Taking better pictures of your chalet

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So I know, this is the job of the Estate Agent. It doesn’t stop me writing about it though and there are things the owner of the property can do to help!

If you are trying to sell your house good photos are more important now than ever before. Most people are now using the internet as their first source when starting their property search. Good pictures = more interest. It’s as simple as that! In fact we are revamping our entire website with this thought in mind – let me know if you’d like a sneak preview!

One of the finest examples of the importance of good photos happened to us this winter. We took on a small (50m2) 2 bedroom property in St Gervais at 240,000€, the property had already been for sale for some time with some of the local agents but they had not achieved much. We took it on and our agent Sarah Watts took the photos. Within a week we’d had a dozen enquiries and in fact we’d secured a sale after 3 days. It was all down to presentation. The living area is pictured above.

So here are my tips.

Use a decent camera. Digital cameras have come on leaps and bounds over the last few years. I recently did some tests with recent 250€ compact and compared the results to 7 year old digital SLR and the compact won. Under certain conditions the latest phones will outperform an older camera. Though I’m not suggesting you should use a phone as they don’t work well for all types of shot and definitely don’t use your tablet!
Think ahead. Take some nice photos of your property before you decide to sell. I have some stock images of my house taken on a beautiful blue sky/powder day from a couple of years ago. Ready and waiting if I need to put my house on the market. You can’t expect the estate agent to be able to get these images themselves. This last winter is a good example, at no point have the lower villages had a good depth of snow for this type of photo.

Prepare your chalet for the photos. Tidy up, de-clutter. Give the windows a clean. Tidy up the garden. You can take this to great lengths, Home Staging is an industry in itself and for good reason.
Use a tripod for internal pictures. At a minimum steady yourself against a wall. 90% of the time you don’t want to use the flash. 100% of the time put every light on inside the house, one of my favourites in the cooker hood lights.
Make sure your lens is clean.
Open the shutters!
Choose a sunny day with the sun on the “nice” side of the building.
Internal shots are easiest on a dull day. Though logistically this makesthe previous point difficult.
Try and take the pictures “straight”, pick a vertical line in the centre of the room and use that as a reference, if you fail make sure you straighten them later.
Think about varying the height of your shots. Get down low in the smaller rooms, a shot taken across the corner of a bed can work, so take a shot at 0.8m height not 1.6m.
Keep the originals! Don’t resize and overwrite!
A note for the Estate Agent. Take along a spare memory card, a spare battery, a torch, pen and paper and a digital measure! I take a spare camera plus a floodlight and extension lead, I know some that take an extension so the can lift the camera up high on the outside pictures.

How to buy your Alpine Property

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So you have decided to make the move? You want to buy your first property in the French Alps but you are not really sure where to start. Buying a property anywhere, even in your home country can be a daunting prospect but then added to that, you want to buy in France. This creates additional work and research to make sure you get it right first time. Here are our top three tips for making the process as painless as possible.

Get your mortgage agreed in principle

The first thing to do is talk to a good mortgage provider (if like most mortals you need a mortgage) so that they can confirm how much you can afford to borrow. They should give you an in principle decision to lend. We work with the biggest provider of mortgages to non-French residents, just ask Alpine Property to put you in touch. Don’t forget to add in the Notaires fees and Stamp Duty (called Frais de Notaire), budget on 8% for everything except off plan properties in which case it is 2.5%.

Find an Estate Agent to work with

If you don’t speak French then seek out a good local English-speaking agency. They will be on hand to go through everything with you in a language you can understand. The property and the area in which it is located can be fully explained to and you can be guided through the French property buying process, without fear that you have misunderstood something. If you are looking in the Haute Savoie then you obviously should contact Alpine Property!

Get to know the agents. Once you have made contact then arrange to meet to view some properties in person. From our website we have a Google map with all the properties marked. It would be tempting to visit using just this information! With your telephone in hand you could drive right to the door. It would be better not to do this! You’ll miss out on the nuggets of information like “this owner really needs to sell, the asking price is xx thousand euros but I spoke to him yesterday and he’ll accept a lot less”. OR “I’d like to show you this property, it’s not on the website yet but the owner has told me they want to sell”.

