Weather Reports

We are constantly trying to expand and improve our website, not only to help you find the perfect ski holiday, but we want to help as much as we can once you've booked it.

We have been busy adding to many of the resort pages on our website and are planning to add more over the summer. If you are due to ski this season why not check out our imroved resort pages. They are full of useful information and now feature weather reports.

If you want to be kept up to date on what's happening on and off the slopes please follow us on Twitter or join us on Facebook. Alternatively you can sign up to our regular e-newsletters and be the first to know about the lastest offers and best deals.

Flights This Weekend

If you are worried about the snow conditions and the impact on flights please read the general advice below. Please be aware that we are sending out individual e-mails to all of our clients due to depart this weekend so it may be worth checking your inbox for more details.

Airports and airlines are advising all clients to check-in as usual at the appropriate time. It is your responsibility to ensure that you arrive on time at the airport, please ensure that you allow plenty of time for your journey.

Charter flights are much more reliable than many scheduled airlines and are highly unlikely to be cancelled.  In the event of any delay this is a matter for your travel insurance policy and you are advised to keep hold of any receipts for additional costs in case you are elegible to make an insurance claim. 

Ski tour operators will have flight representatives on hand at the airport check-in to advise should there be any problems or delays. In your final information documentation from the ski operator you will normally have been provided with a number to contact in a real emergency (E.G you have missed your flight).

You may like to consider booking an airport hotel the night before you holiday to avoid traffic delays and early morning ice on the day of departure. Prices start from as little as £35 per room per night (based on 2 adults sharing). Or just £45 for the room and 8 days parking.

Click on this link http://www.chaletline.co.uk/pages/airport_extras.php for great discounted rates. Book quickly and securely on-line with all reservation details e-mailed to you within minutes.

We would like to wish all of our clients the best of luck with your journeys and hope that you have a wonderful time on the slopes

Nothing to Worry About

Following the news of BA's proposed strike action and the collapse of Globespan this week, air travel is not getting great publicity. We want to re-assure all of our clients, present and future, that all holiday booked through Chaletline are covered with a 100% financial guarantee.

We can arrange your ski trip with a wide variety of holiday operators from the big market leaders to many smaller independent family run companies. Some are sold as package holidays and some are not.

Unlike many of our competitors we take out an additional insurance policy that covers you even if you are not booking a package holiday. Some of the insurance's many of you count on, like an operator's ATOL license, may not cover you if you book your accommodation and flights separately. Whatever you book through us is guaranteed financial protection in the unlikely event of either the holiday operator or us ceasing trading before you take your holiday.

It's Nearly Time!

As the resorts gear up for the official grand openings many of them are doing so with fantastic snow coverage already on the ground and more forecast next week. Val d'Isere (pictured left this week) has over 40cm of snow and the manicured pistes are set to remain in great condition with lower temperatures due over the weekend.

Last season was undoubtedly one of the very best for snow records right across Europe but some resorts in particular shone through as the stars and Zermatt was one of them. This season looks set to be as successful, and popular. With 4 metres at the top of the resort and a further 70cm set to fall over the next few days you couldn't ask for a white place to spend Christmas.

And this is just to name but a couple of snow ready resorts.

White Gold

It's only November - but already it looks like being a great skiing season, and we think the early birds who get to the Alps for the first weeks of the season will strike gold this year!

A number of resorts have opened early, and are expanding the areas open. Tignes and Val Thorens in France, Switzerland's Sass Fee, Verbier and Zermatt, and Obergurgl in Austria have all now opened. Verbier opened an extra piste this weekend, and so did Tignes, where there's currently great skiing on the Grande Motte.

Austria has been especially blessed. In Lech the cover is already fantastic, with lots of powder snow already. In Obergurgl there is already 50cm on the mountain and the pistes are in very good condition. Kaprun's glacier already has 85cm of snow. Looks like a great season ahead!

A White Christmas

Many resorts are opening earlier than ever this year due to the fantastic early snow coverage. Just take a look at the picture of Les Arcs taken earlier in the week - it looks fantastic. We are now looking at some amazing 'Late Offer' reduced prices for early season departures, through to Christmas and beyond.

So if you dont fancy doing all the cooking again this year we recommend you get in quick and book a last minute holiday to ensure you have that perfect white Christmas. The snow couldn't be better, the prices are a bargain and this way you are guranteed that someone else will do the washing up!

