Snow and skiing

April 1, 2010

We’ve had a bit of a snow drought in the Haute Savoie for the last 3 week’s, it had felt like winter was over and we had began to prepare the garden for Spring!

All change since the weekend though. We’ve had about 50cm of new snow above 1500m and this morning I was woken by the sound of the snow plough passing our house.

We managed to get out for a quick ski before lunch, we didn’t manage to take any photos (it was snowing too hard!), but did grab this picture from the Avoriaz Webcam this afternoon.

There is more snow due this weekend and next week.

http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Morzine/6day/top

On the subject of skiing I’ve been meaning to get some lessons (for about 10 years now), Sarah Watts has just started out with us, helping JC Skiera around the Mont Blanc region (Chamonix, St Gervias, Megeve, Combloux etc). Some friends of hers have started a new ski school in Megeve. These guys are part of the BASS franchise, BASS already have outfits in Chatel -Courchevel – Les Gets – Meribel – Morzine – St Moritz – Tignes - Val D’Isere, over the years I have recommended them to many people and the response is very much “worth every penny”.

In their own words

This winter season Megève has seen the introduction of BASS (British Alpine Ski Schools) to its ski area. The brand new ski school operates throughout the Evasion ski domain, which includes; Megève, Le Jaillet, Combloux, St Gervais, and Les Contamines and offers an enormous 450km of groomed pistes.

The innovative and involved teaching sessions are delivered in English by British instructors holding the highest qualifications with full French Equivalence. Skiers now have an alternative to the French ski schools that traditionally were the only ones operating in the region. This is further evidence of the increasing appeal of the area to foreign, and in particular British, clientele.

Will Roberts director of BASS Megeve, says “We are dedicated to making the whole winter sports experience in the mountains the “best it can be” providing a friendly and expert approach for first-timers and experts alike”.

Whether it’s your first time or you are looking for something new, learn to ski with BASS Megève, who have a range of lessons and courses to suit, including:

· Private Lessons (Caters for everyone and anything

· Family Groups

· Guided Tours

· Off-piste tasters

· Performance Courses

· All Mountain Performance 4

· 6 Day Back Country Courses

For further information about BASS Megeve see www.bassmegeve.com or, to see the other areas that BASS operate in across the Alps, visit www.britishskischool.com/

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Posted by Gareth

Jean Vuarnet in Morzine

February 23, 2010

Click here to see the Jean Vuarnet in Morzine

On Monday of this week the town of Morzine unveiled a sculpture commemorating 5o years since Jean Vuarnet won the Gold Medal in the Downhill at the Winter Olympics, in Sqaw Valley

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Winter_Olympics

The unveiling was a grand occasion, covered by the national news, a feel of which can be gained by watching the video I have linked to above. The Maire of Morzine (Jean-Louis Battandier) referred obliquely to a controversy involving Jean Vuarnet in during his speech. This raised some eyebrows for the new comers to Morzine. We see Jean Vuarnet’s name all the time around and about Morzine and Avoriaz, obviously there is the Gold Medal which is reason enough for Morzine to promote their link with this famous name, those of us who were not around in the 60′s will know the name Vuarnet thanks to the brand of sunglasses. If you read about Avoriaz you will always see his name mentioned, Vuarnet was heavily involved with the development and promotion of Avoriaz in the late 60′s and early 70′s.

The controversy is salacious and ultimately very sad.  Some information and links below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Vuarnet#cite_note-2

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983915,00.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Solar_Temple

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Posted by Gareth

Avoriaz

February 15, 2010

We’ve just designated a new area on our website for Avoriaz

http://www.alpine-property.com/index.php?page=search&loc=23&lang=en

This might not sound ground breaking but it is quite a departure for Alpine Property. We have always concentrated on Chalets and properties in the valley ski resorts. in 2006/7 when we had a tricky season of snow we wondered if we should look more closely at Avoriaz, the prices held up well as buyers naturally headed for the “snow sure” areas.

We ski through Avoriaz plenty, personally I live down below in St Jean d’Aulps and visit frequently in the Summer and Winter. I have always had a soft spot for the philosophy and the architecture. I have often had to defend it from it’s critics. Here are some reasons why to like it:

1. Car free, when it was built in the 1960′s this went against the flow, it really shows were the designers were coming from though.