One of the main differences when buying in France compared to the UK is the speed at which you’ll be asked to sign the first contract. Once your offer has been accepted the next stage is to draw up a Compromis de Vente (a preliminary contract between buyer and seller) it is then difficult for the seller to sell to someone else, this stops gazumping. At this point you’ll need to lodge a 10% deposit with the Notaire. You will also be tied into the sale so you would be well advised to add “clause suspensives” that would allow you to withdraw from the process if you fail to obtain a mortgage or if your planning permission is refused. If the buyer fails to fulfil the contract they risk losing this deposit.

Only consider buying for the longer term

Buying a property in the French Alps should be considered a long-term commitment. It is recommended that you buy only when you plan to retain the property for at least five years. Transaction costs are high so “churning” properties is rarely cost-effective. You may need to undertake additional research if you intend to live in the area full-time or perhaps rent out your holiday home for part of the year. The cost of living in France is comparable to the UK, though some things will seem expensive (professionals fees) and some things will seem cheaper (diesel which is 20% less expensive according to my calculation in March 2014).

View lots of property in the Alps to make sure you find the chalet that is right for you and your needs and is within the location that you want it. If you want to rent it out, make sure it has all the attributes needed to be rented out easily. I’ve written on the subject of renting here. If you plan to live in it full-time, think about the lifestyle you want to lead once here in the Alps. Do you really want to be above that noisy bar in the centre of town in winter? Or in that “high-altitude” purpose built resort during the summer season?

An Eco-Chalet in the Alps

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Now we have to obtain energy ratings (DPE or Diagnostic de performance énergétique) for all the properties we sell we are shown the stark reality of the amount of energy homes in the Alps use. We know it’s not a cheap place to live but of course we have to heat our homes over the long winter and that is going to cost! Take a look at the following chart for the distribution of energy ratings across our properties.

So most of our properties are D, E or F. I’m not sure that I’d buy a car or a fridge with a rating that bad, and of course our houses cost more to run than either of those! When I see a property with an A or B rating I’m generally sceptical, I always ask our agent how they managed a rating like that and I’ve had replies like “it’s unoccupied and they convinced the assessor that it doesn’t use any energy” or try this one, “it was an E but they got the assessor back and told him to do it again and it came back as a B!” so you can see why I am a sceptic.

We’ve recently taken on a pretty little place in the Vallee Verte which has a “C” rating. As you can see even a “C” is hard to get. To give you an idea what you need to do to get a “C” we have asked the owner some fairly searching questions. He was happy to respond, not a big surprise as reducing his energy bill has been a labour of love. For comparisons sake, it houses a family of 3 in a fairly large house (4 bedrooms/168m2), is detached and at 1000m of altitude and is situated in the bottom of a valley that runs from North to South.

Chalet Michel, near Lullin in the Vallée du Brevon

Water (not part of the DPE rating but it ought to be in this context, it’s still a resource)

Rain water and snow melt is collected from the roof in a 10,000 ltr tank. It is then filtered and used for everything. This is almost sufficient for the needs of a family of 3. The additional costs amount to 50€ but this is mainly the standing charge.

Heating

The house is heated by two methods. An air-source heat pump and an 18kw wood burning stove. Air-source heat pumps are gaining ground on the ground-source systems (often referred to as geothermal heating) as they are less costly to fit and don’t require a large surface area of garden to bury the pipes. These air-source heating systems are a very efficient form of electric heating, you can in fact see the unit on the wall of the photo above.

The house has Solar Panels fitted which supply energy to the grid. At current prices they provide about 1100 € of income. The domestic electricity bill (heating the house, hot water, lighting) comes to 1,500€ a year, so the net cost is 400€/year.