Click here to take a look at all of our late deals for the coming weeks.

Hurray...Yet More Snow:

The white stuff is falling right across the Alps right down as far as Tignes le Lac, which has seem a good 3cms at base level over the past few days.   Tignes, Meribel, Les Arcs and all  the Tarantaise have been blessed with great snow and it's forecast to continue.  And it's much the same story elewhere, on the Italian slopes, the ski area at Cervinia, which opened daily from 24 October, had to close on Monday due to snow.  Austria, which has been experiencing some excellent early snow, is reporting more than 3cm of snow on the Piztal Glacier and it is also snowing at Zermatt on Monday where it is now possible to ski and snowboard.

Mother nature is clearly keen to keep us skiiers happy and long may it last.

Great Snow Promts Early Resort Openings:

The snowfall in Europe has been really proming so far and to prove it Kitzbuhel are reporting their earliest ever opening date. The skiing is still limited to the Pass Thurn-Resterkogel ski area, but it's a great start to what we hope will be another bumper season.

Kitzbuhel will open some runs in the Pass Thurn - Resterkogel region on Saturday 24th October, and will be the first non-glacier ski area to open in the Tirol. This will be the earliest ever opening in the 80 year history of lift company, Bergbahn Kitzbühel.

The resort is reporting a base of 64cms on the upper runs above 1200m, and recent low temperatures mean that the snowmaking machines have been working overtime.  

Elsewhere in France, Les Deux Alpes (0/20cm) opened last Saturday on 24th Oct and lifts will open for the main winter season from 28 November.

We can't wait to get out on the slopes and we'll keep you informed as some of our staff head out to a variety of resorts in a few weeks time.

Luxury Savings - Just 2 Days to Go:

You can save yourself £100 per person in one of our selected luxury chalets if you book in the next two days (selected departure dates). Prices start from as little as £699 per person and include flights, transfers and catered accomodation. Offer valid for departures on 10th ,17th & 24th Jan, 7th Feb & 21st March 2010.

These chalets offer a great service and many of them include the little added extras which make your skiing holiday extra special, like bathrobes and slippers, WiFi in every chalet, daily newspapers, designer toiletries and excellent ski hosting.

Good food is an essential ingredient of every chalet party. The welcoming glass of bubbly and appetising canapés on your first evening sets the tone for a week of tempting cuisine. Tea bought to you in bed, hearty cooked breakfasts, diet-defying cakes and 4 course eveing meals with superior local wines.

Why not treat yourself and book a ski holiday with style?

To see all of the chalets included in this fantastic offer click here or call us on 0845 200 0375 for a fast search of what's available to suit your needs.

La Plagne 1800 Gets New Lift:

Plagne 1800 now has two chairlifts out of the village: one towards Aime la Plagne and the new Melezes chairlift to Plagne Centre. The new chairlift runs from the ESF meeting point in Plagne 1800 to the start of another new lift. The new Bergerie chairlift, arriving at 2184m just above Plagne Villages gives access to both Plagne Centre and Plagne Bellecote.  

This makes La Plagne 1800 and evn more viable option for all levels of skiers. Those with children or who are new to the slopes now have the options of different ski schools made easy. With ESF and Reflex in Plagne 1800 and Oxygene not far from the top of the new lift in Plagne Centre. And for those of your looking for adventure:  a quick lift up to Plagne Centre gives you easy access to a huge and varied ski area with the huge Vanoise Express linking you to Les Arcs.

To read more about this great resort click here. We feature more that 30 catered chalets in Plagne 1800 alone!

Just Like Last Year:

The first real snowfall has fallen this winter in the same week as it did last winter, which saw some of the best ski conditions in over 20 years. The fantastic snow records are getting everyones hopes up for a fantastic season of powder ahead. With many glacial slopes already open to skiiers and some much lower slopes seeing 4 inch dumps last week we are taking it as a sign of things to come. Snow is falling and forecast right across the alps, we are all itching to snap on those skis and get out for our annual early season 'educational' trips (pictured right)!

Keep those fingers crossed - looks like we may well be in for another bumper season...

