TOUR DE FRANCE 2019

After ignoring the Tarentaise for what seemed like absolutely ages, the Tour de France returns this coming summer for the second year in a row.  This time it will be right at the end of the race, and it could be Tarentaise tarmac that determines who wins.

Following on from Geraint Thomas' victory in La Rosiere, the Tour will be visiting Tignes for a stage finish on 26th July, having first claimed the 2,700m Col de l''Iseran (from the Maurienne side).  The tour last visited Tignes in 2007 when the stage was won by the soon-to-be-disgraced Michael Rasmussen - more here.

And then the next day - the last one before Paris - the Tour will start at Albertville, pass through the pastoral delight that is the Beaufortain and then drop into Bourg St Maurice en route to the long drawn out final climb to the summit finish at Tignes.

In Bourg the best place to watch may be by the roundabout at foot of the Cormet de Roselend.

Full route details here.

A DAY TRIP TO TIGNES: Dos and Don'ts

The Espace Killy ski area is well within striking range for a day trip from Les Arcs.  It claims to be "le plus bel espace de ski du monde", and you certainly can't criticise the majestic mountain scenery which awaits - including buckets of off-piste.

Here are a few dos and don'ts for the keen day-tripper...

Do:

• Park at Les Brevieres rather than struggle up to Tignes Le Lac - it's much nearer, the parking is free, and you get a nice long run home (blue or black) at the end of the day.
• Book an Espace Killy pass, as it's likely you'll stray over the Val d'Isere border at some point during the day
• Study the piste map. The links between Le Lac and Val Claret are not immediately clear, so you need to plan your route
• Have a good old moan at the restaurant by the Col du Palet lift which makes you pay to go to the loo
• Plan your lunch; the mountain restaurants on the Tignes side are few and far between. The self-service at the top of the Chaudannes lift is reasonable.  Avoid the fast-developing Tignes 1800 at lunchtime: it lacks both soul and sunshine 

Don't:

• Take the Marais lift once you arrive at the gondola above Les Brevieres.  It's very slow and broke down for half an hour during our day there.  A visit to the Aiguille Percée is a must, but much better to take the lift from the other side

• Forget that the fast Les Lanches chairlift is an excellent alternative to the underground at Val Claret, which I'm not too keen on as it reminds me of my morning commute

Tignes has far more slow lifts than
Les Arcs: Le Marais is one of them

L'Aiguille Percée

ELECTIONS ROUND-UP

The 2nd round of the French presidential elections saw Savoie vote for Macron over Le Pen by a 65% to 35% margin.  A result which almost exactly followed the national picture.

Locally, the valley tends to vote for the candidates of the right, but not of the far right.

Val d'Isere is the most notable example of this pattern - with 52% voting for Fillon in the 1st round - not far off the 58% recorded by Sarkozy in 2012. Yet just 12% supported Le Pen, and she trailed in 4th place - just behind Melenchon (12%) and Macron (11%).  Come the second round, the village voted strongly for Macron, by 72% to 28%.

Tignes followed a similar pathway, albeit without quite such thumping first-round victory for Fillon.

Bourg-St-Maurice is more of a mixed bag politically, with Fillon emerging out in front after the first round, but only just.  Again, Marine Le Pen came in fourth:

Bourg-Saint-Maurice 1st round results

Click here to explore all the results

Set against all this, the most politically interesting village in the valley is Landry, which put Melenchon first, with all the main candidates putting in a decent showing.

Séez is notable for having Le Pen narrowly ahead in round 1, albeit defeated by 62-38 in the run-off.  The FN candidate did relatively well in Villaroger too.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Montvalezan (below La Rosiere) saw one of the heaviest victories for Macron last Sunday, by 76% to 24%.

Next up: the parliamentary elections in June...

THE INTERSEASON

The lifts have finally closed in the Tarentaise.  Even those in Val Thorens have stopped running.

Val Thorens, 8 May 2016
Source: VT Facebook page

Ski addicts have to leave their equipment in the garage until 25th June, when Tignes will open the Grande Motte glacier for the summer season.  For more on the history of summer skiing, including its slow recent decline, click here.

Over in La Rosiere, the rather good Espace San Bernardo Facebook page has some good shots of the mountain as it makes its transition from white to green.

Meanwhile the Les Arcs site has its summer skin - with its new branding now in situ.  More on the resort's updated look and feel here.

