Early Booking Offers

The Oxford Ski Company always strive to find you the best holiday to match your requirements. Whilst it is important for us to match the correct property and the correct level of service to meet the needs of your group, we also work hard to offer you the best value for money!

There are often some great incentives to book your stay in advance. Below are some current offers for early bookings.

» Catered chalets with flights & transfers, Save £100 per person
Available on selected properties in Alpe d’Huez, La Plagne, Meribel, Morzine, Val d’Isere andZermatt. This offer is available on departures 9th Jan, 16th Jan, 23rd Jan, 30th Jan, 6th Feb, 20th Mar, 27th March. Offer valid: till 31st Oct.

» Free Ski Passes on selected chalets in January & March

Selected properties are offering free ski passes for dates in January and March. For example you can book Chalet Marie in Val d’Isere and each member of the group will receive a free Espace Killy lift pass. Offer valid: till 30th Nov.

» Four Seasons Whistler, Save £1,727 per person
Jan 10th for 8 nights. Flights from London, transfers and accommodation (room only)at only £1534pp + $400 food & beverage or spa credit saving £1727 per person (based on 2 people sharing). Offer valid: till 15th Nov.

The Freeze Festival 2010

Relentless Freeze is a snow sports and music festival in London, nestled in the shadow of Battersea Power Station. Every year since it began in 2008 Freeze has welcomed the world’s very best skiers and snowboarders to compete on the specially erected 32m high, 100m long real snow ramp.

The riders throw themselves off the huge jump performing their best tricks for World ranking points, their share of the prize purse, and your viewing pleasure. Over the last two years we have seen Olympic medallists Danny Kass, Peetu Piiroinen, Scotty Lago battle it out. From the skiers Jon Olson, Tanner Hall, Russ Henshaw, Andreas Hatveit and Bobby Brown produced an intense and one of the highest scoring big air contests ever!

The event takes place over three days in late October and boasts a stellar music line up. The last two years have seen huge international acts like Cypress Hill, Orbital, Friendly Fires and Chase & Status perform phenomenal shows in the festival marquee and expect more exciting acts this year. There is also a big retail village for you to explore, loads of specially decked out après ski bars, a cinema, food stalls and loads more stuff to check out.

Relentless Freeze Festival isn’t just about the biggest bands, artists and DJ’s performing and the world’s greatest skiers and snowboarders competing. There is a retail village that could top any big ski resort town, where you’ll be able to check out the latest ski and snowboard gear. Some of the country’s best retailers will be there ready to help and explain this winter’s latest hardware tech and what’s right for you.

This is one of the main features of the event and will be host to the biggest and latest brands, retailers, snow and ski resorts, and tour operators who will be showcasing their latest lines and hot deals on the snow to the Freeze customer only.

http://www.thefreezefestival.com/ for more information.

Tour de France sampling the summer sun in the mountains

Happy Easter

Luxury Ski Chalets”

Easter holidays upon us there is still an opportunity to make the most of the 20cm to 40cm of snowfall that covered the Alps last weekend. Spring skiing conditions once again are as good as ever and more snow is forecast later this week. This is becoming a promising trend with great snow now until the end of April for the past few seasons (and great news for those looking to go away over Easter 2011 which falls on Sun 24th April).

Are you looking to go away but need someone to prepare a shortlist of properties for you and then take care of all the last minute arrangements for your holiday? That’s exactly what we are here for….

Last Minute Easter Break
4th to 11th April 2010
Chalet Abode, St Martin de Belleville; €875 per person based on min. 2 sharing (discounted from €1,569). 4 bedrooms available on a catered basis excluding travel.

Chalet Margaux, Val d’Isere; £849 per person based on min. 2 sharing (discounted from £1,689), 3 bedrooms available on a catered basis including Gatwick flights and airport transfers.

Chalet Berbou, Verbier; £7,950 for exclusive use of the chalet for up to 14 people on a catered basis excluding travel.

11th to 18th April 2010
Chalet Serena, Chamonix; £13,680 for exclusive use of the chalet for up to 14 people on a catered basis including flights and transfers.

