browsing the books there and came across “Scrambles”. As it is well and truely out of print Google have been kind enough to archive it at the following link:

http://books.google.fr/books?id=k6uScEubYogC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

now the digital version does not do justice to this book. It’s a large format, and full of maps and etchings. I remember that it was for sale for about £50, that was 1987. I decided to save my money and bought a rope a few days later. The funny thing is that ropes still cost £50 and that book now costs about £1000. The rope was more usefull.

Through Tony I have since bought a later edition of Scrambles. In addition I’ve added a less well known book to my collection. “The Eagles Nest” by Alfred Wills.

http://books.google.fr/books?id=oDoBAAAAQAAJ&dq=alfred%20wills&pg=PR3#v=onepage&q=alfred%20wills&f=false

this second book is very topical as near where I live there is a refuge named after Alfred Wills and many of the walks he describes are on my local hills.  I often claim that Alfred Wills started the first “Brit” chalet in the Alps. In fact it still stands today. Not habitabble but interesting nevertheless.

So if you are interested in this sort of thing,  or if you are just looking for some old paitings and books to add to your chalet then you know where to go. Some of the prices might come as a bit of a shock but then again, if you buy well then they may end up being excellent (and interesting) investments. On that subject Tony will be able to suggest some topical books that will be valued in the ten’s instead of the thousands of pounds.

If you are interested in the history of mountaineering there is a Himalayan Trust UK Charity Fundraiser coming up on the 29th of May. Details follow:

The Sir Edmund Hillary Memorial Lecture
Royal Geographical Society (Exhibition Road entrance) London SW7 2AR
nearest tube South Kensington or Cromwell Road
Tuesday 29 May 2012 at 6.00 for 7.00pm.

Alan Hinkes OBE presents Kangchenjunga Finale and the 8000m Peaks Hinkes is the first Briton to climb all the world’s fourteen 8000m peaks. His final peak was Kangchenjunga, climbed in 2005, fittingly almost 50 years to the day after George Band and Joe Brown made the first ascent in 1955. To include a tribute to the Trust’s much loved late Chairman, George Band OBE.  Introduced by Rebecca Stephens MBE

Tickets £17.50 from www.himalayantrust.co.uk
or email  astill.tony@gmail.com  Tel. 02380293767
If I lived closer to London I’d definitely be going.

TV opportunity

April 24, 2012

Ricochet productions have been on the phone looking for young people looking to move out to the Alps to set up a business. Now if you watch TV you’ll have seen plenty of programmes made by Richochet. They have a link to their work here.

In their words “We are currently in the early stages of development on a BBC documentary series about young British people who are moving abroad to start a business. We are looking to speak to couples, friends and siblings who are emigrating to start their new life, and we are eventually hoping to follow people as they relocate and get their business up and running. The programmes will highlight great work opportunities for people abroad, and detail what is involved in an move such as this.”

This is the webcam image from Avoriaz from Monday 23/April. Click on the link for the current picture!

Featuring on a TV programme might not be high on everyone’s list but if you are starting a business it can offer a fantastic marketing opportunity! Ricochet  has sent this flyer too.

Letsstayforever

Or you can contact

Naomi Gayler|Development Producer
Naomi.gayler@ricochet.co.uk

If this is up your street, let me know how you get on!


The Winter Continues!

April 23, 2012

It seems that we have had about a year of sunshine in the Alps. It’s not true of course but between the short periods of rain or snow we have had very long periods of stability. Well it all changed 3 weeks ago, here in the Haute Savoie it’s now been cold and “unsettled” for 3 weeks. That means snow. Lots of it. You might have heard about all of the powder days of the last few weeks. It’s not over yet. The Chamonix forecast predicts 30-40cm at 1800m tonight and 20-30cm tomorrow!!

http://chamonix-meteo.com/chamonix-mont-blanc/meteo/prevision/matin/previ_meteo_5_jours.php

Lee Massey and Gareth Jefferies from Alpine Property took part in an “end of season” ski mountaineering race yesterday.

Lee climbed over 1000m in cold snowy conditions dressed as “Elvis”, his traditional attire for this event. This picture looks like it was taken in February, not April 22nd! Over 100 teams took part on the day. Finishing up with a fairly enormous “feast” at Prodains. The full results and official pictures are here:

http://www.hauts-forts.com/2012/trophee_2012_podiums.htm

Morzine / Les Gets and Avoriaz are now closed. Though Chamonix has extended the opening of Brévent-Flégère by one week.

http://www.compagniedumontblanc.fr/

And the Grand-Montets (in Chamonix) is open until May 8th.

