Missing out on summer in the Alps

As you probably know by now, the Alpine Ethos team are back in the UK for the summer and don’t get us wrong we’re happy to be here. This week has involved a visit from Heather’s mum and dad, some culinary experimentation (beef paprikash, a Jamie Oliver style meringue pudding and another Leon cookbook great – the Tuk Tuk salad), as well as a scary trip to the vets for Benny who had a suspected case of a potentially life threatening stomach condition. Fortunately it was only suspected and not the reality – phew. But aside from all that, we can’t help but keep an eye on what’s going on in and around Meribel whilst we’re away and, to us, it looks pretty good!

Things kicked off last weekend when the ski lifts opened for the ‘Big Bike Weekend’ which began with a 20 km bike ride open to anyone who feels the need to launch themselves on a mountain bike from the top of the Saulire (2,600m high) down the ski slopes and through the forest below to Brides-les-Bains at 600m. The first rider made it down the course in just 24 minutes!

The next day, cyclists took back to the mountains for the Three Valleys rando-tour, an 80km cross country mountain bike course with 1,100m of ascents and 3,400m of descents. You could start from any of the 3 valley resort stations and could duck out at various points if you didn’t quite have the stamina. Whilst we don’t consider ourselves hard core mountain bikers we definitely would have given these two events a go....maybe next year.

Obviously these types of mountain biking course aren’t for everyone, but there are loads of things to do in Meribel over the summer. The lifts stay open from early July until late August (27^th this year) for hikers and mountain bikers (your bike is carried on a rack attached to the back of the chairlift). There’s also horseriding, segway transporter courses, rafting, canyoning, via ferrata (high mountain wire climb) and parapenting. For those land sports lovers there are plenty of quality tennis courts and a high altitude golf course and last but not least for those who really want to take things easy there’s always the swimming pool and relaxation spa.

When you’ve finished with some or all of the activities we’ve described some of Meribel’s best bars and restaurants are open for business and if you happen to be in town for 14^th July, don’t miss the Bastille day celebrations in Les Allues, complete with Oompah band and a music and firework extravaganza.

So, as you can see, there are plenty of reasons why we’re thinking about being back in the Alps this summer. Ah well, there’s always next year.

Heather, Andy and Benny

Feeling a bit flighty

It’s been a week of both work and pleasure (well sort of) at Alpine Ethos HQ. We broke out the BBQ on Sunday, whipped up some tabbouleh, happy carrot slaw (a winner from the Leon cookbook) and a few other leafy offerings and threw some snags, drumsticks and burgers over the coals for our mates. It being the England vs Germany match (and having too many people to fit in our lounge) Andy rigged up our TV for an open air transmission. So it was fun to catch up with all our mates but of course the result left a few of our BBQ friends a little down in the dumps.


On the work front, Heather’s made in-roads into gathering all the data ready to prepare our first accounts and Andy’s been immersed in all things HTML and our new website is really starting to take shape.


As well as making our new website shiny we are also updating the information contained there and this week has seen us focus on the ‘how to get to us’ page, an important page of information if you’re booking any holiday independently. While railway timetables are not yet available flight times and prices are now published and there are some bargains to be had at the moment.
We looked at a number of options for 4 adults travelling to us from the North (Manchester), South (London Stansted) and Midlands (Birmingham) for the same week, 16th January to 23rd January.


Easyjet proved cheapest for flights from Stansted and Birmingham to Geneva for 4 adults including one bag each. Stansted to Geneva was a mere £300.42 return while flights from Brum were just £288.92. Jet2 proved the cheapest option from Manchester at £327.84 return. Remember those prices are for the whole group not each person!


Once you have made it to the airport you’ll need to get from there to the resort. Competition is fierce in the transfer industry and your basic options are a private or shared transfer. Private companies such as My Mountain Transfers will meet you in arrivals (with your name on a board for added glamour!) and take you straight to your destination for 260 euros each way.


Alternatively you might want the cheaper option of a shared transfer with a company such as Ben’s Bus. They operate a number of services each day, so you may have a bit of a wait in the airport before leaving but for £67 return per person smaller groups may like the savings!


In the course of doing this research we thought it would also be interesting to compare the prices our guests might pay for their total package with those of the large ski package holiday companies. With a flight from Stansted a group of 4 adults staying with us would be paying £623 each for flights, private transfers and accommodation (or £577 with shared transfers) the former of which works out at around about £30-£50 per person cheaper than package operators in and around Meribel. So this just goes to show that if you’re willing to put in a bit of time booking things separately you can tailor your holiday to your own needs, save a few quid to boot and get yourself some Alpine Ethos hospitality to boot.



Have a good weekend



Heather, Andy & Benny