Joanna’s resort report from snowy Arc 1950

Jeremy

In sunny snowy Arc 1950, seven boys had the privilege of skiing with Jeremy from Spirit 1950 Ski School – tracking down every mogul and off piste gully in the resort!

So what did they think of their experience?

John
“Jeremy is a skiing god who made nothing too easy or hard and nothing we did whilst we were skiing was boring!”
Max
“the most fun part of my skiing week by a mile!”
Toby
“one of the best skiing experiences I’ve ever had!”
Jamie
“too cool for ski school!”
Rory
“Jeremy teaches us tricks and improves our technique and on top of that he is very funny!”
Scott
“I learnt how to do a 180 and am coming back next year to do a 360!”
Zak
“Jeremy taught me how to master off-piste skiing and now i can beat my brothers!”

Jeremy and the boys in Arc 1950, showing off their custom hoodies, kindly provided by www.spectrumpp.co.uk.

Erna Low Property on the slopes of Valmorel

Francois, Joe and Joanna from Erna Low Property enjoy the luxury of Club Med in Valmorel, in perfect ski conditions.  They were given private viewings of the Club Med luxury chalets – just a few left for sale in the first phase.

An excellent life-style investment – where else could you buy a freehold chalet with generous rental returns that also allows 3 weeks per year free all-inclusive Club Med holidays in your purchase?

Sunday Times success story on the L’ Aiglon de Morzine residence!

The Sunday Times has published an article on one of Erna Low’s favourite residences in Morzine, Portes du Soleil. The article centers on a group of like-minded professionals who banded together to create an inspiring alpine success story and offers some insightful details into the Alpine property market.

The beautiful L’Aiglon de Morzine is one of just a few developments worldwide that are owned and maintained by a cooperative of owners creating a truly unique experience for any holiday makers fortunate enough to stay there.

Joanna Yellowlees-Bound, one of the founders of Aiglon Morzine Ltd recalls the initial work that went into the development – “It was a real learning curve; we had to organise things like rubbish collection, utilities, maintenance and cleaning”.

Whilst there was a lot to digest in the initial months, no obstacle was too large and the group has quickly come to turn this into one of Morzines premier developments.

“As a group, we have a lot of expertise” says Joanna, “we have marketing and sales professionals, a finance director and a property developer, as a group we’re very capable”.

Joanna says because the way the development is run, there is a “vested interest in making the flats as successful as possible, a normal management firm wouldn’t put the same effort into upgrading, redecorating or adding personal touches. This isn’t just any rental business – it’s ours, and we take pride in it”

The L’ Aiglon de Morzine is getting some brilliant feedback and turning into a regular destination for many of its guests, the group wishes everyone a warm welcome and a memorable stay.

If you would like to read the full Success story of L’ Aiglon de Morzine follow the link here to The Sunday Times (You will need a subscription to The Times to be able to view) .

FlexiPlus Eurotunnel – smug, moi?

Or should it be re-named Club Class?  Joanna opts for driving to Paris and finds the smoothest modeof transport in a weekend of travel chaos…

We decided on a whim to self-drive to france for a meeting in Paris – so very nearly booked flights – and what a relief as it just happened to be the day iceland’s volcano caused complete havoc in the skies!

We didn’t need to think about limiting ourselves with our luggage and chucked everything randomly into the boot of the car – what bliss not having to squash things into suitcases only to be told we were overweight by some arrogant  airline.

Travelling FlexiPlus with Eurotunnel means you  get  directed down an empty lane for the first available crossing and you get to overtake hundreds of cars sitting waiting obediently for their appointed time. FlexiPlus signposts guide you past the bottle necks and you arrive at the wonderfully empty flexi lounge  exclusive to FlexiPlus clients – where you get to stuff your face with a limitless picnic including wine, wide variety of sandwiches and puddings, fruit, chocolate, crisps – and topped off with complimentary newspapers and comfy sofas.  Quick snooze on the train and you are all set for your journey!

First hand account of the Olympics – is the negative hype to be believed?