Apparently the main wood burner is only used in really cold weather or for “effect”! Total wood usage is about 3/4 stere (a stere is 1m3 of stacked wood) which at today’s rates will cost 240/320€. I’ll take an average figure for my calculations. So total net resource costs come to about 730€/yr

As a comparison I’ll use my house, it’s not new, it’s a hotch-potch of renovations. I guess it will be an “F” on the DPE scale. The most important insulation (in the roof) was put in over 20 years ago and is not up to current norms. Only half the house has double glazing. We are a family of 5 and the property is semi-detached (4 bedrooms/150m2) at 830m altitude and faces south. Our electricity bill is 2,800€/yr, water 500€ and wood 240€. Total 3540€/yr

So a saving of 2,800€ a year is certainly worth having! Probably 10% of the average family income around here. Even if you take the real consummation figure (so you’ll have to take off the income the Solar Panel provide) the savings are still huge (real consummation figure = 1830, so a saving over my house of 1710€).

Chalet Renovation

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Liz Ockelton is married to Ed our Chatel agent. Liz has brought her professional training as a commercial and domestic interior designer in the UK over to France. She complements Ed’s work as an agent very well, so when he sells a property that needs some work then Liz is on hand to take on the job. From time to time we like to showcase her projects.

Chalet Joyeux was purchased in Chatel in 2013 for 720,000€. The chalet was bought as a second home, the owners wanted a mountain retreat for the family. The aim of the project was to open up the main living space into one large open plan area and make it have more of a cozy chalet style. The open plan living area was really important for the family who want to spend time together on holiday. Upstairs the renovations created an en-suite shower room for the parents and a large family bathroom with bath for the children.

Renovation costs – new kitchen and electrical appliances, 2 new bathrooms, all walls, floors and ceilings in the living space, lighting throughout, old wood interior doors. APPROX 80,000€ and then full furnishing throughout at an additional APPROX 40,000€.

The design research works started in mid Oct when the chalet sale completed. The building works on site took 4 weeks start to finish. All finished in time for the Christmas holidays. All work was completed by local company Alpine Renovation, kitchen and bathroom and tiles all supplied by local suppliers.

Opening up the living area has created a communal space for all the family.

Below are a couple of pictures of the chalet kitchen in its original state.

And below a before and after shot.

A great example of how modernising a bathroom can in bring an old chalet into the current century!

Selling your property in the Alps

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So, your life is moving into a new phase, or the family no longer want to spend Christmas together in the chalet, or the time has come to spend some of the cash tied up in your property. The decision to sell your ski chalet can have any number of triggers, but whatever the reason, let’s assume you have reluctantly decided to put your much-loved ski property on the market. Hopefully with us at Alpine Property.

Maison des Billets, Samoens, for sale for 600,000€ in February 2014.

Selling your chalet in the Alps is one of those things most people do just once in a lifetime. Unfortunately, it’s also one of those things where practise makes perfect. So, what are the dos and don’ts of putting your property on the market in France?

Most important of all…………..

DO price the property realistically. First talk to us! We would say that wouldn’t we? It is tempting to take a look at similar properties for sale with Alpine Property (or other agencies!) to gauge current asking prices, then decide on a price for your property yourself. This comes with risks. For example there are a number of properties on our books that have been there a while and it could be that they are not realistically priced. The second home market is different from other markets, the properties are regarded as “assets” by the owners and often they’d like to sell but they don’t NEED to sell. So if the property is overpriced they are happy to sit and wait. We base our valuations on actual sales figures including data from the notaires, which therefore reflect a more accurate market price.

Talk to us so we can work together on a price that will represent good value relative to the other properties. This way you will almost invariably achieve a higher selling price. Let me explain. Properties which are priced realistically sell very quickly and often a deal is struck within a month. Properties which are priced too highly only sell after sitting for a long time on the market and undergoing a series of painful price reductions. The reason for this is that buyers watch websites like ours at Alpine Property constantly and are surprisingly clever at identifying properties which have been for sale for some time. These properties are perceived to have something wrong with them and are unattractive to a buyer. Buyers, like early birds seeking a juicy worm, are instinctively drawn to properties which are new on the market. Thus there is a brief window of opportunity to get the best price for your property when it first goes on the market. Price the property too highly and that opportunity is lost.