At the foot of the valley, the big news are the rockfalls on Mont Granier, emblematic mountain of the Chartreuse, which will be familiar to regular users of the motorway from Albertville to Chambéry.  This is the 3rd major incident of the year.  Noone has been hurt this year - in contrast to the disaster of 24-25 November 1248: that rockfall resulted in c1,000 deaths and the mountain's current distinctive shape, including its striking 700m deep cliff.

Mont Granier (1933m)
Source: @ChamberyFrance

WINTER IS COMING

With the temperatures now starting to drop, a quick round-up of some of the pre-season news from the Tarentaise.

Les Arcs makes the Best Resorts for Experts list in the Telegraph.

Scary TV show The Returned is back on French screens and is back on More 4 on 16th October.  Although much of it is shot in Annecy, series 1 gave the Tignes dam a starring role:

There's more of this at the Les Revenants Facebook page

The Les Arcs Film Festival is gearing up for its annual event, which runs from 12th December.  The special focus this year is on Norwegian films.  This coincides with the start of the season, which includes new lifts in Les Arcs and La Plagne, as well as completion of the Mille 8 development above Arc 1800.

Further up the valley, conditions at the Grande Motte over the summer were terrible.  But if you can't wait until December, the Tignes glacier is now open for business.

If you want to follow the valley from afar, the @La_Rosiere1850 twitter feed is arguably the best.

ROCKS AND STONES: The Grande Motte Glacier

Picking up on the post below about the retreat of the glaciers, today's Le Dauphiné  describes the increasingly poor conditions facing summer skiers on the glacier at Tignes. Some 20kms of pistes are open this summer - but rocks and stones have replaced snow and ice in many parts of the Grande Motte area.  The skiing is open until 9 August - unless the warm weather continues....

More at www.ledauphiné.com

Tignes is one of only a handful of French resorts still open for summer skiing.  Chamonix is no longer among them.

Diccon Bewes' excellent Slow Train to Switzerland provides us with a then-and-now account of the retreat of the ice at Montveners in Chamonix.  He quotes John Murray, in his 1861 hand-book for travellers in Switzerland and the Alps of Savoy and Piedmont:

The view of this enormous sea of ice is one of the most 

striking scenes of wonder, but its great extent....is not appreciated at first.

Not any more, says Bewes:

And a quick Google search provides more evidence of how it has retreated since its heyday.

The book retraces the steps
of one of the original Thomas Cook
expeditions - more here

HAPPY EASTER

Last week Le Figaro set out its recommendations for late-season skiing - including Val d'Isere (closes 3 May) and Tignes (10 May).  It also discusses the implications on the ski market of the recent changes to the French school holiday calendar.  They now run from 10 April-11 May.  The result: the Easter period now represents some 2% of takings, down from 8-10% previously.  Much to the irritation of ski resort bosses: see here for more.

The latest news is that tourism minister Laurent Fabius is taking a look at all this - his response is due in a few weeks' time.

For British skiers, it means that things will be quiet in late March and early April, and the snow cover is now absolutely fine.  With this in mind, WeLove2Ski has done an "In Praise of Late-Season Skiing" review.  The good news being that Les Arcs, La Rosiere, Ste-Foy and Tignes all make the grade.

En route to the glacier at La Plagne

LAKE EXPECTATIONS: Tignes

A round-up of what's new, 18 months on from this update on Tignes (for its wikipedia entry click here).

1. Tignespace opened: "the most innovative sports and conference centre in the Alps", according to the website.  It is an example of how Tignes is always looking to innovate and try new things.

2. The X-Games have moved back to the US - much to the  irritation of resort bosses.

3. A shiny new Aeroski lift lift opened in 2013.

4. The new upmarket development billed as Tignes 1800 also opened for the 2013/14 season.

5. The Tignes dam featured centre stage in The Returned, which featured on British TV screens during Summer 2013: a new series is coming soon.

6. And the dam features in the Telegraph this month, showcasing April's visit to the drained dam by Andrew Aird of Ski Adventures.

7. Some of our nation's finest young minds will be in resort from 13 December - aka the Sussex Snow winter ski trip.

It's a fascinating place - less attractive than Val d'Isere maybe, but with bags more character.  The history is quite something: the flooded valley, the new resort built up at Le Lac, its embracing of everything "sportif", the fresco on the side of the dam.  If you've ever got time to kill, take a look at the exhibition at the Maison de Tignes at the heart of Lac.

