Anthony - A regular and enthusiastic client to Skiers Lodge.

My first foray to La Grave La Meije was for one day at the end of the
1987-88 season. After a winter of piste skiing at Claviere and
Montgenevre, less than one hour away, a day at La Grave was both a
welcome change and a challenge. What strikes you first is the
staggering scenery: the awesome peak of La Meije, with glaciers
tumbling down its flanks, the rock faces with couloirs snaking down
them, the open snow fields and valleys, and the band of trees
skirting the bottom of the mountain. The sheer scale of the place and
of the skiing that it offers only begin to become clear when you are
on the mountain. After more than 12 visits to La Grave, I’m still
skiing new runs there.

That first visit to La Grave we restricted our skiing to the classic
Vallons, a route that sweeps down the valley on skier’s right, with
the Glaciers du Rateau and de la Meije, and La Meije herself,
towering above you, and on through a forest to P1 (the telepherique’s
first stop) and eventually to the village. This route is relatively
well used, and so being experienced skiers we decided to do it
without a guide. But this is Big Mountain skiing, with all its
attendant dangers, as well as pleasures, so even on the Vallons a
guide is recommended, and elsewhere essential.

La Grave is a place for the keen skier whose desire is not sated by
piste-bashing, and who is hungry for the challenge and excitement of
off-piste free-riding. That short but sweet taster of what La Grave
has to offer, and another day several years later, gave me an urge to
return for a longer stay, which I eventually did in the winter of
1996-97. (Far too long a wait! But it could not be helped, due to a
temporary return to my native New Zealand and several years as a
penniless student.) This time I went for a week, staying at La
Chaumine Skiers’ Lodge, which then was the base for Pelle Lang’s
guide service. Now under a different name – Ski La Grave with Skiers’
Lodge – and at a different hotel – Hotel des Alpes – Pelle is still
operating a guiding and hospitality package second to none, and I am
still enjoying it all every year.

The team at Hotel des Alpes are a friendly bunch, and will look after
you well. Each day starts with a breathtaking view out of your
bedroom window – La Meije in all its glory, which you can savour
further over a hearty breakfast in the dining room. The well-earned
après-ski drinks in the hotel’s bar are followed by delicious dinners
cooked by the hotel’s chef and served by the able staff.

La Grave is not St. Moritz or St. Anton, or even Chamonix, and thank
goodness for that! If your idea of a good ski holiday involves fancy
bars, restaurants and nightclubs, then this is not the place for you.
But that is not to say that you can’t eat and drink well in La Grave;
on the contrary, every year I have enjoyed gourmet dinners at Skiers’
Lodge, fabulous rustic and regional alpine fare at local restaurants
and refuges, and many a refreshing beer, succulent wine, and alluring
liquor in either the hotel’s own bar or at one of the several other
watering holes in the village. There is even live music to be found
most nights in the village. And the skiing is just as good as at
Chamonix (arguably better), but without the crowds (“crowded” at La
Grave = more than 100 people on the mountain!).

A holiday with Ski La Grave with Skiers’ Lodge is ideal for groups of
friends, couples, and people on their own who want to meet and ski
with fellow free-riders. Guests hail from Scandinavia, many other
European countries, and further-flung corners of the world – a real
cosmopolitan mix, making for lively and enriching conversations and
lots of laughs. You ski every day in a group of up to 5 people of
similar abilities, guided by Pelle or one of his team, all of whom
are fully qualified mountain guides, all great fun to ski with, and
quite a cosmopolitan lot themselves. They always seem to find fresh
powder and new adventures. Short road trips to neighboring resorts
are also part of the package, allowing exploration of some of the
other little-skied, lift-serviced off-piste routes on the edges of
places such as Alpes d’Heuz, Les Deux Alpes, Serre Chevalier,
Montgenevre, and Claviere. This also allows the groups to make the
most of local variations in weather and snow conditions. Check out
the Legendary Routes section of the web site for some of the classic
routes you can do at La Grave and these other ski stations: these are
runs that you will remember for the rest of your life.

Anthony Atkinson
Durham, England
September 2005

Dear Skier! So we finally got our new web page up and running. It took more time then expected to go from one host provider to another. Stefan Marticki Hi/Bye has been working on it since July and I have been bothering him with phone calls, skype at all kind of hours during his summer break. However we hope that you like the new site! Things have been very hectic from our side. Ayse gave birth to triplets the 20th of June. We have one boy and two girls. Their names are Thomas Kaan / Ayla / Selinn. They were born at the Chelsea hospital in London and we received the best ever support during the delivery and the monitoring weeks before. We did use a maternity nurse the first eight weeks and now a nanny from NZ. London hectic life got to us and we escaped to southern Turkey, Bodrum. We live in a small town called Turgutreis approx 35km away from Bodrum. Our view is the Greek island of Kos and the famous rock climbing island Kalymnos. Beautiful in sun set. Ayse is windsurfing almost every day and she is 100% back in shape. What a mom! I will be back in La Grave in mid November to open up the reception of the hotel and do some renovation and hope we get an early winter snow pack. So lets talk skiing! Check out the gear and Pray For Snow. Ski You Later Pelle Lang

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