Winter Season a resounding success

Finally our winter season has come to a close, although the snow continues to fall up on the slopes. It has been one of the best years for snowfall in years and those still in the resort are enjoying empty slopes with unseasonable amounts of fresh powder. The slopes are going to close this weekend with a base of almost 2 meters of snow still about 200 meters. Chances are that conditions will be fantastic for the start of the Summer Skiing in June. We couldn't have asked for a better first season. 13 weeks of happy guests and plenty of bookings for the summer already. All the renovations to the Chalet have generally held up well, with only the usual ware and tare to be taken care of.

We are now cracking on with the next stage of renovations, generally concentrating on the outside of the building. Today our landscaper arrived with heavy machinery to construct a retaining rock garden to neaten up and secure the car park. He will then address our flooding problems in front of the property by installing underground drains and finishing with a gravel driveway. He is also delivering loads of top soil, to we can tidy up around the decking with a lawn. I have started to landscape other areas of the garden and have created more space for a lawn and raised flower beds. Fingers crossed, the garden will be in full bloom for the first guests and for our wedding in May.

Catered Chalet Alpe D'Huez, Les Deux Alpes

What a great year to open for Summer business with the Tour De France once again finishing a stage on the famous Alpe D’Huez climb and starting again the following day in Bourg D'Oisans. The chalet is purfectly suited for Cyclists, mountain bikers and hikers alike. Currently our boot room has ample storage for bikes and with our proposed garage extension likely to go ahead in the spring, there will be even more room with and a workshop.


The recently renovated Lodge comfortably sleep 9 guests in four bedrooms all in new single or double beds with no bunk beds. Weather permitting meals are served outside on our new 28meter deck. We are situated in the valley near Le Bourg D'Oisans, the base of the Alpe D'Huez climb and a number of other classic Alpine tours. Your hosts Will and Alex who live in an ajoining appartment are here to help with any queries regarding your stay.




Will Corder

Ecrins Lodge Cycling Holidays Alpe D’Huez & Les Deux Alpes

Catered Chalet Les Deux Alpes

Well the winter is well and truly upon us and the Lodge is up and running. After a major push in the autumn we finally have our apartment finished a brand new heating system and wood burning stove installed. Bookings have been pouring in to the extent that we are fully booked up until the end of the winter season. We are now concentrating our efforts on the summer cycling and mountain biking season. To date we have had five groups of guests and from their comments everyone is very happy about our service. The Hot Tub is getting really good use which we are pleased about considering the amount that we paid to have it installed. Even the Landrover is behaving itself, although we still may trade it in in the spring in place of a mini bus which will be better suited to do airport transfers. Basil the dog loves the snow and has found a local girlfriend.

Catered Chalet Les Deux Alpes

We have hardly had a moment to stop and especially to update our blog. However the deck now looks amazing and the hot tub is a real asset. The summer evenings are mild and we can eat out there most nights. With a mad final rush to get the interior ready, thanks to various family members, we were finally able to take our first guests on the 29th June. This was in the form of a friends stag do and thankfully they generally behaved themselves and left the Lodge in a reasonable state. Following on directly from this we had our first real cycling guests who were here for the gruelling Marmotte race. Our impressions were that it went very successfully partly thanks to all the group finishing the race. Alex and I had a fun afternoon up on the Col de Galibier with cousin Guy and Helyn (www.kingofhtemountains.co.uk) cheering on all the competitors and giving out food and drink to our guests. More recently we have had a group with a young child who despite the garden not being completely finished were very happy about the child friendliness of the Lodge and surrounding area. Summer has been slow coming this year, but seems to be well and truly here now. Alex and I even took the plunge in the local glacial stream. Not particularly advisable, even on a stinking hot day.

We have had another very productive couple of weeks. A builder friend of ours Dave popped down from Chamonix with one of his carpenters. Amazingly in the first week they managed to completely build a massive deck off the back of the Lodge. Not a simple feat since the outside edge of the decking is about five meters above the ground and also has to be built strong enough to hold the hot tub (which incidentally arrives tomorrow) and potentially a deck full of people. Inside Dave busied himself with much of the tricky finishing bits that I have no idea about. So baring a little sanding and finishing off the kitchen, we are basically at the decorating stage which is fortunate since we have our first guests in three weeks.
Alex and I had decided to take the weekend off since we have been working such long hours. Unfortunately yesterday was taken up in sweaty Grenoble chasing garden furniture, beds and mattresses and today will be taken up clearing up the site and attacking the garden. Still the weather is perfect and it will be nice to be outside.

Well we are really making progress now. A couple of weeks ago we finally official signed on the place, so at last we own it. Just in the nick of time since we couldn’t put off our builders any longer and had already started to pour serious money into the project. Amazingly we managed to persuade a plumber, electrician and a carpenter to come down from Chamonix and for a couple of weeks to work for us. They weren’t cheap, but worked from 7am until 9pm everyday for the 14 days and got some serious work done. We now have the three extra ensuite bathrooms installed in the upstairs bedrooms. The bedroom on the top floor has been transformed from a complete shell to a beautiful ensuite bed room complete with French window onto what will be its private balcony. As a bonus they fitted in a fantastic mezzanine, space for two more beds, in an awkward space above the bathroom. Alex and I have been hard at work tiling, filling, sanding and painting to get these room finished. We hope to have them completely finished by the end of this week, so we can turn our attention to our apartment in the cave. Hopefully the carpenter is going to come back in the next couple of weeks to work on the decking in time for the imminent delivery of the hot tub.

We have finally found a moment to work on our web site. It is still very much in its infancy and needs a few more pictures of the building as renovations are completed. So at least now we can push for a few more summer bookings which would be handy thanks to the rate we are haemorrhaging money on the project.

Check it out on http://www.ecrinslodge.com/

Time for another instalment to our Blog. Unfortunately we still don’t officially own the chalet. The latest delay has been due to the owner wanting to keep a small portion of the land which has a bit of storage on it. It has taken until this week for the relevant authorities to write up the necessary paperwork. Theoretically we now have everything in place to sign the final paperwork next week.

Although frustrating we have at least been in the chalet for about a month now and have not had to pay any rent. Despite being unable to start any major works we have been able to speak to various tradesmen and organise quotes and times for the renovations to be done. We are currently in negotiations with a local plumber who is going to install a modern environmental fuel boiler which will replace our ancient wood burning system. The plumber has assured us that it will supply enough hot water to keep all guests happy in the four new bathrooms even at the heaviest of usage times.

Finally (thanks to LR Spares in Grantham for selling us a dud), after five months in the garage and a few thousand euro later, we have our Landrover back complete with a brand new engine. The Landrover specialist has assured us that it is now as good as new and to his credit is working perfectly. We are sure that the Landrover is going to complement the whole guest experience of staying at our Lodge.

Other advancements are that our new kitchen is ready and waiting in the cellar to be installed. Our UK satellite is now up and running and our wireless broadband system should be online on the 12th April. The hot tub has been ordered and will be installed and running by the end of April. Another development is that we have arranged for a carpenter friend from Chamonix to pop down in June to build the raised deck. Finally we have brought a table tennis table and I’m working on Alex to get a Nintendo Wii for the guest spare television room.

All in all we are still well on track, despite not yet having our web site up and running, to be ready for what looks set to be a very busy summer.