Before the deluge.
Paris Match, 1952

Park at Les Brevieres and make
the Sache black run or Corniche blue
your last descent of the day, taking in
the unique Aiguille Percée 

SKI SEASON 2013/14: Not too bad, all things considering

Easter Monday's Le Dauphiné (now behind the paywall) saw the paper reviewing the ski season just gone.

The overall conclusions, according to the professionals, are of a "broadly satisfactory" season, with occupancy rates of "between 58% and 69%".

This could be putting a slightly brave face on things.  The article goes on to say that most resorts are reporting a decline since last year, particularly in the Savoie, the southern Alps and the Jura.  The dodgy weather at the start of the season, indifferent economic situation and late school holidays have all been contributory factors....

Other headlines include:

• A further movement towards last minute and short stays
• Fewer opting for "all-inclusive" breaks
• The Brits apparently making a comeback
• Busy resorts at peak periods (December, February) but terrible low-season. For example, Bonneval-sur-Arc, which says skier numbers are up 3%, posted 86% occupancy at Christmas/New Year, but just 10% during January
• A "good" season in Val Thorens (+1.5%), which reports 80% occupancy, and will not beclosing until 11 May.  VT says 70% of its visitors are foreign
• Tignes is stable, which it is quite pleased with performance given the cancellation of the X-Games in March.  They had 30% occupation at Easter, thanks to the Belgians, Danes and Brits
• Val d'Isere is down 3% - they say that they had a particularly good season last year, making like-for-like improvement difficult.  Oh, and the negative image presented on by pesky lower resorts "in need of snow" hasn't helped Val, where l'or blanc has been plentiful

Empty Chairs: Les Arcs saw a 9% fall in visitor
numbers between 2009-12
(Source: Ski Adventures)

For more on the British market, which saw skier numbers tumble from 1.2m pre-crash to 900,000 in 2012/13, click here.

NOT-SO-HAPPY EASTER: Late School Holidays

Update 4 May 2013: 

Easter Monday's Le Dauphiné says there has been a 70% fall in the number of skiers present in resorts during the spring holidays - and they now represent just 2% of the total ski season.

Things were slightly better than last year, due to the timing of the Paris school holidays, apparently.

Some 50/300 resorts were open over Easter - with 1.6m on average at the top of the mountain.  

For season 2014/15, things may not be quite as bad, given that Easter is earlier, but it's clearly THE time to go for cheap deals.

****

It may not have quite been a bumper season, but snow depths are holding up well for mid April.

Only problem is, France isn't on holiday yet.

Easter has never been a peak time for skiing, but recent changes to the school holiday calendar mean that the first tranche of holidays don't even start until this weekend.

And Zone A will have to wait until 26th April, the day Les Arcs closes.

The French ski resort association is really, really unhappy about this.  It, together with representatives of the seasonal workers, has been campaigning for a reform ever since the calendar changed in 2010.  Although they have been successful in achieving a small change to the Christmas holiday dates for 2016-17, the problem remains.  "To wait until 2015 for a more profound reform, it's just too long."

For more on French school holidays click here

According to their press release, skiers numbers during April are down 10-20%, and jobs are on the line.  "This benefits neither the mountain nor the coastal resorts".

Meanwhile, the only hope for Zone A skiers seems to be Val d'Isere (open until 4 May), Tignes and Val Thorens (open until 11 May).  A full guide to closure dates can be found here.

Too late: only 3 resorts will be open for the Zone A holidays

MOUNTAIN HIGH, VALLEY LOW: The Price of Skiing

Skiing has never been cheap.  Not least for British skiers, given the distance involved and therefore the need to spend a few days in the mountains.  Witness the sharp fall in Brits taking to the slopes, from 1,227,000 in 2007/8 to 899,000 last year.

In the Telegraph, Peter Hardy finds "budget" chalets for the package holiday skier in Peisey Vallandry, Val d'Isere and the Sella Ronda.  In terms of resorts, he recommends Baqueira-Beret (where you may still see the Spanish royal family), Madesimo and, in the Maurienne Valley, Aussois.

Meanwhile, Where to Ski and Snowboard has taken a systematic view in recent years.  It calculates an a "RPI" for each resort, based on a basket of indicators.  The "average" score is 100, with Ste-Foy (85) and Val Cenis (80) emerging as the best value of the bigger French resorts.