Getting you in the Mood:  

Next week sees the London Olympia taken over by the worlds biggest consumer winter sports show for 5 days, running from the 21st to the 25th October 2009. The Metro Ski & Snowboard Show celebrates the alpine experience and hosts a range of new features along with some returning favourites. Whether you’re an experienced rider or a first timer the show has a range of interactive features to entertain, inspire and amaze. Indulge in the mountain experience and rediscover your passion for snow. Tickets are still available!

One of the major attractions for many is the fantastic 'London Ride', the urban edition of the Ride Freesport event series. As a friendly competition for UK and International Riders the London Ride is not an invitational event; the comp is open to accomplished aspiring skiers that are eager to compete with the pros and sponsored riders. The Big Air competition will take place on Saturday 24th October and give London a taste of the International level of freestyle skiing. Skiers such as Flo Wieser (Volkl), Paddy Graham (Volkl), Vivian Gex (Head), James Woods (Salomon) and Murray Buchan (Volkl) will be hitting the Big Air kicker and displaying huge height and awesome style delivering to the crowd different tricks and each riders individual style. 

More Snow Across the Alps:  

Although it's still early days the signs are looking increasingly positive for a pleantiful early snow base like last year. As the winter weather begins to take hold across the eastern Alps this week we are seeing fresh snow falling on many Austrian resorts, the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier at Kaprun had 14cm over the weekend and the piste conditions are good. The strong winds that came with the snow are making skiing conditions a little dubious this week but with blue skies and more powder due we are heading for a great start.  Tignes continued to see more snow on Monday and fresh snow has refreshed piste conditions in Italy in resorts such as Cervinia. 

Family Ski Hotel Wins Awards:

The Chalet Hotel Deux Domains in Belle Plagne, France has won two coveted awards in this year’s CNBC International Property Awards: the first as ‘Best Ski Development in France’, and the second in the even wider category of ‘Best Leisure Development in France’. 

This family hotel has always proved popular amounst our guests with young children. The hotel features huge family rooms and suites, the ease of having 425kms of skiing literally on the doorstep, and the indoor pool, hot-tubs, sauna and steam-room are a big hit too.

With this hotel sepcialising in accomodating families the dedicated child care rooms are hugely important and there are loads of included extras to make traveling with children and babies a simple and enjoyable experience.  It's great to see this ‘official’ stamp of excellence being awarded to a hotel our clients have praised year after year.

White is the new Green:

Many of us have revisited our attitude towards air travel in the past few years but for those of us for whom the lure of the mountains is too strong we ask 'is it possible to ski green?'.

A good start is to consider alternative methods of transport than flight. From London you can take the Eurostar Direct services that take you right up into the mountains: with day time or overnight options these fast trains can get you to many of the European ski resorts. Not only does train travel produce 10 times less CO2 emmisions than air travel but Eurostar have implemented their new 'Tread Lightly' initiative, about which they say 'Our environmental initiative runs through our entire business and affects everything we do, committing us to: a 25% cut in our carbon dioxide emissions per traveller journey by 2012 (which we've already achieved); a 10 point plan to reduce our environmental impact; and making all our passenger journeys carbon neutral'. This is great news for those of you looking to Ski Green.

Tour operators have also stepped up to the challenge and are ensuring they too take every opportunity to make their operations green, with ticketless travel, carbon offset options available and architects are taking their carbon footprint into serious consideration when designing new build chalets. The Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) is the first tourism industry association to incorporate a commitment to Responsible Tourism in to its business charter. All members are required to make some sort of commitment. Ask us about traveling with an eco-friendly travel operator.

Top Tips for Greener Skiing: 
>Your kit has years of useful service in it if you take care of it and repair it when it gets damages. Wax your skis, repair your ski apparel and sharpen your snowboard edges. Or consider hiring instead of buying your own.
>If you do have old ski wear hiding in the loft that is no longer wanted why not donate it to benefit mountain people by logging onto www.mountainfund.org 
>Check out your local Freecycle network where you can post 'wanted' notices for other people unwanted items or pass on your own, and all without a penny changing hands - it's like ebay but without money! www.freecycvle.org.uk
>Most ski wear is made from materials that can take more than 500 years to degrade, you can now buy recycled plastic underwear and fleece. Try www.patagonia.com or www.howies.co.uk
> While you are on holiday remember what's going on at home, turn the heating down and do not leave electrical appliances on standby.

