Fancy a summer Holiday with Altitude?

*Press Release – May 2009*

Erna Low, the UK’s original alpine specialist, has announced the launch of their new summer programme – Holidays with Altitude, a selection of the best summer Alpine resorts which offer fun and exciting activities suitable for all the family.

With an increasing demand from clients looking to escape to the Alps over the hot summer months, Erna Low is delighted to offer sporting holidays to the popular French resorts of Les Arcs, Chamonix, Morzine, Les Deux Alpes and Serre Chevalier as part of the new Holidays with Altitude programme.

An idyllic summer view of Chamonix

Using their wealth of experience from selling ski holidays since 1932, Erna Low has launched a new website www.ernalowsummer.co.uk to showcase their latest alpine activity programme and with prices starting from just £282* for a family of four in a luxury self catered apartment, the option for a summer break in a recession is still within reach. The mountains are famous for offering a host of high adrenalin sporting activities such as mountain biking, paragliding, kayaking, white water rafting and for those wishing to ski all year round, why not head to one of the glacier resorts which boast fantastic summer skiing? For those wishing simply to relax and unwind, the Alps could not be better designed. With stunning scenery and breathtaking views, spend your days by the pool or on a sun trapped terrace absorbing the mountain air. Hikes and walks through the numerous national parks of the Alps offer privileged access to unspoilt nature and mountain wildlife.

Activity passes are available and are often even included in the price of the accommodation. For holidays to the village of Arc 1950 over the summer 2009, every guest will be provided with a FREE activity pass for the week providing access to countless activities such as archery, golf, tennis, swimming and numerous fitness classes and well as tuition from professional experts.  If a cultural holiday is sought after, head to the UNESCO town of Briancon in Serre Chevalier, the highest town in France, where the ancient medieval town offers museums, churches and guided tours on its exceptional heritage.  Serre Chevalier is also home to one of the only golf course in the world which is spread over two countries – play the front nine holes in France and the back nine in Italy!

‘As a keen mountain biker, am delighted Erna Low has decided to extend its portfolio to include year round holidays’ says Rob Saville, Erna Low’s summer programme coordinator,  ‘not enough people know about how beautiful the Alps are in the summer and how much they have to offer. I shall personally be booking myself out to watch the Tour de France reach Les Arcs in July and if I can combine a visit to the mountain bike races ‘Megavalanche’ in Alpe d’Huez and ‘Mountain of Hell’ in Les Deux Alpes then it will be a summer well spent.’

See the mountains from a different angle – book a summer Holiday with Altitude.
www.ernalowsummer.co.uk 0845 863 0525 or email summer@ernalow.co.uk.  

There’s something about Serre Che…

THE ERNA LOW TEAM HIT SERRE CHEVALIER – January 2009

Bags were packed, excitement was high and an escape from the office was imminent. The Erna Low team were heading off to explore Serre Chevalier for the weekend in order to find out the answer to the question ‘Why send our clients to Serre Chevalier?’ 

Ten volunteers had signed up to test out the brand new 4* Best Western Premier Chantemerle before its official opening (1st February 2009) and to explore the Serre Che ski area all in the name of research and high level commitment to customer service. And to have fun of course!

Flying from Gatwick to Lyon, the team transferred to resort (3 hours) by mini bus shuttle organised by Peace of Mind Holidays, an agency who offer help with travel and activities during your stay in Serre Che.  Having arrived at the Best Western Premier Chantemerle, we found our accommodation to be excellent – the residence offers 51 apartments in total, ranging from 1-3 bedrooms, decorated in a contemporary style and fully equipped for those wanting to self-cater with kitchenettes and offering spacious and comfortable living areas. All apartments offer balconies with views across to the ski area. We were soon ensconced in extremely comfortable beds and looking forward to the weekend ahead.

Before heading to breakfast, we were accompanied by Claire Lacassagne, Sales and Marketing Director for SPACE Group(the company that developed the Best Western Premier Chantemerle) for a tour of the additional facilities offered at the residence – a gourmet restaurant and bar and a ‘spa’ centre including indoor/outdoor heated pool. Guests are able to book on a B&B basis or eat in the innovative restaurant and/or indeed take away dishes should they not wish to self-cater. Being so centrally located, it was then only a 5 minute walk from the residence to the foot of the slopes and chair lifts.

The team enjoying lunch on the mountain

After kitting ourselves out at the local Skiset shop, we joined our guides from Peace of Mind Holidays (aka POM) and on slightly wobbly legs headed off in the sunshine up the first chair lift. The ski area looked vast and we were informed that there were 4 different areas, all of which we would be covering. Having split into two groups – one for the more adventurous who were off to find fast runs and off piste and one group for those who preferred to cruise the blue and red runs – the answer to our principal question was soon becoming apparent. The ski area in Serre Chevalier is vast and varied. With over 250km of piste and skiing up to 2800m, there is something for everyone and more than enough to keep you going for a week’s holiday. With tree-lined pistes, great panoramas, board parks and boarder cross, the ski area also provides plenty of entertainment – try the Smurf Village (a short off-piste run of huge ‘blobs’ of snow) for a giggle! Mountains restaurants were also excellent providing a good choice of food for a pretty reasonable price.

