 Poster: A snowHead
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@Steve Angus,
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the big moment when Olivia was crowned CHAMPION
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Congratulations Olivia.
Celebrations all round in the Angus household!!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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another one congratulations from me also
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Congrats to Olivia.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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THANKS EVERYONE - too many lovely comments to reply to individually. Yes very proud - sorry gave the game away in the title - whoops! Yes she got some confidence from winning that thats for sure! Someone else suggested we need space for a trophy cabinet too - not going to jinx it by including one though - doh! Still on a high. Onwards and upwards... as long as she keeps enjoying it thats the main thing although she is mighty competitive which helps!
@Noob921 - sounds like you know him do you?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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No freeze
Getting the kids out the door and onto the school bus was hard this morning - come on kids one more week of school to go and then you can have basically 2 weeks of fun skiing whilst we pack the house up.
Clare had the day off so I headed out to work. There had not been a freeze overnight unfortunately so it was always going to be soft today.
This week I have a lovely lady hoping to crack skiing and giving it one more attempt. Sometimes in lessons its NOT about technique at all and today was one of those days... linking up existing technique but mainly the confidence to prove to herself she could do it and help her to enjoy it... we found the snow on the magic carpet perfect although being day 1 of the week it was busy! Lapping around and gaining the confidence was vital and I thought it worked really well - there was even some smiles by the end - we are getting there!
So it was a confidence building morning and since there was less saharan sand ' cloud' cover than yesterday it was pleasant up there.
I took lunch under the Sun Bar and then headed out for the pm lesson - game on. The kids were ready for the challenge of getting them to Tignes and back in the afternoon so after a quick crocodile alley which they love and the 'fun run' we used their passes for the first time on a Tignes lift and headed up Tommeuse! In all fairness with the lack of freeze last night the snow was very soft and heavy going - the resort is not that busy this week but in the afternoons at this time of the year it is dead! So we slowly but surely and with plenty of stops made our way to Val Claret and the target of The Corner for hot chocolate - the kids did really well but were tired when we got there. Amazing well done!
After that we slowly but surely made our way back to Val side and downloaded on the La Daille gondola. It was a successful afternoon but boy the kids were knackered.
I got home and it has been the usual this evening getting the homework done and the kids into bed.
The weather tomorrow could be a little spicy so hopefully we will get some skiing done.... but tomorrow is my last full day teaching of the season then I only have half days after that.
A reminder that Friday is my last update of the season and then it will be back to monthlies after that.
TTFN
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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2 in a week! Wow!! Well done Olivia and Team Angus.
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@Steve Angus, that looks really revolting! Hope it's not like that in VT next week.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Hurtle wrote: |
| @Steve Angus, that looks really revolting! Hope it's not like that in VT next week. |
It wasnt really that bad it really wasnt compared to what you can get.
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| Hurtle wrote: |
| @Steve Angus, that looks really revolting! Hope it's not like that in VT next week. |
Not as revolting as the view of my laptop screen from my desk!! 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The magic carpet certainly wasnt buried under that much snow yesterday! Since it was mega cloudy foggy today I didnt fancy another 'white' photo! Haha
Blooming fog
It was certainly colder today than yesterday and after Ben had had a nightmare and gotten into my bed so I ended sleeping in his it was nice to open the curtain and see that it was NOT raining and instead looked like there was a little blanket of wintery snow out there - yay!
Clare was on a 1000 start, I needed to get Ben to kids club and Olivia was having a generally lazy morning with a Flèche race over the road slotted in for 1000. She is determined to try and get the Gold time... that is within 15% of the openers time (yes it is a similar system to the Eurotest!). It is exceptionally rare even in junior French racing to get the gold time as it is basically the Eurotest sort of time. Most kids get it (if they are very good at ski racing) at 11 or 12 or very occasionally at 10 years of age but at 9 - hmmm! In fact I know of only 2 kids (having done some research) that got it sub 10 years of age and that is Zak and Freddie Carrick Smith who will be World Cup for GB probably in 2 years time. Even kids that are virtually winning the Scara which is basically the unofficial World Junior (U16 level) World Champs only some of them got it U10 and mostly at 10 years of age! Anyway as with all racing there is some luck involved and you have to be in it to win it! She was 1.7 secs of it on the 6/3 and that has been her closest so far... today she was 4.5 secs off. As I say bib number, the fore-runner making a tiny error, the snow can all make a second difference so getting closer but not there yet! She will have at least another 2 chances and hopefully 3 before the season end and her birthday on the 29th... watch this space! I might forget in my May monthly update to let everyone know therefore someone please remind me if I forget as she will not have another chance this week!
Anyway Olivia only had to make her way over the road to meet with a friend so was left to do that.