Our agents are experienced in the prices actually being achieved in the market and will be very happy to advise you on a realistic price. Take a look at our Sell Property page for more practical advice

DO NOT Listen to an agent who suggests testing the market with a price at the top end of the price range you had in mind. His strategy is to get your property onto his books first and worry about selling it later. He will no doubt come back to you in three months time and suggest a substantial price reduction. By this time your property will be stale.

DO make every effort to help us present the property well. The property photographs we take are obviously vital. We use the best equipment to produce good quality views, but it’s up to you to ensure the chalet is clean and tidy. Homestaging is well worth the time and effort. We work with several people in the area that can help with this. The same applies when we make visits. Buyers will only buy an untidy or dirty chalet if it is being sold at a substantial discount. I’ll write another post on the best way to present your property for sale.

DO put yourself in the shoes of a buyer. Often a client looking to buy a chalet within a certain price range has seen many properties priced similarly and has an instant idea of what is reasonable and what isn’t. Though we advise caution on advertised prices not always being an accurate reflection of true value, it can be an eye opener to go ‘internet shopping’ and seeing if you can find a better property than yours for the same money. If you do, then you can be sure that these properties will sell first and yours will remain on the market.

DO keep in touch with your Alpine Property agent. We monitor all our virtual visits of your property listing, log all enquiries from our buyers and are happy to provide feedback at anytime, including after visits. If you’re not getting any buyers looking at the property, then we’ll probably have an idea as to why, and can advise you accordingly. This is the case with any other agency you are using too, particularly if they have given you a high valuation. Once again, it is all well and good them saying your chalet is worth X, but it is then reasonable to challenge them as to why it is not getting any interest.

DO make sure that you are clear as to your Capital Gains Tax liability. The tax situation for second homes has recently seen some flux in France so a visit to a local accountant or Notaire is a must if you are not sure where you stand. Meilleurs Agents can be a good place to get the CGT table for France. Don’t believe everything you read on the web though!

New Chalets in St Jean d’Aulps

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If you thought all building work stops in the Alps in the winter (so all the tradesmen can go off to their second jobs as ski instructors), then think again. It is still the case on a small-scale but in general the tradesmen try to keep working all year around. The idea is to make a structure waterproof so work can carry on inside during the winter months. As an example have a look at this development of the Chalets des Cimes project, it has been continuing throughout this winter in sight of the pistes. The developer has just sent me these photos.

This is my favourite as you can see the piste and the ski lift in the background.

These chalets are excellent quality. Note the copper guttering, the granite faced first floor walls (this is an option for an extra cost), the charred and brushed Douglas Pine (this means you won’t need to varnish or treat the wood). I wrote an article where I mentioned the quality of chalets we see in the Alps and how it’s hard to compare with a cheap build in the UK. These chalets are a good example of this.

Don’t forget that these chalets are at the base of the piste at La Grande Terche (Espace Roc d’Enfer), they are in the Portes du Soleil and only 20 minutes drive from the skiing in Morzine or Avoriaz.

Out of the 9 that are being built, a couple of them are sold and another 2 more are “in negotiation” (as of 18/Feb/2014), we’ve listed the different types on our website here:

Les Chalets des Cîmes, No. 9
600 000 €uros, 5 bedrooms, 144m2

Les Chalets des Cîmes, No. 3
580 000 €uros, 4 bedrooms, 133m2

Les Chalets des Cîmes, No. 4
550 000 €uros, 4 bedrooms, 121m2

Les Chalets des Cîmes, No. 2
525 000 €uros, 4 bedrooms, 121m2

Build your own chalet

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This was written in 2014, the numbers are out of date! I have refreshed it in a post late 2019. We frequently get asked how much it will cost to build your own chalet. In general we quote 2500€/m2 as a benchmark. Sometimes we qualify this with “of course it depends on many many, factors”, such as the floor area, quality of materials and fixtures and fittings, easy of building on the site, proximity of services and things like that. But in the end 2500€/m2 is a good place to start. So if you were building a 4 bedroom 140m2 chalet then a starting point would be 350,000 € to build the chalet after you have bought the land.

