Chillchalet's Blog

Les Arcs chalet holidays

chillchalet — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:14:27 +0000

We are celebrating our 11th year, running catered chalet holidays for snow lovers in Les Arcs.

We are proud to be here and believe that a stay at our chalet will be one of the most memorable, for all the right reasons!

We have been constantly adding content to the site with flashy new slideshows on a few pages such as our our chalet page: and on our mountain bike page: not forgetting our snow page:

These should help show you our lovely world and what you can expect from a holiday with us.

We have also got some great videos on a few pages, shot last season, featuring you, our guests:

we have a fleet of new 2012 K2 snowboards to use, you can see a sneek peek here:

We’ve got the Les Arcs lift pass prices here:

Finally, if you need convincing, you can see what our previous guests have said about us and read about how we have got a 96% rating on Trip Advisor.

The snow is coming, so don’t forget to hit me up with dates you might like, spaces are running out.

See you in the mountains

Chris

bikes bikes bikes

chillchalet — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 10:41:42 +0000

The cave is full of bikes and dinner time is full of tales of the days adventures. Everyone seems to be loving it, crashes and broken bikes included! I love how the garden has been transformed into a temporary workshop with the usual discussions of how to get the brakes a bit better and the inevitable who found the best trails.
Last night I headed up the mountain for a night ride down this wonderful route that starts as lovely fast switchbacks before dropping you onto an incredible exposed traverse. Totally worth the climb up! *hint, if anyone doesn’t mind riding uphill, bring your lights… The moon was huge and about 3/4 full and it was amazing watching it rise above les arcs. Still warm with a bit of mist in the trees, perfect defiantly went a lot better than my last night ride when i got lost, my lights failed, i rode into an electric fence and got followed by drunk kids in a car. But i promise that was a once off, and it was still good!
So anyway, im off to ride down an Alp..
xx

Yaaar! Lifts are go!

chillchalet — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 07:25:55 +0000

Finally, no more sore bums and sweaty sweaty uphill. The lifts are open for summer It now takes less than 10min to get up to les arcs instead of the 2hours it used to..And wow, there are so many trails! The whole side of the mountain around 1600 seems to be heaving with awesome single-track. Theres black 8 which everyone knows about, which is great, but then off it you can get onto some truly incredible trails which you can have entirely to yourselves. These have a bit of everything from smoothly speedily flowing, to terrifyingly steep technical sections and always a few of the twisted alpine switchbacks (hope youve been practising!). The Cachette, the lift above the funicular takes you up to 2160m. From here you can poon it down the downhill course and get some serious speed or take in the North shore. It also opens up a huge selection of wonderful traverses that sweep you round the mountain through beautiful scenery before, if you choose your trail well, dropping you down stunning single-track for what seems like hours before finally spitting you back out in the valley.
It is just so so good!

Cant wait to see you out here.
xx

New video on our youtube channel.

chillchalet — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 19:45:03 +0000

Hey all,

Just to let you know that we have added a new video of some early season mountain biking, check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/Chillchalet

Mmmm Pie and mountains = WIN

chillchalet — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 16:50:24 +0000

so Thought Id put some pics in to make you Salivate! Today started off wet so i finally got around to making a tasty cherry pie, by the time it was out the oven the weather had cleared so Mishka and I went off for a pootle up a mountain. We climbed up to twice the height of Ben Nevis but cherry pie is gooood energy and the views are so spectacular that you dont mind! About half way up we met these cheeky goats who set about trying to eat anything they could, including my tyres.

Anyway, for those of you who havent been out to the alps before you may not have heard about one of thier unique features: Tight steep switchbacks that taunt and mock you. There not much chance you can escape from them so Id recomend having a practice before you get here. Find a nice steep grassy hill and do as many possible changes of direction as you can on the way down. Then go back up and do more!