A week's Paradiski pass will set you back €277

For short breaks, the cheapest option is to stay down in the valley.  Bourg St Maurice, is one of the most obvious options, with funicular railway or easy bus access to Les Arcs/La Plagne, La Rosiere, Tignes and Val d'Isere.  (That said, the choice of hotels is limited).  Albertville may not be everyone's idea of heaven, but it's very close to Valmorel, Crest Voland and Areches-Beaufort.  Annecy is a more mainstream and probably sensible base, with Le Grand Bornand, La Clusaz and Le Semnoz close by.

And for the day-tripping skier, the enterprising www.ausommet.fr has put together a handy guide.  The chart the prices being charged by the various resorts.  Note: a significant proportion are owned by Compagnie des Alpes, who, by clever pricing, managed to increase revenues by 3% last year, thereby outpacing the modest 1% rise in skier numbers - more here.  In that vein perhaps, we see that prices are still rising, particularly in Les 3 Valleés, at 57€, beats Chamonix to the "most expensive" prize by 50 centimes.

The costs may be eye-watering, but generally the hierarchy seems reasonable (eg Valmorel's Grand Domaine and La Rosiere's Espace San Bernadino are priced similarly). Bonneval sur Arc comes in perhaps as best value: 24€ for a ski area with slopes from 1800-3000m.

SUMMER SKIING

Val d'Isere, Tignes and Les 2 Alpes are the three main remaining sites for summer skiing in France - details of opening times etc here.  Deux Alpes seems to have the slight edge over Tignes, boasting an 800m vertical drop.

It may be a poor third, but the short summer skiing season in Val d'Isere is already underway - more details on Henry's Avalanche Talk.

After the middle of July, the two remaining choices will be Tignes and Les 2 Alpes. www.summerski.co.uk is a loyal companion.

There used to be a rather greater choice of venues...

La Plagne gave up in 2005.  The Chiaupe glacier used to be a nice, quiet, mellow place to go in summer, according to Frogblog.  It sounds like skiing up here could have continued, but it was simply not economical any more.

Alpe d'Huez used to open regularly, but no more - although it was "exceptionally" open for a week in June 2012.

Apparently there used to be summer skiing on the Grands Montets in Chamonix until the 1980s.

And Val Thorens used to attract serious skiers to the steep Peclet slopes, but global warming made things more and more difficult through the 1990s, before they gave up altogether in 2002.

Back in Les Arcs, the focus in recent years has been more on protecting the Varet glacier from retreating any further, for example in spending €30,000 on a protective sheet to keep the snow away from the sun between May and September.  I haven't researched it extensively, but there seems to be some discussion as to whether there used to be a draglift on the glacier during the 1980s.  It seems that summer skiing was certainly on the summer lift map at that time, but a guide rather than via a ski lift.

Further east, there is more summer skiing to be in Switzerland (Engleberg & Saas Fee, but no longer in Verbier or St Moritz).  Austria has a number of sites: Kaprun, Stubai, Hintertux (where lots of ski teams train) and Solden (one of the few areas for Autumn skiing) - more here.  The excellent www.weathertoski.co.uk site gives the title of "best summer ski area" in Europe to Hintertux.

LE TOUR DE FRANCE IN THE TARENTAISE

This year's Tour de France sees the peloton visit the Tarentaise briefly en route from Bourg d'Oisans to the practically perfect Le Grand Bornand.

The Tour has spent a good deal of time in the valley in previous years.  Here's a quick resumé:

Les Arcs 1996 - scene of Indurain's downfall

The doctor's car at Arc 1800, July 2009

Bourg St Maurice 2009 - Armstrong and co stayed in Arc 1950; the poorer teams like Euskatel made do with Arc 1800

La Plagne - "it's Stephen Roche!!", visited in 1984, 1995 and 2002

Tignes 2007 - won by the (later disgraced) Rasmussen

Val d'Isere - visited in 1963, 1996 and 2007.  At some point the Tour will make the climb to the top of the Col de l'Iseran.  That's the hope, anyway

TIGNES: Round-up

Click here for English language website

Tignes needs little introduction to regular skiers.  It may not be beautiful, but for me has much more character than Val d'Isere.  If you're day-tripping, park at Les Brevieres. There is also a snowy car park at Les Boisses, although make sure you have chains or good tyres if you park here.  Les Boisses is the site of the giant Tignes dam, which feeds the power station at Bourg St Maurice (and the electricity needs of some 350,000 people).