2. Designed to blend in with the surrounding mountains, it does a good job too, I love pointing to the horizon from Morzine and asking the people I’m with to spot Avoriaz. It’s there but it is well camoflaged, no straight edges, and clad in cedar. Genius.

3. It’s at 1800m and is predominately North facing, very snow sure and with modern lifts and tons of snow-making (just in case).

4. Very little expansion from when it was finished in the early 70′s has meant that the property prices have held up well compared to other resorts with a more liberal building policy.

Piste Hors have a nice write up on the history of Avoriaz.

http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Haute-Savoie/Avoriaz-History

So no sooner have we added our first little apartment on the website it becomes our hottest property!

http://www.alpine-property.com/index.php?page=prop_1_cedrat&lang=en&hist=page_searchXloc_23Xlang_en

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Posted by Gareth

Morzine Communal Projects

November 15, 2009

morzine

The “Bulletins Municipaux” has just been published in Morzine. This a the newsletter published by the Morzine Mairie 3 times a year. It has always been very informative and this issue is no exception.

I will summarise in a list the projects and stage of development they have reached.

  1. The Tourist Office square, worked restarted here at the beginning of the Autumn 2009, good progress has been made, there is plenty of nice smooth tarmac, open space and quality looking bits of rock disspersed around the area. The outdoor ice rink is scheduled to be complete before the winter and the “square” will certainly be functional by Christmas, there is more work to come however with a very advanced lighting system and work to the surrounding roads scheduled to be completed by the end of 2010.
  2. The work for the wood-burning heating network started in the summer of 2009. This environmentally friendly heating project uses local wood harvested in a sustainable way. This huge project includes 1.4km of heating conduit that snakes around the town providing heat for the Town Hall, Library, Vicarage, ANPE Offices, both the schools, judo and music rooms, the Palais des Sports and the swimming pool.
  3. New pool for Morzine. The plans for this project where but on display at the outdoor pool this summer. The work is due to commence in the Spring of 2010, pause for the the summer and then carry on in the Autumn, scheduled to be completed by the winter of 2011/12. All the existing pools will be retained, the existing changing rooms and restaurant will be removed and replaced with a 25m x 15m indoor pool, a spar, 3 saunas, 2 hammams, relaxation space and new restaurant.
  4. The new Pierre et Vacances apartment project at Avoriaz continues, we have the apartments for sale on our website. The apartment building works start in the Spring of 2010, the Aquariaz project starts in the Autumn of 2010, the second phase of apartment building is scheduled to start in 2011.
  5. The work towards the replacement for the Prodains cable car is due to start in the Spring of 2010 and due to be completed by the winter 2011/12. The cable car that has been proposed linking Morzine to Avoriaz is still in the feasibility study stage.
  6. The Morzine ski company reports that plenty of work has been carried out adding snow cannons and moving snow cannons around the pistes to deal with “gaps” in cover. Everyone will have seen the earth works carried out on the “Retour des Nants” AKA the “Green return piste”, included with this is 6 new snow canons therefore adding another snowsure route back to the foot of the Pleney side of Morzine. Also mentioned was a proposed to 6 seater chair lift to replace the acient Chamossiere chairlift. Work is due to start on this next year to be completed for next winter.

There is lots more information in the newsletter and it is produced in English and French. Click below for links:

Morzine Bulletins Municipaux in French

Morzine Council News in English

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Posted by Gareth

Le Tour comes to Morzine

September 11, 2009

At this time of year the Tour organisers always leak tit bits of information about the following years Tour de France. This is in anticipation of the release of the final route on October the 14th.

A few days ago they leaked that Morzine can expect to see Le Tour on July 11th and that the following day would be a rest day. This is great news for Morzine, Le Tour last past through here in 2006 (and previously he in 2003 and 2000, click here for further information) there have been rumours that the arrival stage might involve some sort of time trial like in Annecy this year. We will have to wait in anticipation)

Further information can be found on the Dauphine website.

