French Alps off piste skiing and snowboarding holiday
| country: | France |
| location: | French Alps |
| departures: | 2010: 17 Jan, 31 Jan, 7 Feb, 28 Feb |
| price: | From €1445 (8 days) excluding flights, on shared room basis, based on room share. |
| more info: | Price includes: 4 day hire of touring equipment, 6 days of off piste skiing safety equipment, 6 days of lift passes (incl. 1 day in Chamonix conditions permitting), 4 days with UIAGM aspirant high mountain guide, all local transport, a catered week at eco ski lodge (see below for details). |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
This week is for powder hounds and experienced skiers who want to push their skiing to a new level.
Spend 4 guided days exploring some world-famous Alpine back country adventures. You’ll also learn about avalanche safety and back country terrain. You need to be a strong skier with off-piste experience.
The first day is an unguided resort day to get organised and get back in touch with the rhythm of skiing or snow boarding. The next day you’ll meet Didier, our guide. He is passionate about the mountains, skiing and people and will assess the weather and conditions daily to make sure your have the best possible week.
We generally start off in Sixt, a secluded lift accessed back country playground where Didier can assess everyone’s level. From there, we may move to the Grand Platieres or Vallon du Sales with it’s exciting 65m rappel down an ice fall. On our door step, the Gers Bowl is a powder paradise when the conditions are right. We can drop down towards the Lac and refuge for lunch and be towed out of the valley behind a skidoo!
When you do a course with us you are fairly sure to meet like minded people and make some good friends. You will eat delicious and healthy food, have wood fired hot tubs under the stars, do yoga stretch sessions in the morning, have home-made brownies or cakes when you get back from your adventures. But... the most important thing is that this week becomes a launching pad for your dreams!
Our alpine ski lodge has been described as a hip 21st Century commune! Our guests come from all over the world but the thing they all have in common is the idea that we all come from the same source, and that the energy here helps them tap into it!
The lodge is run by Saskia and Duncan who have an absolute passion for the outdoors, people and potential! The atmosphere is friendly, laid back, and open; ‘Great feeling’ ‘Great Vibes’ ‘Sense the Love’ ‘Fantastic Energy’... When you stay with us, the group is facilitated to ensure that everyone’s needs are met and that your week is personally tailored to you. The delicious food is carefully prepared by our chef and is mostly organic, wholesome and vegetarian.
Whether you are carving the perfect powder turn or struggling with snow plough, awestruck by the winter light, sitting in the wood fired hot tub under the stars, playing guitar after dinner, saluting to the sun, your holiday here stays with you.
The Grand Massif ski area covers 264kms of piste and is the 3rd largest ski area in Europe. It is perfect for all levels. Our ski chalet is 5 minutes drive from the Samoens and Morillon lifts.
We are becoming well known for our inspiring winter courses. There is one for every level of skier. We work exclusively with hand-picked guides, instructors and international mountain leaders who have similar values and wonderful personalities.
A week at our ski chalet includes:
7x nights at our alpine ski chalet 7x organic continental buffet breakfasts with daily special 5x home-made cakes or biscuits with tea 5x delicious 3+ course largely organic, vegetarian or fish dinners with organic wine with dinner. 5x light room cleaning service 3x 20 minute pre-ski yoga-stretch sessions (not over school holidays) Wood fired hot tub All local transport 4 day hire of touring equipment 6 days of off piste skiing safety equipment 6 days of lift passes (incl. 1 day in Chamonix conditions permitting) 4 days with UIAGM aspirant high mountain guide
There is a free pick up from Cluses train station or an 80 Euro charge for return transfer to Geneva airport
Spend 4 guided days exploring some world-famous Alpine back country adventures. You’ll also learn about avalanche safety and back country terrain. You need to be a strong skier with off-piste experience.
The first day is an unguided resort day to get organised and get back in touch with the rhythm of skiing or snow boarding. The next day you’ll meet Didier, our guide. He is passionate about the mountains, skiing and people and will assess the weather and conditions daily to make sure your have the best possible week.