When I mention these figures to UK-based buyers that know about these things they take a sharp intake of breath. Apparently you can build houses in the UK for much less than that. Closer to 1500€/m2 I’m told and sometimes even less. So why the big difference? Some of my opinions follow:

Everything costs more in the Alps. In particular materials and more importantly labour.
We are not comparing like with like. The “average” chalet in the Alps is higher quality than a cheap house in the UK.
The build methods in the Alps are more expensive. In general the properties have concrete basements and first floors. This makes a very solid property, sometimes due to earthquake and avalanche risks it’s mandatory to build this way. It’s also just “the way it’s done”, much like in the UK houses have traditionally been built from brick.

There are various things you can do to reduce these costs. Taking each point one by one.

I’m not going to suggest importing your materials from afar or even you labour (though both these things are possible and may save money).
Building a cheap quality chalet is not a good idea, it would be a real shame to waste the worlds resources on building a house that won’t last.
Build methods, there could be money saved here. It may also bring in points one and two. I’m referring to kit chalets.

My neighbour is a carpenter and he has just built a chalet using mostly traditional techniques. The basement is concrete as are some of the first floor walls. The main frame was a kit though, the walls arrived on a lorry and ready built. He’s obviously building on a budget but doesn’t want to live in a cardboard box. His build costs will be well under 2000€/m2.

kit chalet in Samoens

We’ve recently been approached by a ECSUS Design, who have recently completed a chalet in Samoens and are constructing a couple more in Morzine this summer. These guys either design your home or adapt an existing design and fabricate using Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs) that are precision engineered and cut to size to ensure an exceptionally quick method of building a highly thermally efficient chalet. The main weather-tight structure can be erected in as little as 3-4 weeks and can be easily finished by an adventurous self builder or they can do the entire job for you. The average costs of the SIPS structure is about 450€/m2 which represents about 30% of the overall costs of a new chalet and means that a fully managed build can come in at under 2000€/m2. Now I can’t act as a reference for these guys but they can offer references if interested. The company is http://www.ecsusdesign.com/ and the SIPs system is http://www.tek.kingspan.com/ They supplied me with the lovely photo of the finished chalet in Samoens. I have used it to illustrate this post.

St Gervais market report

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Sarah Watts covers Les Contamines for us but knows St Gervais well. She has just written this market report for a customer. Prices have been broadly stable in St Gervais since 2008. Currently the price advertised is rarely the price paid so, if you see something that seems much too high, it’s likely to be due to an unrealistic valuation or vendor who is not willing to accept the current market conditions, and it is unlikely to be selling.

According to meilleursagents the average price of an apartment in St Gervais is between 2317€ to 4742€ per metre squared, with the average sale being around €3 493 per m2. These figures seem out of touch with reality to me. For a property close to the ski lift that is new or in good condition this price could easily be closer to 4,900€/m2 and good quality new build properties can be more than that.

A chalet would be around the 5500-6000E per m2 for something nice. The prices are very dependant on the quality of finish, there is plenty of property on the market that is feeling quite “tired” by today’s standards.

We have 3 sales going though at the moment in St Gervais. The agreed prices were between 2% and 10% below the asking price. We have just had an offer accepted this week on a 4th property at asking price.

Should you be looking for a 3/ 4 bedroom apartment, you are looking at somewhere around 350-450K. For a chalet in good condition – 650-750K, and a chalet that needs refreshing around 500K.

Property prices vary enormously depending on how close it is to the skiing or at the very least the bus route, the amount of sun, views, outside space and condition. People are often concerned about buying outside of the very centre of the town in case it is “unrentable”. As I often point out, unless you are walking distance in ski boots from the lift (probably a 300m max, you’ll end up taking the car and parking at the free lift car park there for the day. Consequently, if you drive 3 minutes or 6 minutes at the end of the day, it won’t much difference.