In the evening we headed to the UNESCO heritage town of Briancon and visited the medieval cité where Spirit bar provided welcome refreshment. Being made up of a series of historical French towns, Serre Chevalier also caters well for those with non-skiers in their group. An excellent dinner was had back in Chantemerle and then, although nightlife is limited, we found a small cosy bar offering great mojitos and wiled a few hours away!

After another excellent fun-packed day on the slopes, this time will fresh snow falling, we headed back to the UK from Grenoble airport, just 2 hrs from Serre Che.  Overall, the weekend was a resounding success and certainly proved to our team that Serre Che is a great destination for UK clients offering excellent skiing for all levels, a wide range of accommodation including the latest in Alpine luxury such as the Best Western Premier Chantemerle.

Visit www.ernalow.co.uk for a full range of fantastic ski holidays available to Serre Chevalier!

Reaching new depths at the Eurotunnel Terminal

It was with some trepidation that I set out on my ‘behind the scenes’ tour of Eurotunnel. I had vivid memories of the fire in the tunnel last year and the potentially drastic effects of it – though Eurotunnel had reacted very quickly and efficiently and it was a credit to their crisis management that there were no casualties and the news was contained without hysteria letting loose. 
Did you know that Eurotunnel actually has three tunnels, 2 running tunnels that are used by trains and the service tunnel – specifically designed as a “safe haven” for customers in the event of an emergency.   The service tunnel is also used for regular maintenance as well!
But did I really want to go down the service tunnel?  Normally no members of the public are allowed in there and I was a bit hesitant about making my trip down into the unknown.

It was a revelation to me that there was a whole team of people on standby in case there was an emergency situation. Their whole life geared up for a crisis, only to happen probably once in a life time.  It was mind boggling to drive deeper and deeper into the service tunnel riding in one of the specially adapted vehicles. We stopped at one of the Cross Passage Doors – this is the door linking the train tunnel to the service tunnel and can be used in the event of an evacuation.  It felt like I was tracing the steps where hundreds of passengers would potentially escape from …. It had that eerie feeling that you wouldn’t have been surprised if James Bond were to jump out at you from behind a security door! 

On leaving the service tunnel, we were taken to the “Nerve Centre” of the tunnel, a NASA inspired control room – a train spotter’s paradise – no windows and computers/electronic charts blinking everywhere with the longest and largest electronic chart showing every single movement of every train in the tunnel, or about to go into the tunnel.  We were treated to a fascinating lesson on how the trains were controlled by our Eurotunnel mentor, Paul, who lived and breathed the complexities of every train entering into the tunnel. 

One of the other aims of the day was to try for myself the whole experience of going by Eurotunnel.  I had been part of the privileged few to travel the tunnel when it opened in 1994- and even have the certificate to prove I was in the first 500 passengers – so it was great to re-visit it 15 years later.  This time I was “trying out” Flexiplus  *. Travelling using Flexiplus was an experience that way exceeded my expectations. If you have ever been to Disneyland and purchased fastpasses to beat the queue, you will appreciate Flexiplus – being one of the smug few travellers to jump all car queues and be loaded on first.  On top of that, Flexiplus allows you to stop at the exclusive lounge, where you are given a generous snack of sandwiches, fruit, wine, cakes and coffee, while picking up a newspaper and taking a break.  Check out www.ernalow.co.uk for further details of how to travel Flexiplus.

*Full Flexiplus service is open to vehicles under 1.85m

L’Ancolie — ski and be seen

Our best-kept secret is out! The Telegraph has named fab restaurant, L’Ancolie in Nancroix, as one of best lunch spots in the Alps!   We recommend enjoying a morning of skiing at La Plagne or Les Arcs before heading off to a leisurely lunch.   But don’t stay too long…or do…:).  It’s up to you!

Welcome to our blog!

Join Erna Low as we make our way down the beginner’s slope to blogging!

We are launching this blog for you to hear the voice from the UK’s oldest ski tour operator… what we like, what we want, what we think  and what we love on anything to do with the white stuff !

Not only to we want to share our experiences, news, promotions and offers on what’s going on in our world from our home in South Kensington, London but we also want to hear YOUR voice on what anything to do with skiing, boarding, what you loved, what you didn’t, where you had your most memorable holiday or maybe dare share where you found the best powder…

Our contributors consist of our team of Erna Low employees, past and present, each with their own area of expertise be it resorts where we have spent our seasons, ski property we dream of buying, summer activites the alps have to offer, residences we have holidayed in, special equipment we recommend, the clothes we are wearing, or simply our love of cruising the slopes. It’s all on our blog!

Tell us what you think, share your thoughts too as any friend of the mountain is a friend of ours too…

See you on the slopes.