Ian & Amanda's Winter week - March 2006

We Arrived in Bourg Saint Maurice early (06:30) on Saturday morning after a nice leisurely journey through the night from London Waterloo.  It was raining in BSM and there was a little snow.  No shuttle bus to the funicular was in sight so we walked there instead.  The funicular only runs from 7:30am so we had a short wait in the cold and rain before we could board.  For reference the shuttle bus runs 07:30 onwards.

7 minutes later we were in Arc 1600 and it was blowing a blizzard, we walked the 20 metres to the bus stop and waited with snow pounding against our faces.  Amanda waited in the bus stop for cover whilst I stood outside in the snow to look after the bags.  The shuttle bus arrived 5-10 minutes later and we jumped on as quickly as possible to get some warmth.

The road up to 1950 was thick with snow.  We met a snow plough which we followed up the hill.  At the bend below 1950 there had been an avalanche on the road and there was a queue of traffic and several snow blowers trying to clear a path.  After about 1 hour the road was clear again and we continued up to 1950, ran straight into the car park and got the lift to reception.

The reception was full of people waiting to leave.  It seems that road conditions had prevented a lot of people from leaving and they had missed their flights or trains – it was really was bad.  I was told that there had been no skiing for the past 2-3 days due to the bad conditions.

My luck wasn’t in this year with getting into my room early, somebody was in my apartment so I had to wait until they had checked-out and the room was cleaned.  The staff in HMC were very helpful and polite and appeared to be on top of things.  I put my bags in my cave and went for some breakfast at Hemingway’s.  My plans for an extra days skiing were scotched though as all the lifts were closed.

The avalanches on the road up to 1950/2000 had caused real problems.  People could not leave the village and people could not drive up to it – this included a lot of the staff and I think this effectively delayed a lot of the room cleaning as my room was not ready until 5pm (just on time).  I counted myself lucky though as some people had to wait outside at the 1600 bus stop for over an hour and others could not make it due to road closures or not having snow chains on their cars, loads of cars were abandoned on the road. 

I guess we were very lucky to be in the village though.  On the Saturday night many people had to sleep in trains, cars and the BSM gymnasium as the road was closed.  They started to arrive on Sunday morning.

We were given drink vouchers whilst waiting and finally ended up in Les Belle Pints for the afternoon.

My apartment had been impeccably cleaned.  It was good to see that more items on my snagging list had been fixed.  We are now left with only 2 outstanding minor snags.  The balcony was full with snow so I asked reception if it could be cleaned and a young man eventually arrived and spent over an hour clearing it.  One thing to note here is that there is a list of who wants their balcony clearing and it is a case of first come first served.  If you want your balcony clearing ask reception as soon as possible.  His efforst were wasted however as the following day it was full again so I cleared it myself.  The supermarket in Arc 2000 sells snow shovels, it’s a lot less hassle and far easier to clear it yourself.  There are a lot of balconies to clear and if I clear my own it means that other guests will have more access to the hotels snow clearer.

Anyway – onto the skiing. 

No Skiing Saturday because of bad weather and avalanche risk.
The rest of the week had limited lifts open and they were changing all the time as the weather and conditions changed.  It reduced the ski area available but did not hamper the skiing.  Because people were confined to a small area there were large queues on the lifts and certain pistes got quite busy.  That said, the snow was fantastic – it just forced me off-piste into some really deep powder – great fun.

I’ve never seen so much snow and such good quality.  Vallandry’s wooded runs shielded you from the snow and allowed better visibility but the snow everywhere was perfect.  Most of the time though, because of the limited area, I just stayed off-piste and made the most of the powder.  It was fantastic

Eating out in Le Village was very disappointing.  The pizza house was fine; the snack bar good value for money (3 Euros for a giant hotdog) and the Creperie offered good food and service.  East was terrible (food and service) and was much talked about.  I felt cheated by Chez Anne.  The food and service was good but they were tight on the Pierrade.  For 28 Euros per person you get about 8 small pieces of meat with some boiled potatoes.  You get no salad, mushrooms, peppers or onions – if you want these then you pay extra.

This takes me on to Chez Eux in 2000.
This is a must visit restaurant (unless you don’t want a Great Dane for company).  The food and service here is first class and better value than any in 1950.  It offers a good menu with specialities such as snails and frogs legs.  Ask for the gastronomic menu if you do not fancy the fondue, raclette or Pierrade menus.  You can book a seat through the HMC reception.

I made the most of the privilege card in Belle Pints – it’s a shame that Luigie’s does not offer good discounts - 4 Euros for a pint of lager is not bad at all even compared to northern beer prices.

Overall we had an excellent holiday.  HMC really do seem to be getting their act together, Norbert is doing a good job and all of the staff were very pleasant.  My room was immaculate on arrival and cleaning staff were visible.  The pool was very cold as usual including the hot tub.  I spoke to Norbert about it and he said that it is on full heat.  I think that there must be a design error here in that the pools heating system cannot cope or it could be that the quantity of snowballs thrown at swimmers cools the water.  I guess Intrawest must play a part as they designed it.  One good thing though was that there was a cleaner in the PdC pool area who seemed to be on top of things.

There were plenty of signs stating that ski boots were not allowed in the hotels and I only saw one person all week disobeying these rules.  The log fire was lit and an English newspaper was available in the PdC reception area.

Unlike last years ski season, there appeared to be far fewer Brits in Le village.  There were a lot of Russians, Germans, Italians and French.  Maybe the pool’s temperature has been designed for Russian tastes – they spent a lot of time rolling in the snow by the pool.

We can’t wait for the summer and wish we had taken 2 weeks rather than 1.  With the amount of snow we had I wouldn’t be surprised if there is still snow in July.

Ian and Amanda