I have also personally rented for many years in the past and the fact the property was 3km from town and the skiing, was not an issue. What did make a difference was the garden space. If you get a traditional ski apartment, then it will rent well in the winter, but not in summer if there is no outside space. Some people want to be close to the centre of the village (again more useful in the summer), Bettex for example is favoured by the skiers because of it’s proximity to the slopes in winter.

Nearly all people renting will cover their running costs of the apartment and maybe even make a little profit. You can rent comfortably 8-10 wks in winter and, with an outside space, about 4 weeks in summer.

If you would like to get an idea of rental values take a look at this website holidayinalps.com for some ideas of what rents and for how much. As a guide, for a 5 bedroom high-end chalet this could earn upwards of 35K€ per year gross income. A more modest 3 bedroom ski apartment would be around 15K€ per year.

In terms of suggestions for 3+ bedrooms, I would recommend

Apartment Lumen http://www.alpine-property.com/index.php?page=prop_3_aptlumen

Apartment Crespin http://www.alpine-property.com/index.php?page=prop_3_aptcrespin

We have also extensively written about the area on our area guide here, scroll down for St Gervais info on each of the pages: http://www.alpine-property.com/index.php?page=page461

Finally, remember that on all property a notaire (stamp duty + solicitor fee) is due. This is 7% for older property and 2.5% for new build from a developer (the first figure will increase slightly Q2 2014).

The general feeling is that the market has turned a corner and the prices will not fall from here.

We have just launched the La Comtesse apartments on our website. They are located in the very centre of St Gervais village and will benefit from 2.5% fees.

Appt. La Comtesse, #1, 1 bedroom and 189 000€

Appt. La Comtesse, #2, 3 bedrooms and 395 000€

Appt. La Comtesse, #4, 3 bedrooms and 415 000€

Appt. La Comtesse, #6, 5 bedrooms and 650 000€

Does my catered chalet have to be in the ski resort?

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Location, Location Location.

I’ve just answered a question from one of our clients about the location for a catered ski chalet. I thought I would expand on it here.

Qu. Rates aside is there any demand for the quieter out-of-town chalet or do 90% of holiday makers want the bright-lights?
The closer to town the better for your own logistics and also to improve your retention rate. You can always attract the first time customers with good marketing and price but long term a small business has to have a good repeat business rate. Though there is a section of the market that will stick with amazing service and an out-of town location but overall you’ll make life hard for yourselves.

Qu. We always do self-catered these days as we like mooching around town and looking in the shops. But things may be different in a catered chalet. Families may want the quieter place and never go out? There are many different kinds of people so we don’ t have to appeal to everyone but what is the accepted logic of chalet business please ?
This is a funny one but although there are many types of skier you’ll find you will attract a certain sort. The customers will react to where and how you advertise and they will tend to conform to the image you project, as an example if your advertising says “family friendly” and has lots of pictures of kids, you’ll attract the families and not too many single travellers! On the question “will they go out”, given the opportunity a family will. There are always things to do and see in a ski village and most families don’t survive well cooped up. Though saying that if they have no choice and they are prepared with games and DVD’s a spacious chalet is fine too.

Qu. Morzine or Chatel? We have only experienced the Morzine side so are interested in Les Gets/Morzine/St Jean D’aulps. Are we missing a trick? Is there good business opps in Chatel or Abondance? Much quieter though and quite far away in the car I think?
As ski destinations go, Morzine, Les Gets and Chatel are on a par, Morzine and Les Gets have become more well known over the last 10 years, I don’t really know why, the upshot is that it is easier to sell a holiday but that there is now more competition! You can run a catered chalet business in the likes of Abondance and St Jean d’Aulps but I think you’ll find it harder in the long term. Watching the businesses in these places (and I live in St Jean d’Aulps) the majority (not all) tend to gravitate to the bright lights eventually (or give up). It may be that they started in the satellite towns, built up some expertise/clientèle and contacts and that gave them the leg up into the well known areas and that’s fine. Knowing this though, I would be tempted to start in the main town and if I can’t buy, rent.

