Lift passes

Another question that I'm often asked (by English clients) is whether it's possible to buy lift passes either at a discount (wishful thinking!) or in advance. They can be bought on-line, if you prefer to avoid getting your point across to a French lady across a glass-paned booth (it's bad enough in England!), but the minimum number of days that a pass can be bought for on-line, is five days.

Click on Lift Pass for the on-line service. The 'Assurance' button is actually not cheap life 'assurance' but accident insurance to cover your (pretty speedy) repatriation off the slopes by helicopter, if needed. If you're annual insurance already covers this, then there's obviously no need to pay for it again, but I've started to pay the extra €16 that they charge for a week of helicopter-if-you-need-it back-up, as I don't want to have to find out afterwards that the cover I thought I had is only valid if the prevailing wind that fateful day is from the east!

If you want to ski the neighbouring slopes of Megeve, St Gervais etc (see below) then choose 'Domaine Evasion' on the drop-down menu that appears when you 'Choose your ski area'. It's a huge area for those who like to pull their piste map out every other minute!

Otherwise, for Les Contamines (below), select 'Contamines-Montjoie/Hauteluce'. We've always found plenty to keep us busy ski-ing the Contamines/Hauteluce side, especially as it's much easier to let kids who can ski well roam free over this area, but I know adult-only parties like to spread the wings a bit and see the neighbouring ski areas too.

Finally, when you select the period for which you want the lift pass to be valid, everything's pretty obvious other than what a '5/6/7 days Liberte' pass is. In contrast to the 'consecutive' options, this one allows you to choose 5/6/7 non-consecutive days, in case you want to go off to another ski area or fancy a day lolling around in the chalet, or shopping in Chamonix or Megeve.

NB: You need to do this at least two weeks in advance of your holiday.

Master Suite

I'm often asked by people booking the chalet which is the 'master suite'. The simple answer is that no bedroom stands out from any other in such a way that it could be considered a master suite.

This is what I wrote recently to a client visiting in January:

There is no obvious master suite - all rooms have their pluses and minuses. Two bedrooms are on the middle floor; the rest are on the top floor. When we first started visiting the chalet (in 2001), my wife & I stayed in the top-floor, front-facing twin [CH. 3 below]. It's a good size and has lovely views, and the benefit of a window if you like fresh air but don't want to get it by opening the doors to the balcony. But the bathroom is smaller than the front-facing twin on the middle floor [CH. 1 below], and the shower is a bit cramped if you're 6' 3" like me! So, over time, we've drifted down to the front-facing twin room on the middle floor [CH. 1 below]. Its only drawbacks are that it does not have a separate window for air control at night (but you can achieve this by leaving the window open in the adjacent bathroom) and it is next to the sitting room and opposite the kitchen. That's only a drawback if you want to retire earlier than other guests at night, or if you like to lie in while others get breakfast ready for you, as the kitchen is opposite. There is a nice front-facing double room on the middle floor [CH. 2 below], which is further away from the kitchen and sitting room, but it's only a double or queen size bed, and we're used to having a bigger bed than that, so my wife & I don't use it. Its bathroom isn't as nice as the twin, only because it doesn't have a window. Friends who have used it, love it; so I leave it to you to decide! It's worth noting that we've spent all but a few days of our time at the chalet in summer and spring, when it's warm, hence the windows at night issue. It's probably not an issue in January!

For those for whom words are not enough, there are lay-out plans on our website (smaller versions inserted below) which will help you picture what I describe above. There are also plenty of photos on our website, which will help even more.

Summer in the Alps

At this time of year, as freezing weather grips Northern Europe (something we seem to be becoming unaccustomed to, with our minds set on global warming), the English and French are plotting their summer escapes.

We've had a repeat two-week booking of the chalet and the apartment from our friends at Mammoth Lifestyle, whose col-conquering needs we met last year (look at the 'rogues gallery' in the chalet for proof of their cycling exploits) and, this week, our first French booking for the chalet and the apartment for the first week in August, from new clients based in Paris.

For those who don't know Les Contamines in the summer (we first came here in the summer), it's a thriving place, with endless ways of tiring everyone out, whether on walks through the Alpages, paragliding down the valley, white-water rafting on the Arve, tennis at the Dominguez centre, swimming in the lake, trampolining and aerial confidence courses and climbing school (all within cycling distance of the chalet), mountain-biking along the many mountain tracks (the lifts take your bike up!) or, as Mammoth followers prefer, cycling up and down every col in the area, and following the Tour de France in the process.

Kids roam free here (or at least ours have since they were about 10) as the village is at the end of a valley, there's no through-traffic, and it's populated and visited by wholesome people pursuing old-fashioned aerobic activities. No games consoles here!

And it can be hot! Last summer, we had many weeks in the 30s (deg. C); that's climate change for you!

E-mail us now with your preferred dates by clicking here..

Ski & boot hire

We've been coming to Les Contamines since the summer of 2001, and ski-ing here every year since the spring of 2002. In all that time, we've always hired our skis & boots from Eric & Thierry Ronchail, who run & own the two Intersport shops in the village. They speak fluent English, as do many of their staff, like Giles who works at the central location.

The map shows their locations, one in the centre of the village, the other closer to the lifts. It doesn't matter which one you hire from as they work together, as you'd expect. So you can walk down to the shop in the centre of the village (from La Frasse), get fitted out and take your skis with you and, if you need to have any adjustments made during the week, you can always pop into the shop near the Lay lifts and Thierry or one of his merry men will help you out.