Some links from this blog:

Tignes in the 2007 Tour de France

6 good things about Tignes


Other links:

ESF at the Lac de Tignes.  One of the rare ski schools to offer collective off-piste ("grand ski") lessons

The We Love 2 Ski guide to Tignes

The Where to Ski and Snowboard guide

Le lac webcam via www.tignes.co.uk


Tignes has really made an effort with its various events, with the X-Games really growing in stature in recent years:

THE SEASON SO FAR

It's been a pretty good season so far - snow depths are looking healthy, with La Plagne reporting 102/102 lifts open, and the Ski Club of Great Britain giving piste conditions an "excellent" rating.

And the skiers have duly arrived in resort to enjoy the snow.  Pierre et Vacances report a better season than 2011/12, and Odalys say they are 95% of the way to reaching their targets.  "We are surprised.  Everyone is surprised" they say, bearing in mind the depressing economic backdrop.  It's a bit early to know what this means for the British ski market, or indeed whether the Swiss are starting to recover.  Another barometer is the performance of the giant Compagnie des Alpes, who run the lifts for most of France's Premier League resorts.  The first part of the season was "satisfactory" - we need to wait until 25th April to see if they upgrade their assessment.

Les Arcs is one of the resorts run by
the Compagnie des Alpes

From a British ski business point of view, the big news is the "banning of ski hosts" by the Albertville court.  It's a complex issue - more here - and one which the tour operators have vowed to keep on fighting.  Twelve ski holiday providers, including Inghams, Crystal and Thomson, met last week, although they are pausing until they've seen the written judgement.  A useful update from the Telegraph is here.  And here's another perspective on the issue from The Good Ski Guide.

The abundant snowfalls also bring reminders of just how dangerous it can be.  Le Monde reports that 8 people have died over the last week in avalanches, including a guide and their client in Tignes.

Looking to the future....which resorts should we watch out for?  La Rosiere is clearly on the up, but watch out for more coverage of Montgenevre in your Saturday travel supplements.  There's been a lot of investment in accommodation, it's reasonably easy to access via Turin, and is having a marketing push aimed at Parisien and Northern European skiers.  It could do with a new website though...

THE TOP 50: According to L'Equipe

L'Equipe magazine published its league table of the Top 50 resorts in France on 24 November.  Scroll through the pictures of the Top 25 resorts to see the full classement.

In a way it's not that controversial, as it covers just about all the resorts, although a number of the smaller ones, like Géradmer in the Vosges, have found it useful for their PR efforts.

Ste-Foy (in the background) doesn't make the Top 50
Villaroger (foreground) is part of 9th-placed Les Arcs

Once the scores on quite a wide range of criteria are added up, the winner is.....
La Plagne.  

It only seems to fall down on two things: cross-country skiing and fancy restaurants.

And it beats local rival Les Arcs for having a halfpipe, facilities for families, sports facilities and having "villages de charme".

The other resorts in the top ten are Val d'Isere, Chamonix, Les Menuires, Megeve, Méribel, Tignes, Val Thorens and Les Arcs.

So, no surprises there, but it seems slightly odd to see Flaine at No 26, La Rosiere at No 30 and Valmorel at No 44.

Of course these league tables are most certainly an art rather than a science.  For example, Alpes magazine places Serre Chevalier as No 1 in its "well-being and relaxation" league table and Alpe d'Huez as No 1 for "Le Grand Ski" and "Extreme Glisse".

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: Property Prices in the Alps

Although the season has started well, the ski industry has most certainly not been immune from the financial crisis.  Last year was just about OK for France and Austria, with Switzerland faring badly - more here.

This week Les Echos published a survey of the latest property market trends across the northern French Alps.

Bargain basement? Arc 1800

The headlines include:

• A slowdown in sales.  Prices aren't tumbling, but buyers should be able to negotiate.  Recent tax changes haven't helped
• The resorts in good locations with the right accommodation are doing OK
• Big differences, even within a relatively small area.  The price per m2, for example ranges from 1,911€ in an Arc 2000 studio, to €13.108 in a larger pad up the road in Val d'Isere
• The old 1970s flats are not in vogue - indeed there is a movement among some proprietères to join two apartments together to form one larger, more attractive space. "Those with the money are looking for big apartments or chalets for 10-20 people", says M. Le Notaire.  He also notes that prices in Morzine, Avoriaz and Les Gets have been rising, although they remain cheaper than the 3 Vallées and Chamonix 
• The other tip is to invest in areas close to the ski areas - for example in the attractive villages of St-Jean-de-Sixt or Manigod rather than Le Grand Bornand or La Clusaz
• Year-on-year prices are quoted (see below), but don't seem to tally with the overall story, and look on the volatile side.  For example, why would prices be rising in Morzine and falling in Les Gets?