Some background. Morzine, Les Gets and Chatel are in the Portes du Soleil. I’ll list the main towns (more correctly Ski Stations or Ski Resorts) in bold and then the outlying villages.

Morzine, followed in order of popularity with ski holiday operators > > Cote d’Arboz/Essert Romand, St Jean d’Aulps and then Le Biot.

Les Gets probably has the same satellite towns as Morzine.

Chatel followed by La Chapelle d’Abondance, Abondance

Then of course there is the Grand Massif. Samoens is a popular town and has satellite towns of Morillon and then Verchaix. Les Carroz has Arâches La Frasse.

Over in the Mont Blanc region we have Chamonix, it’s “villages” have grown up somewhat so Les Houches and Argentière are both in bold, Vallorcine is still an outlying village and Servoz even more so. Don’t forget St Gervais and Les Contamines and Megève (it’s unlikely you’ll be starting a business there!) which has outlying villages of Combloux and Cordon.

In the Aravis there is the Grand-Bornand which has Entremont and Le Petit-Bornand and La Clusaz has St Jean de Sixt, Thones and Manigod.

We have chalets for sale in all the above resorts. Many of them would be suitable as properties to be run as a chalet business. As an example here is Chalet Ancolie, situated in La Clusaz, 8 bedrooms, walking distance from the ski lift and for sale at 1 490 000 €uros. Click on the picture for further details.

New Alpine Property kit

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Skiing Evasion all kitted up. By Sarah Watts

Yesterday was one of those days that captured so many of the reasons why I have chosen the Alps and more specifically St Gervais, as my home. It was a crisp, blue-sky, January day, with no one on the pistes, not a single lift queue and perfect snow.

It would have been rude not to, so I headed out to Cote 2000, part of the Megève-St Gervais area for a ski. Cote 2000 is linked into the Evasion domain and shares a ridge with Les Contamines ski domain, though the latter for now, is not linked into the area. It is however on the same ski pass. Views of the Mont Blanc and Chamonix massif were as dramatic as ever, the mountain restaurants as cosy as you could wish for, and I got to try out my new branded alpine-property jacket.

It was a good day!

In fact, this year if you’re heading out for a winter holiday to one of the many resorts we cover, you might just spot an alpine-property agent in their branded jackets. We’ve just had these technical mountain shells, labelled with out name and logo. They’re light-weight and comfortable yet tough enough to withstand harsh conditions and are made by directalpine. Many of the Chamonix high mountain guides choose this manufacture as their preferred kit supplier, therefore we know they’re a top product.

So, if you see us about on the mountain in our red, black or lime jackets, don’t hesitate to come and say a “hello” and introduce yourself. And, we’ll be easier to spot when we meet buyers for a visit too!

Finally, a friendly word of advice this year on snow conditions. Yesterday was perfect, but living here I get to witness the conditions over a long period of time, a luxury you don’t have if you’re just heading out for a ski holiday. Consequently, I know that the snowpack this season is very unstable, in fact one of the most unstable in decades. This is leading to an uncharacteristically high number of avalanches and with that, sadly more victims too. Of course on the piste, you’re fine but what might look like a innocuous, pristine powder run on your week’s holiday, could prove to be deadly. Know your stuff before heading off piste this winter and if you’re in any way unsure, don’t take the risk.

A couple of articles on this year’s unstable conditions can be found here:

http://pistehors.com/watch-out-say-swiss-mountain-guides-23147387.htm

http://pistehors.com/most-unstable-snowpack-for-a-decade-in-alps-23122007.htm

And the daily avalanche report is found here.

http://www.meteofrance.com/previsions-meteo-montagne/bulletin-avalanches/haute-savoie/avdept74

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