Eric & Thierry have kindly agreed to offer Chalet Kiana customers a discount on their competitive rates, as follows:

Jan/Mar/Apr: -20%

Feb:               -10%

That means for top level ("Black") ski & boot hire for 6 days in Jan/Mar/Apr, you'll be paying about £100. And if the skis or boots don't suit you, or you want to try another type of ski, you simply take them back and ask for something else. (Discounted rates that you may see elsewhere rarely offer this level of flexibility; you hire for a fixed period and that's it!) If you only ski for 4 days, with our arrangement, you take them back and only pay for 4 days.

Give them a call: Ronchail Sports (InterSport)

Club Kiana

Chalet Kiana continues to differentiate itself from the crowd! We're now launching Club Kiana - membership is free...but it's only open to returning clients!


So what's it all about? There are five aspects to membership that should interest you:

1. Discounts on our rates - rising
2. Security Deposits - banished
3. Leave your skis with us - for free
4. Blog with us
5. Party
   

1. Discounts on our rates

For returning clients, we're offering a rising scale of discounts on our published rates. Members (i.e. returning clients who have posted a review on Holiday Rentals or Abritel) can claim a 2.5% discount on their first return visit, rising to 5.0% on their second return visit...and so on, up to a full 10% discount on peak weeks (Christmas, New Year, Half Term and Easter) and a staggering 20% on all other weeks. Generous or foolish; I'm not sure which?!

2. Security Deposits
Security deposits are banished from now on! You've been before, and didn't trash the place, so we're guessing you'll behave similarly next time! We've had three significant breakages this year, two in the chalet and one in the apartment. But we didn't hold back any client security deposits; nor did we send the bill to any of them! We just got on with it and fixed it. We didn't spot the broken arm on the new sofa in the apartment until well after the offending guests had left & we'd handed back their deposit (clever rearrangement of the sofa meant it wasn't obvious!). Nor did we spot the broken glass inner door in the oven - but our guests owned up, we got it fixed and swallowed the cost! We did spot the broken glass panel in the sliding door, which cost an arm and a leg to fix, but we left it at that. Too nice? Probably, but we're learning!

3. Leave your skis with us
If you're a Club Kiana member (it's a really tacky name, I know, so I'm going to have to ask readers for inspiration on an alternative - watch the blog!), you can leave your skis with us when you leave. We'll get them tidied up at the end of the season so that they're sharp-edged and waxed for your return.

4. Blog with us
Yes, we're happy to let members contribute to our blog; just let us know by sending us an e-mail (chaletkiana@mac.com) and we'll sort you out as a contributor.

5. Party
Every year we're going to hold a drinks party, for Club Kiana clients. The drinks party will be held in London and will give us a chance to meet our clients (rather than just send them e-mails and receive their cheques!). We're not only looking forward to meeting you and hearing how much you enjoyed yourselves, but also, we'd like to hear from you first-hand what more we can do to make Kiana and Les Contamines a great place to take a break.

If there are other aspects to membership that you'd like to see, please let us know!

The snow's falling...

...here in Staffordshire! It's driving me nuts; not because everyone else drives at 20 mph on the road; nor because the country grinds to a halt. No, it's because I'm sitting at my desk in the Home Office, rather than carving through powder in Les Contamines!

I can't help myself from looking at the multitude of apps that tell me what the weather's doing in every nook and cranny around the world. It helps to make me even more frustrated to know that more & more snow is falling in Les Contamines (according to SnowReports' app, feeding me information provided by OnTheSnow.com) and I'm not out there enjoying it! The pain of the modern era is unremitting!

Anyway, it's nice to see that Les Contamines has more snow (as usual) than the finest resorts of France, Switzerland and Austria! (I haven't been ski-ing in Italy so I have no reference resorts there to ogle at). Base depths in Les Contamines (Lower/Upper) are now 20cms and 195 cms, and it's only the first week of January! Here are the others, for the data-hungry:

• Megeve: 50/145
• Chamonix: 70/365 (they must be measuring the snow on Mt. Blanc!)
• Morzine: 50/160
• Courchevel: 74/115
• Meribel: 60/115
• Champery: 30/80 (call yourselves a ski resort?!)
  
• Flims/Laax: 100/168
• Grindelwald: 20/102
• Klosters: 32/120
• Murren: 57/152
• Verbier: 30/165
• Zermatt: 15/109 (oh dear!!)
  
• St. Anton: 130/145
• Kitzbuhel: I'm not that cruel!
  

So, there you have it...I'll no doubt have started a snow war amongst other-resort fanciers!

New Team

I'm very late in sharing with you the fact that we have a new team working with us this year. I say 'with' us rather than 'for' us because that's how it is. Rather than employ Nick & Laura Pomeroy, I have engaged them as 'service providers', just like a supplier, albeit a 'partner supplier' in modern business parlance.

Anyway, technicalities aside, Nick & Laura have set up their own company, Unique Powder Holidays Ltd and, luckily for us, have decided to base themselves in St. Gervais, as their friend and business partner Jamie lives there. We have engaged them for the whole season as Chalet Manager (Nick) and Chalet Host (Laura). They're there to help you with as much or as little as you like.

That means Nick'll clear the snow around the chalet in the mornings, see to the Jacuzzi, bring wood in and lay the fire up for your return from ski-ing in the afternoon and then help Laura give the chalet a quick tidy before they head out for the mountains (it's difficult to keep them away from boarding or ski-ing the white stuff).

Laura's also an experienced chef, as is their partner Jamie, when he's not jumping off cliffs. Laura can deliver anything from a single meal to be left out for you to put in the oven to a fully-catered week. It's up to you to let us know what you're after. If it's anything more than haphazard cooking (where you're prepared to take the risk that Laura isn't cooking for some other chalet in the valley) then you need to book her at least three weeks (preferably more) in advance. She'll then make sure that her time is kept free for your catering needs.