Alpine Summer Action – Preparation and Development!
We all know the mountains as the playground of Winter sports, the home to skiing and snowboarding, the burden of our beast, and the pinnacle and landscape of a very developed and increasingly lavish tourism market, that we have all fallen for hook line and sinker!
In the Summer the environment is extremely different. The streets are empty, the slopes are green, the people are few and far between (even Ronnies is closed!), and it is a very relaxed and rather nice place to be!
I am currently out on a trip around our French resorts to ensure that our basic requirements for the 2012/13 season are all confirmed and organised.
In resort you find a few hardcore seasonnaires, who have made the full commitment to the alpine lifestyle through various different enterprises, a handful of hotel and chalet owners making changes and upgrades for next season, lots of builders improving buildings left right and centre, real estate agencies making sure that everything is booked up and sold for the next season, and a few holiday makers either trekking through the mountains or by bike.
The Tour de France passes by close to here today, which has caused a good stir in town.
There is a lot of development happening around the resorts with the majority of tired looking building getting fully renovated in order to make the most of the prime location and ensure a top class service for the ever growing fleet of above normal wealthy clients paying above the odds for a week of supreme luxury in the mountains. The highest I’ve heard so far is one chalet going for £150k a week during the peak Summer months!!!
One exciting development happening in Méribel at the moment is the upgrade to the Saulire gondola, halfing travel time, reducing queues, and bringing the instalment of the alpes largest Folie Douce!
You do get a feeling that the locals look forward to the Summer. The winter is where they cut their teeth, where the mighty rise and the weak stumble, it is where the boys become men and people’s livelihoods are at stake. The Summer is a different environment, one for reconciliation, time to relax and to assess the ups and downs of the season gone by. Make exciting new plans for the season coming, time to share, install and make real all your visions and dreams; and make sure that next time the snow falls and Winter comes you’re prepared and ready for battle! It is exactly this atmosphere that ensures the snowsports industry is constantly evolving, and if you take your eyes off the prize you will quickly get left long behind!
In the Summer the environment is extremely different. The streets are empty, the slopes are green, the people are few and far between (even Ronnies is closed!), and it is a very relaxed and rather nice place to be!
I am currently out on a trip around our French resorts to ensure that our basic requirements for the 2012/13 season are all confirmed and organised.
In resort you find a few hardcore seasonnaires, who have made the full commitment to the alpine lifestyle through various different enterprises, a handful of hotel and chalet owners making changes and upgrades for next season, lots of builders improving buildings left right and centre, real estate agencies making sure that everything is booked up and sold for the next season, and a few holiday makers either trekking through the mountains or by bike.
The Tour de France passes by close to here today, which has caused a good stir in town.
There is a lot of development happening around the resorts with the majority of tired looking building getting fully renovated in order to make the most of the prime location and ensure a top class service for the ever growing fleet of above normal wealthy clients paying above the odds for a week of supreme luxury in the mountains. The highest I’ve heard so far is one chalet going for £150k a week during the peak Summer months!!!
One exciting development happening in Méribel at the moment is the upgrade to the Saulire gondola, halfing travel time, reducing queues, and bringing the instalment of the alpes largest Folie Douce!
You do get a feeling that the locals look forward to the Summer. The winter is where they cut their teeth, where the mighty rise and the weak stumble, it is where the boys become men and people’s livelihoods are at stake. The Summer is a different environment, one for reconciliation, time to relax and to assess the ups and downs of the season gone by. Make exciting new plans for the season coming, time to share, install and make real all your visions and dreams; and make sure that next time the snow falls and Winter comes you’re prepared and ready for battle! It is exactly this atmosphere that ensures the snowsports industry is constantly evolving, and if you take your eyes off the prize you will quickly get left long behind!