I got to the meet point having dropped Ben at kids club and with a thick foggy cloud layer atop the mountains we decided to give it a go up Solaise (I dont want to push her too much and do the 'Green Triangle' before the weather is good). Anyway the snow up there was lovely... just seeing anything was impossible. Luckily for a beginner there was NOT too much fresh snow so all good. Anyway we lapped the carpet where we could see a little hoping the clouds would part but they were not too... so after about 45 mins I decided that we would get more out of the Village lift so we headed down.
The rest of the lesson was spent lapping the Village and improving confidence etc etc etc.... the snow down low was more glazed but fine really. By the end of the session she was happily coming down the steep side of the Village. The clouds never lifted and it felt like mid Winter for most of the morning! I was glad we did not push it too much today as tomorrow the sun will shine hopefully and I can wait to get her out into the Bellevarde bowl! I think laps of that and the Grand Pre will become her happy place and that will be cool!
I got home, had some lunch and got Olivia who was now back from her race all sorted and she headed out for a birthday party at the swimming pool. She is getting so grown up... took the bus by herself to the party and will be home by herself later too! I am about to go get Ben and Clare will be finishing up soon too!
A reminder that Friday is the end of my 'updates season' and the last day I will post here for this season. I will also wind down other social media then too! I will do monthlies after that. The building work is now looming on the horizon so lots and lots to get done on that front!
Hopefully it will be sunny tomorrow.
TTFN
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Sounds a lot of fun for the kids and parents this racing business. Would love to have mine skiing more regularly but heigh ho. Well done to your daughter. A National title Seems a lot for 9yr olds on face it - worried about pressure etc? What do you think Steve? Remember Alain Baxter saying he didn’t ski abroad until 12 I think and there’s Dave ryding’s story. Probably no right or wrong trajectory. Tho guess hirscher, Grange, odermatt probably smashed every age grp record….
Anyway suoer effort well done all again
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@Steve Angus, Hope the packing up and move goes smoothly.
No doubt we will bump into you when we’re back out in the summer and hear good news about the build progress.
Now back to the glamorous jobs of cleaning shower drains, de-scaling taps and shower heads before
we head back to the UK 
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Jake - yes I hear you about pressure for a youngster but its partly how they do it in Europe - the general education system (and skiing is no different) is pretty pressurised in France! Rightly or wrongly! Anyway thanks for your thanks. I think there is definately something to say for not over race training kids... its actually a fairly big problem. Staying away from a 'gates / gates / gates' only training regime is important and just skiing the whole mountain is important! The Club des Sports here try to not overdo it with the younger members of the club!
muppet - thank you. Yes im sure we will bump into each other over the Summer sometime. Hope the clean up has gone well!
Canuck - I cant speak for other resorts but in Val its taken pretty darn seriously. Yes pace setters in cat suits and they often use the best pace setter they have available with exceptionally low time co-efficients e.g. 1. The issue here is that the Flèche is often used by local training organisations as a tester towards the Eurotest standard and there are loads of aspiring French and non French that regularly train and practice for the Eurotest on the Flèche. There will be plenty that use it as a fun race but its viewed pretty seriously thats for sure. Lots of the U12 kids wanting to continue in Club that HAVENT got Gold sometimes go to other resorts to try to get Gold as its perceived as being less serious and easier as you elude to! A girl that got gold with that little experience must have been the luckiest person alive and that would not happen here I doubt. You are probably aware that you can check a racers Palmares of ESF races, basically ESF organised races anywhere in France so Flèche / Chamois etc race. Based on how close a racer is to a calibrated openers time and gives their own points score with the lower the better and accordingly where that person is ranked nationally for age etc. So its relative to the racer and not location really. Anyway Olivia was last week ranked 4th for her age in France out of about 2500 (believe 2 ESF races is the minimum required so if you have only done a weeks holiday and one race you would not be ranked) and I guess given the serious nature of the Fleches and thus the standard not being really for fun means that attaining the Gold here as she wants is a serious attainment for her. I asked a friend at the ESF today re numbers of U10/12's getting the Gold time and he laughed saying he never sees it... so perhaps its taken differently here than other places! Either way I wish it was more 'fun' as the kids are battling to get ever closer to the Gold time in these parts - doh!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Lovely
It was much warmer today than yesterday and the sun was shining - happy days.
With the kids out the door I started the day with recording the weekly (and last for this season) snow report and then it was game on. Finally with the sun shining / the conditions perfect (it really WAS perfect out there today) we headed up Olympic and were one of the first up there. Yippee!
