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A beautiful trip along the Moskva River and other great sites for Summer

July 10, 2011

What a perfect way to while away a balmy, lazy Sunday afternoon. These pictures were taken as we enjoyed a fantastic, leisurely lunch on one of Moscow’s best, all glass viewing river boats. It is run by the new Radisson Ukraine hotel and you can take it from the river port, close to the hotel and Kievskaya railway station.

Posted in Summer 2011 | 1 Comment »

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The Tsar of Wales Birthday – June 2011

July 5, 2011

Alex (Tsar of Wales) reached the ripe old age of 9 recently. He had a great birthday weekend with the Russian side of the family in Moscow; and his parents, of course!

Some pictures of the celebrations are below:

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It’s tough but somebody’s got to do it!!

June 5, 2011

Please find recent photos from a conference I attended at the Hotel Las Arenas in Valencia recently in May. I can highly reccommend Valencia, the hotel, etc. It was the fist time I’d stayed in the city (only passed through the airport previously en route further south) and you couldn’t fail to be impressed – great architecture; long, tree lined boulevards, excellent restaurants and all beautifully blended into the industrial infrastructure and port area. Pretty clean also as these pictures testify for Spain’s third largest city!

If anyone has been to Barcelona and seen their man made beach, constructed as part of the redevelopment of the seafront area for the 1992 Olympics? Well take a look at the pictures of the beach at Valencia – it’s next to the port and right in the heart of the city. 

They were all taken either from or close to the hotel which is right on the beach front. But as you can see you still have a bit of a walk to the sea. They’re stunningly beautiful – look at the colour of the deep blue, azure sky. The shimmering Mediterranean could be so close you could almost reach out and touch it. 

Hope you all appreciate them and feel inspired to visit. If your employers are looking for ideas of where to run a conference – you heard it here first!

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Wonderful mountains, great views and some fantastic skiing tips!

May 8, 2011

Thought you all might be interested in a couple of great videos from BASS. The first is very instructive and talks about how to find the ‘holy grail’ of skiing – the sweet spot on your skis and why it is so important. The second shows some great views, wonderful conditions and just some fantastic skiing all put to beautifully subtle and appropriate giutar music – the reason we would all love to be proficient ‘powder hounds’.

Those of you who’ve had the privelege to ski with Hugh and BASS may recognise the shots of Hugh’s old office – The Mont Blanc Massif and some of his secret ‘back country’ trails on Mont Chery, Les Gets.

Check them out on BASS TV (You Tube) via the links below:

Centred balance video screen shot

Powder ski video screenshot

Thanks to Hugh, Jazz, Becci and the BASS team.

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Simply a majestic place – ‘Les Portes du Soleil’; Morzine, France

May 7, 2011

We thank John (and Claire) for these wonderful photographs. No words, the pictures simply tell the story of the natural beauty the area offers and what we at Chalet Margaritka are all about and why we are here!

Thankyou John – Simply wonderful (Do give up the day job!). Please come again…….

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End of March and finally we find some consistent OFF PISTE – Thankyou Glyn for the guiding!!

April 18, 2011

Matthew Wood and his friends came to Chalet Margaritka the last weekend in March. Matthew, Kevin and John had all ski’d a fair bit and Martin was as adventurous as the rest of them. (Alas, Andy lost his skiing mojo a tad but we do hope he will get it back; whilst Kevin rediscovered his with a vengeance). Moguls, tours, blacks, off piste the guys really did like a challenge and they really did have a sense of adventure! They didn’t even mind (too much) when we had to walk 500 metres (uphill) along a ridge on the way back from Morgins because they had finally shut the chair upto Pointe de L’Au above Les Crosets due to lack of snow. Yes, we had to walk along the ridge in order to connect with the route down to Les Crosets and home to Avoriaz -check out the video above to get a better flavour of what I’m talking about. There were one or two other places where we needed to take our skis off as well but all in all we did some great skiing across the weekend – Take a look at the pictures below!!

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March – The Girls are back in town or the Chalet anyway!!

March 31, 2011

Snowfalls at the end of February/ early March meant great skiing was available. At the chalet we were inundated with repeat guests during this month. This was really pleasant because it makes the atmosphere in the chalet excellent. It’s like having old friends coming back to visit and ski with us. Some even wanted to re-visit old routes and mountain restaurants – my guiding couldn’t have been that bad after all or alternatively, they were just foolish.

Posted in Margaritka | 1 Comment »

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February meant glorious, glorious sunshine!!

February 20, 2011

Strange weather patterns descended on the Western French Alps this year making most of February feel like late March. Morzine-Avoriaz worked overtime (at nights) enabling the pistes to stay in excellent condition. Infact, if anything conditions improved from late January since the milder temperatures softened the hard packed pistes. Our guests really enjoyed these Spring like conditions. Alas, there was not much Off Piste to be found for the Tsar and I.

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Another season begins at Chalet Margaritka!!

January 24, 2011

Winter 2011 arrived and Chalet Margaritka had plenty of take up for it’s highly personalised, ski weekends and short breaks. The early snow following the cold pattern of Northern Europe including Britain – coldest December (2010) on record – WAS GOOD!!

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Summer’s Over! DEPRESSED? Don’t be Winter’s coming.

September 11, 2010

Some great action shots from the slopes over the last couple of years. For those who know me (Glyn that is) you’ll recognise my distinctive skiing style as I try to go around the gates. Yes, I had this wild idea I might be able to pass the French Test Technique so I opened my wallet (not easy for me) and coughed up some dosh to do some Slalom training with BASS Morzine. Even bought myself a pair of new super-duper very stiff and very fast, short Slalom skis. I think the first run I fell off them very hard. I should probably have taken the hint. Yes, you’ve guessed it – it remains a wild idea!!

Great experience though and marvelous training with BASS. These boys really know what they’re doing!! I can assure you if you want to improve your anticipation, balance and timing then spend a morning or two going around the gates. It’s amazing what it can do for your skiing.

You’ll also find some great shots of Skiing in the POWDER below as well, not to mention the BUMPS. Including some shots of the EXPERTS – BASS fully ISTD qualified instructors in action. Especially, look at the difference in their body angulation to mine as they go around the gates, glide through the powder or attack the bumps………..

All photographs courtesy of BASS Morzine. I’ve known them and ski’d with them for years – They’re top professionals and absolutely brilliant!! Please check out the link to their website in the side panel (Under Pages) on this BLOG.

Posted in Skiing | Leave a Comment »

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