Summer 2010
A good number of our chalets are available to rent over the summer. If you think the Alps are beautiful in the winter then many would say they are even better in the summer. There are endless outdoor activities and with 200 days of sunshine a year the weather is invigorating. The most popular resorts are Verbier, Zermatt, Chamonix, Megeve, Morzine and Meribel but we have chalets across the Alps so please just ask. Here is a selection……

Verbier - These chalets are available as self catered rentals, however services can be arrange on request.
Chalet Five Roses (Sleeps 8); £6,000 to £7,500 per week (from June to September)
Chalet Crijibe (Sleeps 10); £9,000 to £11,000 per week (from June to September)

Zermatt– These chalets are available on a fully serviced rental basis.
Chalet Grace (Sleeps 10+2); CHF20,400 to CHF25,500 per week (from May to September)
Chalet Ulysse (Sleeps 8); CHF 8,590 (from May to September)

Winter 2010/11
We are actively updating and improving our portfolio of chalets and hotels across the Alps and North America for next winter season. There are some exciting new developments and we will make sure you have access to them all. The standard of accommodation and level of service is improving all the time.

We are already taking bookings for next season and as always the best chalets sell first for the peak periods. I would strongly recommend booking ahead. Please contact us now if you would like on of our sales consultants to send you a proposal. Email info@oxfordski.com or call +44 1865 398 130.

Still plenty of time to go skiing in 2010

At this half way point of the ski season there is still plenty of time to go skiing in 2010! With the February holiday behind us, the months of March and April offer great opportunities to enjoy the ski slopes. In fact some of our guests returned from such an enjoyable week at half term they have since called and booked again at Easter!

Please see below a snap shot of some great luxury chalets left this season at reduced rates (although do call us with your group requirements as there are many more properties we can offer)

28 Feb – 7 March 2010
Chalet Vallon, Meribel; £749 per person (2 rooms available). Fully catered. Includes travel.
Ferme de Moudon, Les Gets; £18,964 exclusive use (sleeps 10). Fully catered. Excludes travel.

7 – 14 March 2010
Chalet Mathilda, Val d’Isere; £1,595 per person (1 rooms available). Fully catered. Includes travel.
Chalet Des Drus, Chamonix; £20,000 exclusive use (sleeps 14). Self catered. Excludes travel.

14 – 21 March 2010
Le Ti Chalet, Verbier; CHF 20,000 exclusive use (sleeps 6+3). Fully catered. Excludes travel.
Chalet Chapelle, Alp d’Huez; £829 per person (5 rooms available). Fully catered. Includes travel.

21 –28 March 2010
Chalet Maria Schnee, St Anton; €18,250 exclusive use (sleeps 8 +7). Fully catered. Excludes travel
Chalet Le Chardon, Val d’Isere; £995 per person (6 rooms available). Fully catered. Excludes travel.

28 March – 4 April 2010
Chalet Louise, Zermatt; £22,950 exclusive use (sleeps 10). Fully catered. Includes travel.
Chalet de Pre, Morzine; £10,990 exclusive use (sleeps 10). Fully catered. Includes travel.

4 – 11 April 2010
Chalet Chopine, Meribel; £16,920 exclusive use (sleeps 10). Fully catered. Excludes travel.
Chalet Cybou, Verbier; £12,950 exclusive use (sleeps 8). Fully catered. Excludes travel.

11 – 18 April 2010
Haus Ulysse, Zermatt; CHF 30,700 exclusive use (sleeps 8 + 4). Fully catered. Excludes travel.
Darkoum A, Courchevel 1850; £1,160 per person (3 rooms available). Fully catered. Includes travel.

18 – 25 April 2010
Chalet Black Pearl, Val d’Isere; €15,000 sleeps 10 people. Catered. Excludes Travel25 April – 2 May 2010
Chalet Kilimandjaro, Val d’Isere; £7,960 sleeps 8 people. Catered. Excludes Travel

Looking for something else?
We work with around 100 tour operators and privately owned properties in 28 of the worlds best ski resorts. Please contact one of our sales consultants to discuss your requirements and let us do the hard work and find you the perfect property.

If you are looking for luxury hotel options, you can contact our hotel team on +44(0) 1865 398 133.

Click here for six good reasons to book with The Oxford Ski Company

Snow Report, 25th January, 2010

INTRODUCTION
This weekend saw fresh snow fall on western resorts in Europe especially in France and Switzerland. The heaviest snowfall this week is forecast in the eastern resorts of Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Up to a metre of new snow is forecast in Austria and Switzerland, so this gives you an idea of how much the snow conditions could improve.
There is some fantastic skiing in America at the moment, with resorts in Utah and California recently receiving over two metres of fresh snow. Unfortunately it is warm and wet on the east coast, which has turned much of the snow to slush.
Loads more snow fell at Whistler, taking their snowfall total for the year so far to nearly ten metres. There is lots of powder on the upper slopes. Elsewhere in Canada it is colder, with fantastic snow conditions from top to bottom.