Name those riders.

lance armstrong in action

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Posted by Gareth

L’Aquariaz water park in Avoriaz

June 8, 2009

I was reading the Morzine Mairie Bulletin this evening and came across a mention of the “L’Aquariaz” water park in Avoriaz. Currently we are selling apartments in the new Pierre et Vacances project via our Alpine Property website. We refer to this development as a “swimming pool complex”, it looks like we might be understating things a bit. The Morzine Marie bulletin refers to this swimming pool as a 11.6m euros “Aqua park”, that sounds like some swimming pool! I have done a little Googling to try and find some more information and the best I have managed is

” which will include a 400 square metre spa, a 600 square metre heated swimming pool and a 3,000 square metre aquatic and leisure area called Aquariaz. Based on the Center Parcs concept, the Aquariaz will have water rivers, jacuzzis, water trees, wave pools and slides, all at a constant temperature of 29 degrees Celsius”

This quote came from The Post.IE , this sounds quite a lot more impressive than “swimming pool complex” and in fact will provide a brilliant amenity for the whole area. Well done Morzine.

The Morzine Mairie Bulletin is full of details of other large capital projects in the area.

An abbreviated list appears here:
Major investments in 2009

  • Wood-fired generator and linked heating system: 2 800 000 €,
  • Improvements to the Tourist Office square: 2 470 000 €,

Projects scheduled for the current administrations tenure

  • Completion of public infrastructure linked to the Avoriaz 12 M € (communal participation of 5 M €),
  • Avoriaz aqua park (L’Aquariaz): 11.6 M € (financed by Pierre et Vacances),
  • Indoor pool near the Palais des Sports: 8.5M €,
  • New cable car link to Morzine-Avoriaz. 1st section from Prodains-Avoriaz to be completed by December 2011: 20 000 000 € financed by SERMA. 2nd section from Morzine-Prodains (surveys under way).

We have talked about the new cable car link on this blog. I should stress that only the first part from Prodains to Avoriaz is definitely going ahead, the rest is part of the plan!

Either way that is a pretty hefty investment programme that any small town would be proud of.


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Posted by Gareth

New tax break for investors in off plan developments

May 13, 2009

The French governement has recently announced the introduction of a substantial new tax break of great interest to “buy to let” investors in new properties in the Alps.

The scheme, known as the “Loi Scellier”, has just been extended to include properties destined for holiday lettings.

What you get…….

A reduction in your income tax bill of between 20% and 25% of the purchase price of the property, this reduction to be spread over 9 years.

What you have to do………..

Purchase a new property in a Residence de Tourisme and commit to renting it out for a minimum of 9 years.

What is the catch…………

You need to be paying French income tax. However anyone, no matter where they are resident, renting out property in France is liable to pay French income tax on this income. The scheme is therefore highly relevant to anyone looking to buy new investment property in France with a tax free return on income.

avoriaza_7The prestigous Pierre et Vacances development in Avoriaz now qualifies for this tax relief. As a result these properties are selling fast. Contact us to find out more.

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Posted by stevenorris

A New Ski Lift linking Morzine and Avoriaz?

April 28, 2009

avoriaz apartmentsWell, it’s beyond rumour now. Or is it? It’s been talk of the town all winter. The Morzine Mairie are thinking seriously about making a direct link from Morzine centre to Avoriaz. So no more, flat linking pistes (via the Super Morzine), no more buses and more importantly no more Prodains lift.

The context of this comes from.

1. The current Prodains lift is due to be replaced, it is old, inefficient and some say it is condemned thanks to the fact it sits (just) within a rockfall zone.

2. The whole of the Prodains area need redeveloping, it is now too busy for the current infrastructure.

3. The county (Haute Savoie) has just won the opportunity to bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.

4. Avoriaz is just starting a fairly major expansion and remodelling. We have some of the new apartments for sale.

These 4 facts coincide nicely to make the feasibility of a new linking lift a possibility. It gets a fairly good airing in the Morzine Town Hall yearly report. The proposed site is just by the current telephone exchange. It would allow pedestrian access from the “top level” of Morzine, so the same level as the two existing lifts and the Tourist Office, it would have a large carpark beneath it (the current “Champion” carpark), click on this map for the start location.

avoriaz apartments 2

Locally, much of this winter was spent bidding to be able to be the French nomination for the 2018 Winter Olympics. AKA Annecy 2018, a lot of effort and “millions” of euros were spent on this bid. On the 18th of March we won this nomination. This is great, it means that local, national and European funds can be called upon to help improve the local infrastructure. As far as Morzine/Avoriaz is concerned they will host the Women’s downhill event on the “Coupe de Monde” piste that finishes in Prodains.

So as far as the next steps for the Olympic bid go:

July 2009, nominations will be presented to the IOC. Then we’ll know who we are up against!

2011, the finalists of host towns will be revealed.

2012, the winner will be announced.

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Posted by Gareth