We generally start off in Sixt, a secluded lift accessed back country playground where Didier can assess everyone’s level. From there, we may move to the Grand Platieres or Vallon du Sales with it’s exciting 65m rappel down an ice fall. On our door step, the Gers Bowl is a powder paradise when the conditions are right. We can drop down towards the Lac and refuge for lunch and be towed out of the valley behind a skidoo!
When you do a course with us you are fairly sure to meet like minded people and make some good friends. You will eat delicious and healthy food, have wood fired hot tubs under the stars, do yoga stretch sessions in the morning, have home-made brownies or cakes when you get back from your adventures. But... the most important thing is that this week becomes a launching pad for your dreams!
a week at our Ski Lodge
Our alpine ski lodge has been described as a hip 21st Century commune! Our guests come from all over the world but the thing they all have in common is the idea that we all come from the same source, and that the energy here helps them tap into it! The lodge is run by Saskia and Duncan who have an absolute passion for the outdoors, people and potential! The atmosphere is friendly, laid back, and open; ‘Great feeling’ ‘Great Vibes’ ‘Sense the Love’ ‘Fantastic Energy’... When you stay with us, the group is facilitated to ensure that everyone’s needs are met and that your week is personally tailored to you. The delicious food is carefully prepared by our chef and is mostly organic, wholesome and vegetarian.
Whether you are carving the perfect powder turn or struggling with snow plough, awestruck by the winter light, sitting in the wood fired hot tub under the stars, playing guitar after dinner, saluting to the sun, your holiday here stays with you.
The Grand Massif ski area covers 264kms of piste and is the 3rd largest ski area in Europe. It is perfect for all levels. Our ski chalet is 5 minutes drive from the Samoens and Morillon lifts.
We are becoming well known for our inspiring winter courses. There is one for every level of skier. We work exclusively with hand-picked guides, instructors and international mountain leaders who have similar values and wonderful personalities.
A week at our ski chalet includes: There is a free pick up from Cluses train station or an 80 Euro charge for return transfer to Geneva airport
how this holiday makes a difference
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Environment
Our local UIAGM guide has a passion for the environment. Didier has a PhD in Earth and Universal Science and has chosen to make his career taking people into the mountains, responsibly. It is through experience of nature that we learn to appreciate the importance of preserving our environment. Our accommodation has been described as a 'posh commune' – you will experience an alternative family lifestyle with a communal, community and environmental ethos. The McCallum family moved from Scotland to France to realise an evolving dream – to reconnect with each other and our environment, to live in the mountains, create a sustainable venue and run 'life-enhancing' courses. It took 3 years and is now up and running and is becoming a 'phenomena'. Journalists have described it as the 'best-eco lodge in the Alps'. Guests often talk about the 'positive energy' here. Renovation: We used sustainable building techniques where affordable including extra thick Warmcell insulation, triple glazed windows facing North, glass walls facing South, a highly efficient wood pellet burner, low temp under floor heating, organic paint, etc. We have mountain source water on tap. We try to consume minimum energy. All our appliances are A or AA and 90% of our lighting is low energy. We recycle metal, plastic, glass, paper and cardboard and compost and the kitchen is set up to make this easy. Our linen is organic cotton and our cleaning products are environmentally sound. Community Ski resorts have become adventure play parks. The lifts scar the mountains, trees are cut down to make way for the lifts, and there is a huge amount of power that goes into running the lift systems and piste bashers. Our closest ski area, The Grand Massif are making a concerted effort to minimise the impact of skiing on the environment. We do use the lifts on this course, but we then hike out of the pisted areas. Experiencing the stillness of back country, we really appreciate the impact ski resorts have on the mountains. We source 90% of our food wholesale from organic wholesalers and local farms. Our milk is from the neighbouring farm and we make our own rice milk. We will start growing our own vegetables this year. We also encourage guests to eat in the village, the mountain yurt and local farm restaurant, which are within walking distance. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |