A blanket of snow has covered La Tania and Courchevel overnight and more is forecast for the week ahead. Fantastic for the fast approaching winter season.

Week Beginning January 2nd. 1 x twin room in Chalet Clementine, La Tania @ £399 per person fully catered.

We have just reduced the price of our remaining chalet holidays in La Tania in the Three Valleys for Christmas week beginning Sunday December 19th by £100 per person. The chalets will be fully decorated with all the Christmas trimmings and guests will enjoy a truly magical white Christmas. A traditional British Christmas dinner with all the trimmings is include. All chalets are either situated right on or very close to the piste and so are ski in ski out.  For this week we are also offering some FREE child places and a limited number of FREE part time childcare places with our own in house nannies plus FREE ski hire for children age 10 and under!

So, what are you waiting for? Grab yourself a very Merry Christmas this year! Places are limited.

The Societe des Trois Vallees lift pass company are offering special deals for lift passes over the Christmas holiday period from the 18th to 25th December.  They are offering 6 days pass for the Courchevel or Three Valleys for the price of 5 days and 7 days for the price of 6.  Prices apply to family passes and individual adult and child passes. To benefit from these prices lift passes must be pre-ordered by November 1st.

Eurostar has opened ticket sales for its direct day ski services from St. Pancras International and Ashford International to the French Alps.

The first direct day service begins Dec. 19 and return fares start from £149. Eurostar’s direct ski service offer access to leading ski resorts in the French Alps such as LaTania, and Courchevel. Eurostar stations are located a short  mini bus ride from the resorts to avoid lengthy transfers. Moutiers is about 20-30 minutes away.

Travelling by Eurostar is a popular choice for skiers wanting to minimise their carbon footprint. Eurostar’s Mary Walsh said, “On average, a Eurostar journey accounts for just one tenth of the carbon emissions of an equivalent flight and allows travellers to arrive relaxed, refreshed, and ready to hit the slopes.”

Research commissioned by Eurostar has shown that a Eurostar journey to Bourg St Maurice generates 14kg of CO2 per passenger. By comparison, a typical return flight from London to Geneva emits 147.8kg of CO2 per passenger.

BA is to start a new service this winter between London City airport and Chambery, the gateway to the French Alps. The service is to run from December 18th to the end of March 2011.  Chambery is the nearest airport to La Tania and the Three Valleys at just over an hour.

Snow cannons  being installed during this summer on Plan Fontaine, the green run into La Tania in the Three Valleys, for the new season 2010-11.  This will mean the blue run, Folyeres and the green run, Plan Fontaine, will both be snow sure right down to the village. Folyeres already has the benefit of snow canons all the way down to the village making this one of the nicest and most snow sure tree lined runs in the Three Valleys. Chalet Chalouis is situated right at the junction of the bottom of the green and the blue run and there is always at least a metre of snow outside the chalet at the end of the season.

Well, the first week of the season is almost over and guests have seen links over to the Three Valleys open but very quiet slopes though it has been very cold, down to -14C which has meant that the snow cannons have been running daily to keep the snow on the lower runs topped up.  Good conditions have been reported for the time of year and it is looking good for Christmas week when many more slopes will open. Snow is forecast for today , Friday and it is supposed to be getting slightly warmer after the weekend with more snow forecast.

La Tania is now largely up and running and all the bars, shops and restaurants are now open and looking forward to a very busy couple of weeks over Christmas and New Year.  There will be many organised events and activities in the village.  Watch this space for more info.

Courchevel and La Tania’s neighbour, Meribel is hosting one of the biggest events in the French Alps this winter.  The Little World Festival will take place in Meribel between 13th and 19th March 2010 and is offering a line up of over 40 live events including gigs from The Feeling, Sophie Ellis-Bexter, Glenn Tillbrook of Squeeze fame, Fictonplane, Sinead and the Dawnbreakers, Graham Gouldman from 10cc, the Langley Sisters, Duke, comedian Ed Harcourt and many more to be announced over the fortcoming weeks.

Tickets are available on the Little World website now for 25euros.  A VIP ticket for 90euros is also available which allows entrance to all events(subject to maximum capacities).

So if you are staying in La Tania during this week, why not pay a visit to Meribel?

The Ski Magic French office is now up and running for the Winter season. Some staff have already arrived in resort and are very excited about the amount of snow already fallen. The rest of the staff will be joining them shortly.

Courchevel 1850 opens tomorrow and allegedly links will be open to Val Thorens and the Three Valleys.  The La Tania lifts open next Saturday 12th December.  The snow has well and truly arrived, see photo below of Folyeres, the blue run into La Tania, taken on 3rd December.  It snowed again all last night and more snow is forecast for the coming days.  So for all you powder hounds who have booked for a pre Christmas holiday, you are in for a treat! Empty pistes, bargain price chalet accommodation and cheap lift passes as well as an abundance of snow-what more could anyone ask for?