What’s new in the Alps?

We’re now ready and excited to be able to open our reservations for next Ski Season 2025 and to help more people discover the benefits of a convenient short ski break in the French Alps.

A Quick Review of Season 2023/24

We’re often asked – how was the snow last season?

The simplest way to answer is that (as in all previous seasons) is that we had guests out skiing every single day of the season, and they all enjoyed themselves each day. 

OK – some days were better than others, but the key thing is that there is always going to be some skiing available within our resorts, and we will do our best to ensure you get to take advantage of the best conditions.

This season started well and we had a good snow coverage in early December, but then it turned mild through January meaning that snow accumulation was only really happening above 1,500m. Luckily this is where most of the skiing is, so whilst the villages looked spring-like and green, you arrived at the top of the telecabine into the usual white winter wonderland.

Conditions remained the same for most of the season and we never really established a good base of snow below 1,400m of altitude so lower slopes and some of the linking runs (topped up by artificial snow when it was cold enough) did succumb early in the season and meant that some runs closed towards the end of March.

Having said that, the piste conditions were good for most of the season, and there were some fun powder days in there too… We always had “just enough” and they looked after the piste fantastically well in Le Grand Bornand so it was not all bad.

For us – it was just great to see so many of our regular guests back and enjoying the skiing and their time in the mountains. We had an awesome team at the Aravis Lodge and were delighted to finish yet another season with a clean-sweep of 5* reviews on Trip Advisor.

Le Grand Bornand is replacing the Col des Annes lift with a comfy new speedy 4 person lift, and also changing the route to allow a direct return to the snowpark, and the Terres Rouge cafe.

In St Gervais the telecabine has been extended and developed to provide a link to the valley-floor village of Le Fayet and the train station. The village station now becomes and intermediary station, and has been renovated and upgraded along with new cabines to improve the passenger experience.

Staying in St Gervais – there has also been a new eco-friendly funicular tramway built to provide a direct pedestrian link from the village to the thermal baths (Les Bains). The clever system is powered by water run-off being harnessed to provide balast to descend and lift the cars, saving a huge detour for people looking to access the spa and hot springs nested below.

As was the case in Grand Bornand and La Clusaz this past season  – we expect to see more electric ski-buses around all resorts, and are pleased to see the continuation of efforts to reduce traffic around the resorts.

As in recent seasons and following Brexit, we can expect a more diverse range of nationalities as our Ski Weekender team must be made up of EU passport holders. We are delighted to welcome back a few of the team again next season. David will once again be working his magic in the kitchen, and Laura’s big smile will be welcoming guests at the front desk – and of course your very likely to hear an Irish accent or 2 around the place!

As everywhere, prices have continued to rise steadily and there have been challenges across all aspect of our business operations (fuel, food, energy). Luckily – this has now stablised and we are pleased that we have been able to hold (and even lower) some of our prices – partly as a result of only minor increases in lift pass prices this season.