AUSTRIA
The fresh snow that fell in Austria last week gave some great powder skiing in many places over the weekend. The snow has now packed down giving excellent on-piste skiing.
The Ski Club rep in Mayrhofen (5/70cm) reports very good on piste conditions, especially on the higher slopes. The base depth isn’t deep but is enough to ensure the grassy runs are completely covered in snow. All the lifts in the Mayrhofen area are running.
There is over a metre and a half of snow on the upper slopes at St Anton (40/170cm). Skiing is very good both on and off the pistes following fresh snowfall at the end of last week. As with Mayrhofen, last week’s fresh snow has now packed down giving generally excellent on-piste conditions.

FRANCE
Many French resorts received snow on Monday 25th January. Generally between 5cm and 10cm was reported on Monday morning and the snow was expected to keep falling through the day.
5cm of new snow was reported at Les Gets (55/130cm), giving a nice layer of powder on the groomed runs. The snowy weather meant the visibility was poor at altitude so it was prudent to take care, especially when skiing off piste. The weather should clear up on Tuesday.
A few centimetres of snow also fell at Courchevel (80/118cm) on Monday morning. This freshened up the pistes, which were beginning to get a bit hard at low levels. All the links over into the other valleys were open providing a huge amount of skiing.

SWITZERLAND
A few of our featured Swiss resorts received fresh snow over the weekend. It was only a light dusting but nevertheless it improved the snow conditions.
Around 5cm fell on Monday at Gstaad (15/160cm). The resort has a glacier and the snow cover up there is excellent. Head high for the greatest amount of fresh snow but the cold weather means the snow is very good even down to the bottom of the ski area at 1000m.
It was also snowing on Monday at Champery (30/80cm) in the Portes du Soleil area. With links to Avoriaz, Morzine and Les Gets in France there is loads of great skiing available. Fresh snow fell over the whole of the area. 180 of the 197 lifts in the massive Portes du Soleil area were running on Monday.

USA
There were some colossal snowfalls across America last week. Many resorts in Utah, Colorado and California received massive amounts of fresh snow.
Mammoth (225/360cm) received two and a half metres of snow in five days. While it fell this affected resort operations but they have since dug out their lifts and bottomless powder can be found across the mountain. On Sunday 24th January 21 of their 22 lifts were running.
Snowbird (246cm), Alta (259cm) and Park City (188cm) also received a lot of snow. Around two metres of snow fell between Thursday 21st and Sunday 24th January at Snowbird and Alta. Only half the lifts are running at Snowbird due the heightened avalanche risk but where the lifts are running the skiing is incredible. Expect chest deep powder on the whole mountain at the start of this week.
Unfortunately it has turned very warm on the east coast, with mid mountain temperatures of 8°C in places. It was also raining at Mount Snow (51/71cm) over the weekend, turning the existing snow into heavy slush. They are doing their best to preserve the snow base however and the mild weather isn’t expected to last too long. Only half the lifts at Mount Snow are currently running.

CANADA
Snow conditions in Canada are generally very good at the moment. The best of the snow conditions can be found inland, away from the coast where it is warmer.
Fernie (210cm) still has an excellent base depth and fresh snowfall last week ensures the snow is in great condition this week. All of the lifts were running on Sunday 24th January giving access to the runs, although some of the lower runs are quite hard packed.
Loads of snow fell at Whistler (280cm), especially on the upper slopes. They have excellent conditions higher up but low down the runs are quite hard due to mild daytime temperatures and cold nights. They are looking to be in excellent shape for the Olympics.

EUROPEAN WEATHER OUTLOOK
Lots of snow is expected in Europe this week, particularly in Austria and Switzerland where a metre of snow could fall over the next eight days in places.
Lech in Austria is expecting lots of heavy snow at the end of this week and over the weekend. Around 120cm of snow could fall by the end of next weekend. It will also be a very cold week, with the temperature remaining around -14°C at mid mountain so the powder will be light and dry.
Resorts in Italy could also receive significant snowfall this week and next weekend. The heaviest snows are expected at Livigno where up to 67cm could land by the end of Tuesday 2nd February. Other resorts in the east such as Val Senales, Bormio and Selva Gardena are also expecting around 60cm of new snow.
France should be cold and sunny as well, but they aren’t expecting as much as Austria, Switzerland and Italy.
Up in Scandinavia it should be snowy too, with Hemsedal in Norway expecting 53cm of snow in the next nine days. It should also be very cold, especially at the weekend. Expect a high of -19°C on Saturday.