Improvements for Les Gets:

Les Gets are preparing for the approaching ski season with a new run, terrain park improvements and new snowmaking efficiencies.

A new low intermediate ski run, the "Mouille Ronde," will make it possible for low intermediates to ski back down right into the middle of the resort. Starting from the bottom of the Nauchets chairlift in the resort's Rosta/Ranfoilly sector, the trail first passes through an attractive forest before it skirts around the Ecoles lake back down to the village.

At Les Gets, freestyle has taken up residence in the Mont Chéry sector. Facing a splendid Mont Blanc panorama, those in search of a thrill will find it in the Freestyle and JIB district. Work this summer has focused on the progression features, creating more and better jibs and tables.

The snowmaking system at Les Gets is fairly large by Alpine standards, covering 29% of the marked ski terrain, and resort officials are working toward improved efficiencies in both electricity and water utilization. For 2009-10, the village is deploying a new generation of high-efficiency snow cannons in exposed areas that will reduce energy consumption by approximately 20%. Roughly 5km of pipeline is being installed this summer, connecting new wells with existing reservoirs as part of a long-term goal to reduce river and stream utilization from 45% to 16% of Les Gets' snowmaking water supply, and drinking water from 19% to 3%. To make up the difference, the plan calls for drilled water sources to increase from 3% of Les Gets' snowmaking water source to 48%.

Fresh Snow Falling in Europe:

While many of us in the UK are enjoying the last of the summer warm weather, winter has already begun in the mountains. Snow has been reported on the slopes in Kaprun, Saas Fee and Zermatt amongst others. 

With 20cm of fresh snow in Kaprun they will be re-opening as soon as the snow base is fully replenished. In France, autumn skiing is due to kick off in Les Deux Alpes between 24 October and 1 November and then lifts will open for the main winter season from 28 November. The Grande Motte  ski area in Tignes will reopen for skiing from 26 September and neighbouring Val d'Isère opens for the winter season on 28 November. 

Fingers crossed for more of the same over the coming weeks and we'll all be looking forward to yet another season of bumper snow!

Welcome To Our 'New Look' Website:

This is the brand new and improved Chaletline website.  Take a look around.  We've improved loads of the facilities, in particular take a look at our Special Offers page where you can check quickly which offers apply to the resort you want to travel to.  Also you'll notice this new 'News' section where we can keep you up to date with the goings on on and off the slopes and let you know what's new and interesting in the world of ski, both home and away.  If you have any comments we are always open to suggestions, just give us a call or send us an e-mail. We hope you love it as much as we do!

Snow in London:

UK’s ultimate snow sports and music festival is back for 2009!  Taking place in London’s Battersea Power Station from Friday 30th October to Sunday 1st November, FreeSportsOn4 Freeze combines the World’s best snowboarders and skiers with a music line up to match.

This winter Battersea Power Station will transform into London’s very own ski resort with the London leg of the LG Snowboard FIS World Cup, International Freestyle Ski Comp, alpine themed bars and 2 live music stages including the Main Stage Tent and the all new Relentless Live Stage.  Tickets are now on sale and selling fast so be sure you don't miss out on the biggest snow sports and music festival to ever hit the UK!

Click HERE to visit the official website for tickets and further information.

Avoriaz Due For Expansion:

Local reporters have announced the signing of a landmark contract for the resort of Avoriaz. The go ahead has been given for development of the resort due to include the 'Aquariaz', a 2000sq metre water centre with slides, flumes, a river and relaxation pools in a ‘Center Parcs style’. New and improved road and transport access will extend from the existing resort through to the new areas but the good new is that the three architects taken on for the project are under strict instructions to follow the infamous Avoriaz style. It's good to know that even in these times of economic crisis there are still people looking forward and investing in the ski industry. There is no news on when development will begin.

Rail Europe Cancel the SnowTrain:

Rail Europe have recently announced that their Overnight SnowTrain via Paris will not be run for the coming 2009-2010 ski season. Their website states 'Unfortunately, the current economic climate and poor exchange rates along with an increase in our operating costs, has meant that the service would not be financially viable'. For those of you who still want to take the train we suggest the Eurostar Direct Overnight train. It  will get you to your chosen ski resort at very similar times and therefore still allows you to get in 8 days on the slopes. But be aware that it is filling up fast, particularly for peak dates and so if you want to travel by train you need to book now!