We basically did the green triangle and were ahead of everyone which was nice.... going down the steps at the top of Olympic was definitely a sensible move too! I could not believe how quiet it was going down Genepy piste and boy it was just perfect conditions and I would say that overall the ski down the piste was the best I have had in 17 years here... perfect snow, weather and literally no-one on it - wow!
We spent most of the lesson lapping Grand Pre and she just enjoyed the skiing which was the main aim of the day (and week to be honest!). It was nice to get to the point where it was relaxing for her and dare I say enjoyable! Ace. Tomorrow I will do a variation including Borsat piste etc. Hmmm we shall see! At least the sun should still be shining!
I got home and changed and got ready for the main event of the day... a trip to Bourg. It was so warm and lovely and down in Bourg it was into the low 20's... lovely! So first up was a meeting with my builder and the architect to thrash out some more of the details for our build. I would say it was a pretty successful meeting which was good! After that I was off to Super U to collect a mini food shop - just enough to see us through a couple of weeks... and even popped into the shop too for a few extras before heading back up and putting it all away / the car etc.
The kids are excited as its their last day of term tomorrow before the hols so thats cool.
So tomorrow is the last daily update for the Winter... im only teaching in the morning and my mind is really turning to the building works so I dont suppose it will be that much in tomorrows update but for now its...
TTFN
Forgot my photo today so took this screenshot from my weekly snow report instead - you get the gist eh!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Steve Angus, THANK YOU for another season! Congrats to Olivia, best wishes for your upcoming building work 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Steve Angus, great that you’re enjoying top conditions late season!
Thanks for another season of updates. Sounds like a successful one for all your family. Good luck with the home move and building work. Hope you all manage to get holiday time and enjoy the summer.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Steve Angus, echoing the thanks for keeping us updated again through the year, and great to see Olivia's progress!
Good luck with your building work and all that you have going on over the summer.
One question from me before you check out for the summer, we have actually pulled the trigger on a full on chalet stay in town for the family next April - late, 13th-20th, including my sister coming over from Oz. I know the risks I'm taking with the snow, and hope that we get a similar situation to the last 2 or three years (it's the equivalent of this week would be perfect!) but I just wondered if the resort itself has places starting to shut down by then or would we find most bars etc. still open? Also, are you likely to still be working that late in the season  ?
Thanks
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@moosepig, @PeakyB and @dunc999 - thanks all!
@dunc999 - good question. The week of the 13-20th April and with Easter being late anyway I should think most places will be open. It will be the week after that things start shutting down probably! Certainly on the mountain everything should be open restaurants etc wise yes. In town the vast majority should also be open yes. About the only thing that might shut down would be a few high end hotels but generally most things will be open and you might get end of season parties at some of the places in that week. Certainly this year with Easter earlier most places are open this week and bars etc too so you should be fine! Hope that helps! The snow should be fine whatever - even if you have to download day end into town the snow up high should be plentiful and plenty of options (you have to remember that most of the skiing here is above 2500m... this coming week you can ski to La Daille, town and Fornet and it will be like that until the season end this year im sure so even if a bad Winter next year there should be plenty of options up high no matter what!)
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thank you for another amazing set of updates Steve, and personally for saving me and the kids many hours in traffic jams from your tips!
Hope you have a great summer and hope to see you November time for some early snow!!!
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Hi everyone, could someone help with travel questions, one way to val d'isere for a friend?
I think the best route is to go Geneva (from the UK) and then...
Catch a BlaBlaCarBus to Chambery
Then train from Chambery to Bourg
and then taxi to val d'Isere?
It would be for next week, Tuesday.
Any tips would be really appreciated!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@chocksaway, I think I'm coming out midweek and am going to use this service.
Heard nothing but good reports.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Steve Angus, thanks again for the best to thread ever on this forum.
Iusy take.a huge amount of effort and discipline, especially at the end of exhausting days.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@steveangus terrific reading your updates , hope all goes smoothly with building work .till next season .
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Thanks chocksaway! for the tips, very useful 
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You know it makes sense.
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Happy summer Steve. Good luck with the house stuff and thanks for another season of updates. I enjoy reading it every evening with my cup of tea. Lastly…. Well done Olivia. Star of the show this year. What a winter she has had!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Thanks for my favourite thread on the internet. Good luck with the building work!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Thanks Steve for all your updates. Great stuff and great for Olivia too. Kept my interest going despite no skiing this winter for me. All the best for the summer and your building works.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
@chocksaway, I think I'm coming out midweek and am going to use this service.
Heard nothing but good reports. |
Have used them a few times - great service
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Many thanks @Steve Angus for the continued reports during the season. One day I'll get out there for some lessons!
Hope the building works run on schedule, on budget and smoothly. Have a great Angus family summer and will be awaiting next seasons updates.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Steve Angus, the decision to stay open for an extra week seems to be a good one weather wise. Regular snowfall and lowish temperatures right though into early May.
