At the end of two weeks of half term holiday ES Kids Academy Skiers took part in fun races in both Verbier and Zermatt.
First in Verbier…
Then in Zermatt
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The Swedish Section Rocks
Here they are: the All New ES Swedish Section. That means our Swedish clients can have top level tuition in your language as all of our Swedish Section Instructors are top teachers as well as some of our keenest skiers.
Cooler weather before more sun
The skies are clouded over and the temperature on the mountain has dropped to -3 C but sun and blue skies are set to return tomorrow. Temperatures will then be above zero and winds will be light – an excellent time to try paragliding – Verbier is one of Europe’s premier destinations for this sport.
On-piste snow conditions remain excellent although off-piste is somewhat crusty due to the warm weather of the last couple of days. Avalanche levels remain at level 3. If you are new to the area taking guided off-piste is recommended at the moment due to the unstable snow pack.
The Verbier Ride is one of the worlds leading freeskiing competitions. The Skier Cross discipline has become a recognized X-Games qualifier event. The Slope Style event attracts many of Europe‘s top freeskiing athletes. The event is being held this weekend at a specially designed course within the La Chaux freestyle area (Neipark 1936).
The Verbier Take the Hill by Keech contest has been deferred until the 17th March. This is a demo in the form of a contest between 5 pro-skiers, 5 pro-snowboarders and 5 pro-bikers.
Verbier basks in the sun
Yesterday morning early clouds cleared to beautiful blue skies in Verbier. The sunny weather continued today as temperatures climbed. Conditions on piste are great all over the resort – get out as early as you can to avoid the crowds.
However wet snow followed by more powder and now very warm conditions have made the snow pack very unstable. If you are tempted by the off piste take extra care. Make sure you are wearing a tranceiver and obey closed area signs. Tragically avalanches over the last few day have claimed lives in Bruson and on the main mountain in the Rock Garden and under the Jumbo lift of Mont Fort. Don’t be added to the statistics yourself!
Savoleyres remains less crowded than the main mountain with few lift queues – a great area for improving beginners and intermediates. The piste machines were seen out today preparing the 10km La Tzoumaz sledge run – we hope it may be opening during the next week.
The Bruson area is also worth considering for uncrowded slopes. Being north facing the powder is also likely to last longer there. .jpg)
The forecast for the next couple of days is for sun and blue skies and daytime temperatures of around 10 C. Into next week there will be some cloud but no new snow is likely for the next 7 days. Enjoy the good weather while you can!!!
Warm (but not too warm)
After rumours that there was going to be some seriously warm weather creeping up from the south, the effect hasn’t actually been felt too harshly here…
Although the increase in temperature has been noticable, it looks set to cool down again tomorrow, with cloud coming in.
But as it’s Charlie’s birthday today, I won’t bore you by banging on about what’s been going on here – as it’ll all pale into insignificance once the reports of this evening’s debauchery start trickling in.
And Louis’ playing in the T-Bar. Which should be an interesting combination.
On a slightly more ski-related note, loads of the ES team have entered the 20007 British Big Mountain Championships
PS Karsten and I have built a wicked igloo on Savoleyres today. And Karsten wanted everyone to know.
Everything is officailly brilliant…
Not only has it been snowing in Verbier pretty heavily recently, but it shows a distinct unwillingness to stop…
The snow has come just in time for a series of important events – it’s arrived for the the start of the half term holidays as well as just after a sustained period of sun (which gave the pistes a bit of a beating), but most importantlty of all, it’s arrived for the return of Charlie, ES’s drinking dynamo.
Bless him.
The only concern here is that the wind will be coming up from the South over the next few days and warming things up – great for the holiday tans but rather dangerous for the off-piste.
So if you are venturing off-piste (and far be it from me to sound like your Mum) please be very, very, very carefull…
On a more cheerful note, Louis’ playijg at the T-Bar on Friday night again – which is nice – and it’s also Charlie’s birthday – which means it will also be carnage…