The league table (in € per m2) is as follows (% change in the year to 31 Aug 2012 in brackets):

• Courchevel 1850: 11,170 (-5)
• Val d'Isère village: 7,357 (+2)
• Méribel village: 8,327 (n/a)
• Megeve: 7,262 (+9)
• Méribel Mottaret: 6,667 (+10)
• La Clusaz: 5,333 (+3)
• Courchevel 1650: 5,293 (n/a)
• Chamonix: 5,049 (+1)
• Les Gets: 4,816 (-7)
• Morzine: 4,711 (+13)
• Tignes Val Claret: 4,447 (+2)
• Avoriaz: 4,356 (-1)
• Tignes Le Lac: 4,333 (-7)
• Le Grand Bornand: 4,249 (-5)
• Valloire: 4,028 (no change)
• Arc 1800: 3,333 (+13)
• La Plagne: 3,280 (-7)
• Arc 1600: 3.169 (+9)
• Arc 2000: 2,046 (-13)

For a good guide to what's out there, follow @FrenchSkiHomes: website here.

LE TOUR A TIGNES

Tignes isn't really steeped in Tour history.  It's only been there once in fact, but the 2007 tour did stay on for a rest day when it did come to town.  The stage was won by the dastardly Rasmussen, who was later removed from the Tour by his Rabobank team - Wikipedia summary, including the Tour in London, can be found here.

Here's the Stage from another angle - a nice behind-the-scenes video, including the ridiculous-ness that is the publicity caravan, about 3 minutes in.

Tignes is a frequent base for altitude training of French sports teams.  Stade Francais are regular visitors, for example.  However the most notable recent guests were perhaps the French football team, who spent some "quality time" together in May 2010, before their disastrous South African adventure.  Look out for Franck Ribery, who looks particularly reluctant as the happy campers take to the chairlift with their snowshoeing kit in tow.

More on the skiing in Tignes here.

FRENCH SKI RESORTS: THE PREMIERSHIP (REVISITED)

28 July 2013: for a 2013/14 update click here.

Here's an update on the 2011/12 French Ski Resorts: The Premiership league table.  The sad and geeky question is: if your favourite resort were a top-tier football team, which would it be?

The big headache for me is Manchester City.  Last time it was twinned with Tignes:

Man City = Tignes

Lots of investment; lifts now arguably superior to those of its neighbour across the mountain.  Clearly on the up.  Still lacks that je ne sais quoi.

In many ways this description still stands.  But...it's just that Tignes, like the Man City of old, has character, even though it may look a bit shabby around the edges.  It's where the real skiers go, rather than those show-offs over in Val d'Isere.  Etc.  But now that Man City can have whatever they want, whenever they want, the comparison feels slightly less appropriate.  I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt, but if it carries on like this, they will be twinned with Gstaad.....

Wolves (2 Alpes), Blackburn (Avoriaz) and Bolton (Valmorel) were all relegated. I think each of these resorts still deserve their place, so they have been replaced with Southampton, West Ham and  Reading.

Kassam Stadium, Oxford.
Set to join the Premier League in 2015/16,
once all the necessary pieces are in place....

Man City = Tignes

Lots of investment; lifts now arguably superior to those of its neighbour across the mountain.  Clearly on the up.  Losing its character?

Man Utd = Val d’Isere
A classic resort; famous around the world, consistently performs at a high level.  Popular with rich people from The South.

Arsenal = Meribel

Strong Anglo-French links, not as good as thinks it is but is still very good indeed.  Will never go out of fashion.

Tottenham = Les Arcs

Has had its ups and downs over the years, but a steady transformation over last decade - with slow lifts/players now largely a thing of the past.  By no means perfect, but can mix with big league.

Newcastle = Val Thorens

Big stadium, with great atmosphere and famous nightlife.   Improving in recent years, and can give the others a run for their money 7 days out of 10.  When the sun shines it’s great, but on a cold day...