I wonder whether visitor numbers made it worthwhile financially?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Long time lurker and (very) occasional poster, I just wanted to echo all the sentiments @Steve Angus .
I haven't been to Val/Tignes since 2020 for my last exercise with the army before being "retired" as an old fart.
Can't believe how much I miss the skiing and mountains but your reports and the Snowheads humour keeps me sane...ish, until I can return for an actual skiing holiday. All the best to you and the family for the summer break Steve.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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So far so good (on the building front at least)
Well firstly thanks everyone for the kind words as usual. Really appreciate it and it makes it all worthwhile.
So what has happened since the 12th April when I last reported.... well there was 3 weeks of endless packing, labelling boxes and moving from our flat to our temporary place which is in Cygnaski (near the Spar petrol station and for those that remember Mark Warner TO in Val - well they had their Cygnaski place here). So that was pretty much day in, day out for 3 weeks and we finally made the actual move about a week before the works started.
It was Clare and Olivias birthday late April too.
Some of the preliminary works started too such as moving all the building AV equipment from a wall that will be incorpated into our flat to another wall elsewhere in a communal area which was a HUGE job as there are about 200 TV's getting their feed from several EU satellites up there - eek!
Oh and I had to do my dreaded tax return - which was a few long nights but got there in the end. Why is it that you have a system (OK it was not a great system I had) and that system has been used for nearly 20 years I have been submitting in France and then this year of all years they change it to a supposedly 'better' system. Grrr! Anyway I got there.
One thing that you realise when packing a whole house up is that you have loads of stuff to either sell, bin or giveaway... so ultimately we have also been doing a fair few car boot sales locally as well as selling a whole host of furniture etc. So lots on that front. Little by little we are shifting it all but there is still a long way to go!
So anyway the weather since mid April has been pretty grotty to be honest. We have fitted in a couple of barbecues and also time with the kids at the pump track but generally it has been showery, not too warm and even snow a few times - come on Summer get here soon!
So what about the building works I hear you ask.... well it has been all systems go on that front. There is generally day in, day out a team of 3 on site working. All really nice British guys - I personally know two of them from Val anyway and the gaffer lives down the valley and drives up each day and then there is the boss Andreas - also works for Alpine Experience in the Winter as a guide. There are electricians and plumbers etc as specialists that come on board for those jobs. I guess I am trying to balance up being on site a LOT and overseeing what's going on and making sure its all in the right place if you get my drift but trying to not be over-bearing. I am also doing some unofficial labouring too like lifting materials from the van up or getting the commercial hoover going to dust up the rubbish!
There has also been two very specialist French teams on site.... a team of generally 3 concrete cutters and they have had a skip on site as 10 cuts to do! Some of the cuts (finished yesterday actually) have been tricky ones like a huge triangular hole for a window at mezzanine height. When they have the HUGE diamond tipped circular saw going, and even with ear defenders on it shakes the building and you cant be in the room for more than a few mins. Luckily its remote controlled! A good 18cm thickness of re-enforced concrete to get rid of. I think the skip was about 10 tonnes so a lot of concrete removed! Of course after that lintels had to be put in and concrete set in place and where they could not do that it was carbon plates instead. So on and off it was nearly two weeks of work.
The other specialist team that came and went was the building air ventilation company - unfortunately all the huge pipes would go right through the centre of my apartment if left as was so they also all had to be taken out and re-routed etc.
Anyway at one point in time there was 14 people working on site yesterday eek.
The glazier is coming on Monday to look at measuring up for the new windows that need to go in... Clare and I also have a visit with our main contractor boss to look at 'surfaces' i.e. carpets, flooring, paint colours, tiles etc. Meanwhile the next 3 weeks will see the finishing touches to the wood beams for the floors and under floorboards going down, the stud walls going in, first fixes of the electrics and plumbing and then finally the plasterboards going in.... This all needs to be completed by Friday 21/6 as the following week the building is back to a tourist block so holidaymakers means no noise and mess allowed but electrics and plastering etc can go on and bit of internal chop saw action here and there should be OK to lay a floor etc. So it will then be September before the real noisy work etc starts again!
Meanwhile the kids have been at school, Clare running the family and the resort - well that is mega quiet at the moment with building sites going on left, right and centre. The weather has been pretty awful to be honest but they are progressing to get the road to the Col open which brings the tourist trade for the Summer. By the time I update you next time Olivia will be skiing on the glacier regularly and the resort will certainly feel like its in Summer mode I hope!
TTFN
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I remember the Cygnaski. Do they still have a small outdoor swimming pool?
Good luck with building work. Be nice when it’s finished, as they say.
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FAQ
