The clouds are starting to break and winter is back in resort. It’s freezing today.
And last night we had a few inches of fresh on the pistes so conditions are nicely topped up. Ok it’s Baltic. But it should be in January – that’s part of the fun.
So we’re tucked up in Dahu waiting for just a bit more sun before we head up mont fort. Which should be, as we say in Verbier, EPIC.
Thanks to Martin for making this montage of our training week. Pretty special.
http://vimeo.com/55253005
This month Téléverbier published an update on the lift projects for the coming years. We all know that the Bruson lift project has started and will be ready for December 2013. There will also be more snow cannons on Le Rouge and Savoleyres areas. Although there is no real date for the replacement of the ageing Savoleyres lift they say the following
COMBIMIX LES ESSERTS – LES PLANARDS – SAVOLEYRES
The proposed new facility for serving Savoleyres was submitted to the Federal Office of Transport for approval.
Given the complexity of the case, it is difficult to estimate the duration of the procedure. We hope that this groundbreaking lift, comprising a first section served by cabs and a second mixing section cabins and seats can be built in 2014.
We look forward already to be able to unite our main skiing areas.
Lets hope this is true..!
Toby
I just got woken up to a text from Martin saying “it’s dumping in Verbier”, and you know what? It is.
The snow is right down to the village and for the first time in a long time we can say it’s doing things properly – and we’re not exaggerating when we use the word dumping…
To see live updates of what it looks like during the day you can visit the webcams by clicking here.
It’s also freezing again in resort – I know it’s slightly masochistic but I love it when it gets cold, because when we start getting freezing mornings it means winter is starting to get serious. Enjoy.
Well, it’s been a while since we were up at Col des Gentianes to see what’s been going on with the new restaurant. Last time we went up there (click here for the photos) it was just starting to look like a big circle on the ground.
But as usual Mike has been up there and generally knows what’s going on better than anyone, and he took these pictures a little while back.
As you can see it’s really taking shape and possibly won’t look as odd as we thought. And the story is there are toilets in the building – so no more freezing walks across to the lift housing if you need to spend a penny. (Although our local intelligence suggests the loos are the same ones accessed by a tunnel).
A green Igloo?
There’s even better news than a few toilet facilities though, as the whole thing is powered by wood pellets, which is pretty eco-freindly.
However, that’s not all, because the whole building is supposed to be carbon neutral. Which when you think about it is amazing – and a vital step by TeleVerbier to make sure that the buildings we put up in the mountains respect and protect the rather fragile ecosystem we’re plonking ourselves into.
But on the whole, a new restaurant in verbier is always popular with certain members of the team, so very good news indeed on many levels.
So, news just in is that Bruson goes ahead and work starts this week. Honestly.
The lift is going to get you from Verbier (Medran), down to Chable and up to the midstation at Bruson in less that 20 minutes – which is usually the time it takes to leave Medran and get on the bus if you’re heading to Bruson via Le Chable at the moment…
There’s a link to a little video (in French) by Canal 9 below – watch it even if you don’t speak french, the pictures are nice.
But it give us a little idea of what’s coming and what it’ll look like. According to the report building work starts today, and completion is for December 2013. And this time they mean it.
If you’ve never skied Bruson then frankly you haven’t lived, you can check out this post from a massive powder day last year…
We’ll get up there soon and have a look to see exactly what the work entails but any movement on this one is good movement…
(And if you want to see what the new lifts will look like, either click here or you can pop up to Medran where there’s a cabin on the roof. Yes. On the roof).