The difference to last year is stark!

 

 

 

 

 

It didn’t feel like the end of the season


Samoens hits the big time?

March 23, 2012

I am often asked where I think the “next big thing” will be in the French Alps. What I am really being asked is “which resort should I invest in to see the best return on my capital”. Now if I knew that I’d not be sat here…..

But if pushed I have been plugging Samoens. But only because I like it. Personally I don’t live there but I often think that if I was to choose again I might. It has everything I want from a place to live.

  • A nice “authentic” village, much of which is pedestrianised.
  • Access to great skiing (Flaine / Le Grand Massif)
  • A flat bottomed valley. I like this because I enjoy cycling and I have a young family.
  • Quick access to Geneva airport (about 1 hr)
  • Good access to some other ski areas, Les Gets / Portes du Soleil is 20 minutes, Praz des Lys, 20 minutues and Chamonix only about 45min.
  • Some of the best walking in the Alps.

I took the picture above last week. Snowshoeing above Samoens beneath the Dents d’Oddaz.

It looks like Samoens is growing in popularity. It’s been featured in the press a few times recently.

  • The Telegraph, “Samoens is the best resort in France?”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/snowandski/9148590/Ski-France-is-Samoens-the-countrys-best-resort.html

  • In the Guardian, “Secret Satellites”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/oct/28/skiing.france?page=2

  • The Times, “Is this the prettiest resort in the Alps?”

Times Article, Is this the Prettiest Resort in the Alps?

The picture above has been provided by the Tourist Office in Samoens

We currently have 40 properties for sale in Samoens ranging from:

Appt. Hotel Fleuri, 3
134 620 €uros
http://www.alpine-property.com/index.php?page=prop_1_apptfleuri3

to the magnificent

Château du Bérouze
2 250 000 €uros
http://www.alpine-property.com/index.php?page=prop_1_chateauberouze

One of my favorites is:

Chalet Falcon
1 800 000 €uros
http://www.alpine-property.com/index.php?page=prop_1_falcon

Too bad I can’t afford it!


Mortgage rates

February 24, 2012

We don’t often get to quote French mortgage rates. The banks are generally quite touchy about advertising the rates. In France the rules concerning “false advertising” are very strict and the problem with mortgage rates is that they change constantly. The actual rates will depend on the loan they are offering and it’ll depend on your circumstances (I think this might be a euphemism). The higher risk you present the higher rate you pay!

We work frequently with BNP Paribas and have done for a number of years. They have an English speaking office that is set up to deal with Foreign buyers of French property. They tell me they are “reducing their margin in a considerable way by proposing a significant decrease between 0.30% and 0.40% on most products in capital repayment and interest only, variable and fixed.”

So now all variable rates are below 4%!

- 3.30% to 3.55% in standard variable rate

- 3.50% to 3.95% in capped variable rate

- 3.70% to 3.90% in interest only variable rate

Low fixed rates are from 4.20% to 4.85%.

“These promotional rates will be available for sale for all new applications received from February 22nd until April 5th. After this date, these exceptional rates will no longer be available”.

What could you do with this money? Possibly put it towards a 6 bedroom chalet  10 minutes from the skiing?

Click here for more details of this chalet

Chalet Preles

At 372,000 euros this alpine chalet does seem to be a fair bargain?

All a bit dry? I suppose so.  It’s Friday today so in theory I might be allowed out to ski this afternoon. I’ll try and take a picture. It should be good, blue skies, loads of snow and warm as toast!


Social media and Alpine Property

February 10, 2012

We have been upgrading our web presence. It started with the development of a mobile compatible website.

m.alpine-property.com 

We had been approached by various people offering us iphone and Android apps. We decided a mobile optimised website would be a good idea. It would mean that people looking for property in the Alps could access all our information on their mobile phones when they are out in the Alps, we could make the website download much quicker and reduce their roaming charges at the same time. Because it’s not an “App” it won’t go out of date or need downloading, we could also make it do just what we wanted to.

this links to the mobile optimised website for alpine property

Many of our customers already try and view our website on their mobile phones. We were aware that it wasn’t a great experience. Now when you go to Alpine Property on your phone you’ll go automatically to the mobile site.