Chelsea = Courchevel

Money talks; the domain of well-heeled Russians.  Oddly characterless.  Less affluent folk are scattered in distant suburbs away from the centre.

Everton = La Plagne

Was one of the "Big Five" in the 1980s, but no longer.  Shrewd management has papered over the cracks (slow lifts, short runs).  Had a good season last year.

Liverpool = Chamonix.

Fancies itself as the home of mountaineering.  Which in a way it is.  Has a tradition, character, real sense of place that everyone respects - fans all want to visit at least once...

Fulham = Megeve

Location and proximity to nice restaurants is just as important as the skiing.

West Brom = La Clusaz

Quietly goes about its business with little attention from abroad.  Unlikely to rise any further.

Swansea = Isola 2000

Somewhat remote geographically from rest of the league.  Was briefly in the top flight during the 1980s.  Surprisingly good when you see it in action.

Norwich = Serre Chevalier

Bit of a yo-yo resort between Prem and Championship.  Another remote location.  But has strong support, good foundations and real character.  And the food...

Sunderland = Alpe d'Huez

Great stadium, all the way to 3,300m; a World Cup venue.  It’s south-facing, though and therefore can lose interest towards the end of the season.

Stoke City = Les Sybelles

Has no discernible centre; a modest kind of a place.  Has made its mark on the Premiership without anyone really noticing how far they've come.  Top lifts often shut due to wind.

Wigan Ath = Areches/Beaufort

Few people go there, but those who do enjoy the welcome (and the cheese pies).

Aston Villa = Flaine

Has lots of support; good all-rounder and the infrastructure to mix it with the big league.  Could pack more of a punch if they ever get their act together.

QPR = Les Gets

Not the biggest but there's money there.  Struggles to last a full season, but in 2011/12 stayed open (just about) well into the Spring.

Reading = Valmorel

Not a "natural" in terms of the Premiership, but steady investment in recent years and new Russian investments means they could well hold their own.

Southampton = Les 2 Alpes

The Beautiful South.  Lots going for it, but lacks strength in depth (narrow ski area).

West Ham Utd = Avoriaz

Both really should be in the Premiership given their location, fan base, history etc.  They both lack consistency, but let's see....

AND MORE IMPORTANTLY….

Oxford United = Chamrousse

On the Grenoble Road, big university town boasting great ski area.  Was briefly in the top flight; Jean-Claude Killy once skied there.  Has strong following from the locals - on one rainy day in 2010, their numbers reached 33,000....

Barnet = Ste Foy

Where the ski instructors (aka Arsenal and Spurs fans) go on their day off.  Only a few lifts but packs in lots of action.  Noteworthy gradients.  Local authority resisting its bid to expand.

APRES SKI: Summer in Les Arcs

Update 27 May 2013

Les Arcs is open this summer from 6 July to 30 August, with "pre-ouverture" on a couple of weekends in late June.  Cyclocoeur runs from 9-11 August.

There are one or two parts of the Alps - the Chamonix Valley and the Jungfrau region which do at least as well in summer as they do in winter.

This isn't the case in the Tarentaise.  But the resorts are open, the sun is (usually) out, and you are much further from the madding crowd than you are in winter.

Here's a "Top 10" Guide of things to do in Les Arcs.  If it rains, go to Le Lagon in Tignes for a swim.

The Les Arcs website is now in "summer mode", with the resort (including key lifts like the Transarc) open from 7th July.

Although there are lots of things to do, it's arguably the cycling that's the jewel in the crown.

Tour de France 2009, lower slopes of Cormet de Roselend

For cycling uphill, there is an almost endless range of options from Bourg St Maurice: Le Cormet de Roselend, Petit St Bernard, Cold de l'Iseran, plus of course the mythical climb to Les Arcs :)

The best English-language guide to cycling I've found is www.grenoblecycling.com, which covers just about every col you can think of.

In Bourg St Maurice, the big local event is Cyclocoeur, which runs from 10th-12th August, in aid of local disabled charities.  It involves various events for road and VTT, including the hard-core climb to Arc 2000, which takes the experts around an hour.  More on the event below:

For cycling downhill, there are endless VTT trails, including the Cachette piste at 1600 which is used for competitions.  The video below gives a good guide to the terrain. NB The initial descent, from Aiguille Grive down to the Nancroix valley can also be covered more sedately on foot, ending at the Hotel de La Vanoise in Peisey.  A chacun son gout....