Have fun practising xx

Mountains and trails and..Snow!?

chillchalet — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 07:39:33 +0000

Alps! So I got out here a couple of days ago, have managed to start the sexy farmer tan and done a couple of sweet trails. Then this morning waking up a tad chilly I looked out the window. White. Oh the irony! There appears to be about two inches of snow sitting on the picnic table at the moment and its falling fast. The power of the mountains. Ah well, my snow man skills could do with some work i guess.
But anyway, back to the trails! And Oh my! Alps trails have this special feel to them, almost as though youre in some epic movie as you hug your exposed singletrack surrounded by the giant peaks. Riding can take you through a variety of scenery of meadows, forrest and tiny old villages. Your ears are filled with the hum of wheels, the scooshing of forks, cow bells and birds. The height and distance you descend by is incredible, although as the lifts are currently shut my bums getting an amazing workout!
Chillchalet itself is a pretty awsume place, i think you are all going to love it! Although im going to eat all the cherries before you get here!
Happy Trails
xx

Big Hello!

chillchalet — Mon, 23 May 2011 10:43:38 +0000

Hey Guys,

So I’m Annie, and if any of you are lucky enough to be Chillchaleting this summer, I’m the person who’s going to be looking after you and making sure you have a super cool time! Get excited!
One week till I get out there and I cannot wait. I’m dreaming of awesome dry, dusty sun baked trails. The past 3 weeks has seen two endurance races, both in horrific rain watching in fascination as the course dissolves into thick unrideable goop. Although seeing everyone constantly slipping over certainly adds to the entertainment.
The first race was 24 hours of exposure, the UK and European solo 24 hour champs. With no friends competing, it was just me, some dodgy waterproofs and some serious rain. It didn’t help my tent leaked the night before so I was a bit soggy before the start.
I love 24hrs because you get to see the sunset, the sunrise and chase a tiny dot of light through the darkness when the course reveals a totally different mysterious character. Although I think getting back on Mishka (my bike) at 4am in the pouring rain was one of the hardest things ive ever done. Having no support team to give a slap and man up talk meant it was only the thought of missing the dawn lap that got me back out. This lap is amazing, your world slowly expands and you get to see the pale faces of the other riders, Shouting cheery good mornings to everyone, you see who has come through it well, those that suffered just respond with death stares We were totally outclassed by the other ladies and struggled in 5th place (4th in Europe) but made so many friends and chatted to some wonderful people which made placing irrelevant. Surviving was enough!
Saturday was 10 under the Ben, just 10hrs this time! Although neither me nor Mishka had recovered from the 24 I decided to have a crack anyway. And oh so much mud and rain. Brilliant atmosphere though as most people were just having a laugh and up for a chat to make the dreaded fire road climbs go quicker. The course was amazing with plenty of techy sections to make you keep wanting to ride it. Convinced I was in last place I pootled round my final lap stopping to help everyone with their mechanicals. Very amusing to be called a bike guru when my front brake had fallen off long ago! Surprisingly I managed to scrap into 36 out of 119 and 3rd lady despite this. More satisfying was beating the boys I was there with, although I don’t think they were too amused! Anyway, happy riding folks, I wish you sunshine.

See you all at Chillchalet. Bring on the Alps!

Isere Epic Trail from Bourg st Maurice

chillchalet — Mon, 09 May 2011 17:54:01 +0000

Hi folks,

We have just been asked by some guests if we can arrange for them to do the trail from the Col D’Iseran down to Bourg, 50kms of glorious epic mountain biking and the answer is yes, most definitely. Our guys will show you the route and a Coolbus will drive you and your bikes up there.

For information about the route, or indeed, any of the trails in and around Les Arcs, have a look at:

http://www.chillchalet.com/mountainbiking/index.htm

The Sun is Shining!

chillchalet — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:57:17 +0000

Spring has begun and its boiling in Bourg! Goggle tans are everywhere and its boiling up the mountain, the mid day sun is a killer. We’ve had bits of snow here and there over the past week just to keep he mountain in good condition for the last month of the season!!!

First BBQ of the Season

chillchalet — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 12:53:14 +0000

Spring has started to make its presence known down here in Bourg, so what better way to welcome it in than a bunch of lovely guests that offer to put together a BBQ for us on our day off?? Brett and Gemma did us proud with their fabulous mix of marinades and Ollie’s mastery with the herbs created a little taste explosion…and add that to Billie’s love of cleaning, plus some fabulous company and you have a winning combo. We had a great night with all the guys…ending up (predictably??) in ‘the Spot’ introducing the uninitiated to Christian’s inimitable brand of hospitality…aided by toffee and bubblegum flavoured vodkas and a very loose pouring arm

And we topped off the week with a group expedition to La Rosiere…breathtaking views and lovely to have a change of scenery….so here’s some piccies for you to enjoy.