Scan this QR code with your mobile and you’ll be taken straight to the mobile webpage.

We’ve also been upgrading our “social” credentials on the internet, by improving our Linkedin profiles, you can access mine from this link Go to my linkedin prfile or the company profile here Go to my linkedin prfile.

The same goes for Facebook, we have a Facebook page , this will [obviously] be used for promoting the “social” side of our life in the French Alps!

We’ve have a twitter feed for a while 


100% Pure Wool in Les Contamines

February 1, 2012
100% Pure Wool
Lampposts covered in wool, stripey colours around signs, trees with scarves, you could think you were dreaming, but you’d be wrong. You’re in the centre of Les Contamines.
 
This year, the village has decided to embrace a recent phenomena called ‘Knit Graffit’ or ‘Yarn Bombing’, an american born tradition of dressing up public property in coloruful knitted sections. Both knitters and crocheters who indulge in this pastime add handmade creations to buildings and all manner of urban supports. For les Contamines, many volunteers joined in for this event and you can see the results here. This street art has been called “Les Contas, 100% pure wool” and more details are on the Office de Tourisme website.
 
It’s not been restricted to just les Contamines, a friend of mine hosted her yarn bombing get-together in Chamonix last year, on the very first international day for the pastime. The Chamonix sign, which marks the entrance to the town, was “bombed” in the early hours of the morning. You can see here.
Street art? Pointless? Whatever your view, it certainly adds a dash of colour on a grey claggy day.

A great start to the ski season

January 3, 2012

We’ve just been experiencing one of the “wettest” starts to a season for a long time. We are not complaining. It seems that up until December we’d   had one of the driest years on record. Of course “wet” can mean many things. We prefer to use the term “precipitation”, so that can cover rain and snow. The local paper reports that it rained on 26 days out of 31 in Annecy in December 2011. Yesterday we suffered a miserable day in the mountains with rain up to about 1800m at times. Thankfully it turned to snow late in the day. Today the weather had cleared so Lee Massey (covers Morzine for Alpine Property) and I bunked off work this morning to check out the conditions. Lets just say we were pleasantly surprised.

The weather is due to close in tonight so expect some more snow, and they are forecasting heavy snow on Thursday. Keep abreast with the weather around the northern alps by logging into our weather page 


Adding value to your property

December 16, 2011

The last stages of finishing off a renovation “project” are often overlooked, the furnishing and decorating of the newly renovated apartment or chalet are left to the owners to undertake – a daunting enough task close to home. Most of the renovations managed by members of the Alpine Property team are finished off by professionals, you’d imagine that this would push the cost up even more, it doesn’t have to. Especially if you take into account the amount of time you would need to finish the job. Time better spent enjoying the finished product!

Liz Ockelton – MAKE SPACE DESIGNS (www.makespacedesigns.com) has just finished 3 projects this autumn. Here are some of the results.

1. Chalet La Roche SAMOENS – sold by Denis Barbier of Alpine Property refurbished in 2010 and renovations recently completed by MSD adding an extra bedroom and now 4 new bathrooms. The original property listing is here. A selection of photos of the updated chalet are below.

 

2. La Christiana MORZINE – sold by Lee Massey of Alpine Property though before it ended up on the website. Newly furnished by MSD ready for Dec 2011

3. BONNEVAUX farm, sold by Claudia / Ed. Chalet Bonnevaux. The original listing is here, this old farm was habitable but is now being  renovated. Currently under construction due to be complete Dec 2011 / Jan 2012.

An original picture here:

The current state of affairs:


Christmas week starts with the bang of avalanche cannons.

December 16, 2011

We are currently experiencing a “major snow event” here in the French Alps, 100km/hr winds, and heavy snow now for the last couple of days. I was allowed out of the office on a training course yesterday. Avalanche training that is. A very short video is available below.

Deep snow

Deep snow

This movie requires Adobe Flash for playback.

Just getting to the venue was tricky enough. Today is the day before the season starts properly which means there are still loads of HGV’s on the road, combine that with the snow and narrow roads and you can imagine the consequences.

The avalanche risk is almost universally 5/5 across the Alps today and will probably remain that way tomorrow. Our local ski areas of Avoriaz and Morzine / Les Gets are both closed which I’m told is “unprecedented”, I certainly can’t remember that happening in the 12 years I have lived here.

Here’s looking forward to a nice calm Christmas.


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 406 other followers