NORTH AMERICAN WEATHER OUTLOOK
There is good news for east coast resorts, with the return of cold weather expected later this week. Attitash Bear Peak is suffering due to rain at the moment but it should be -14°C by the end of the week, although this could potentially turn all the slushy snow to ice.
In the west, the recent snowstorms for California, Utah and Colorado have cleared. Drier and sunnier weather is expected across most states but some snow is expected on and off throughout the week. The intermittent snow showers should amount to between 10cm and 30cm for most resorts.
It should be snowy in Canada too, but only a light amount of snow is forecast. The most snow is expected at Whistler, with around 40cm expected on the upper slopes by the weekend. The recent mild weather looks like staying, with snow above around 1000m at Whistler. Further inland it should be colder, with temperatures down to -16°C overnight at Big White.
Brought to you by The Ski Club of Great Britain
Ski Club Website
Snow Reports
Ski resort guide

SWISS announce London Heathrow to Geneva route

SWISS will be further expanding its range of services between Geneva and London on 10 January 2010. An additional aircraft will be stationed in Geneva to operate the new flights. SWISS and its sister Lufthansa Group airline British Midland (bmi) also plan to collaborate more closely on their services between Switzerland and the UK.

SWISS is steadily expanding its services to and from Geneva, despite the continuing economic crisis. From 10 January 2010 onwards, SWISS will offer six new daily services between Geneva and London Heathrow. Together with a modified service of four daily flights to London City (compared to the present six), SWISS will be doubling the number of seats it offers to and from the important London market, and further strengthening its position at and around Geneva.

Read more

Chamonix chalets available for New Year

Le ferme de Varaita,  Chamonix (sleeps 10)

The Ferme de Varaita in Chamonix is now possible to rent on a self-catered or chalet-catered basis. The self catered price for sole occupancy of the chalet between the 27th of December – 3rd of January, 2010 would be £8,950. This includes maid service on four occasions during the week, concierge service and bathroom products. Please call us to find out prices for chef services and in-resort transfers.

Le Marti, Chamonix (sleeps 16)

Chalet Le Marti is a unique luxury boutique property with 8 en-suite bedrooms, large living, comfortable dining area with sauna and outdoor Jacuzzi. This chalet comes fully catered for £30,833. This price excludes flights and airport transfers.

To enquire about chalets available for New Year, please call us on +44(0) 1865 398 130. We look forward to hearing from you.

Fly Oxford to Geneva this winter

We are delighted to hear that Baboo Airlines will start flights between Oxford and Geneva each Saturday from the 19^th December through to the 13^th March. This will be on a 78-seat Dash-8-Q400 aircraft.

The flights and prices will be published on the website of Baboo, a well-established and respected Geneva-based airline within the next week with the following schedule (local times):

Depart             Arrive
GVA 12:20        OXF 13:20
OXF 14:05        GVA 17:00

Baboo operates a ‘full frills’ service and flight prices will include a generous baggage and complimentary ski or snowboard allowance.  With hassle-free access and use of Oxford’s smart executive terminal, the travel experience will be far removed from that at the larger hub airports.   A week’s parking at Oxford Airport will only be £25.

Welcome!

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new Blog which will include details of new properties, informative resort reviews, news of special offers, late deals and, starting in December, regular weather and snow forecasts to keep you up to speed with the conditions in the Alps. The whole team will be contributing to the Blog so why not use your RSS reader to subscribe to our post and also save it to your favourites. 

“What is the difference between your website and blog?”
For those of you unsure of the difference, our www.oxfordski.com is our main website which showcases the luxury chalets, lodges and spa hotels available to rent in the Alps. This Blog, is a platform for news stories, letting you know about new properties and special offers. Blogs are much more interactive than websites and will allow our sales consultants to share their experiences and news stories with you. You will also have the opportunity to comment on our Blog posts – ie, after reading one of our resort reviews, why not ‘comment’ on it and share your experiences of that resort.