Joanna, our CEO at Erna Low, is at the Vancouver Olympics and full of praise despite the negative publicity…

Waking up today to 10 cm of snow and perfect sunshine looking out over Whistler Creek from my cosy condo as The First Tracks Lodge, what better start to a day can you have?  Excitement was building at the sheer thought that we were going to be watchng the ladies’ downhill in just an hour and a half – and the whole resort was buzzing!   Sitting on a chairlift on the way up  Whistler mountain the snow was positively glistening and we were regailed with stories of bears hibernating – Ben  Ayling, our very own ErnaLowian turned Whistler-owian – spending his winters out in Whistler and summers in New Zealand – was taking us to a secret spot where only a handful of skiers could take advantage of a perfect view of the starting podium to the Women’s Downhill – where we would catch a glimpse of Britain’s own Chemmy Alcott competing against the best athletes in the world.   Leaping out of her hut – second out of 38 skiers down the treacherous slope, she managed a very admirable 13th spot – and just 2.5 seconds behind the American winner!  

Starting gate for the Women's downhill - C'MON CHEMMY!

As I watched the incredible prowess of the female athletes, it struck me again how brilliantly the Canadians have organized the whole event – and I could not stop myself feel more than slightly cross at the negative publicity coming out of the UK about the Olympics – as if some of the journalists had set their story before they had even written it.  Although the death last Friday on the luge was tragic and terrible, one feels that this has fuelled ALL the news to be negative – but if you are actually here on the spot, you experience a Canadian efficiency and hospitality second to none!

Me and my sons enjoying the privileged view

After having watched the downhill, we then spent the whole day floating through powder – silk under your feet, and views to die for!  We were so privileged:  there could have been no more than 500 skiers on Whistler mountain – normally 23,000!   And having explored the nooks and crannies of Whistler, we ended up on Blackcomb – connected by the incredible Peak to Peak gondola – and staring over mountain ranges that stretch up to Alaska ….

Finishing the day on the champagne powder

Oldest Ski Company Meets Newest Ski Company

Our very own CEO, Joanna Yellowlees-Bound, goes back to the Erna roots when pondering her latest investment…

Many a morning I sit at my desk and feel the inimitable Miss Low peering over my shoulders wondering what is in store for us today.  Tut-tutt!   After 20 plus years of working by her side, I still feel her energy permeating our offices, spurring us on to new and exciting adventures.  Never have I thought of her more, though, than over these past few weeks after a decision to personally invest in the newly launched Consensio Holidays!

Erna Low on the slopes back in the 1930s

Erna would have loved what the founders, Ceri Tinley and Stuart Pinnell, are doing to launch this new co-operative chalet business — she prized smart, dynamic people sharing new ideas and business models.   Thanks to Ceri and Stuart’s wealth of experience in the ski and hospitality industry, they have managed to secure the most luxurious chalets in the Alps and are launching a business that will allow chalet owners to have the pick of the weeks they want AND share the benefits of increased chalet occupancy.  In the past, chalet owners would have just received a flat season rental with no uplift on successful occupancy.  With Consensio Holiday’s model, they will enjoy the rewards of ownership on a profit-sharing basis, lowering their risk in recessions like this and increasing their gains in better times.  And this can only be good for the quality of enjoyment of the consumer, where everyone benefits!

I’m struck by how this parallels another part of our business we focussed on this summer – which is working on behalf of the owners at the Residence Aiglon at Morzine by re-creating a model that empowers the owners themselves, rather than the management company.  When the owners of the Aiglon (including my husband and I!) woke up with a jilt one morning last March to find that its management company had spectacularly gone into liquidation, we were left stranded with no rental return to pay our massively spiralling mortgage.   So we quickly created a new owners-controlled company to run the building and take charge of the rentals – see www.aiglonmorzine.com   It has been a massive few months re-structuring and founding our own jointly shared owners company for Morzine but we are proud of what we have achieved – and bookings are pouring in, with all the upside set to go to the owners themselves!

So while I rummage through my buzzing inbox (with Erna peeking in), I can’t help feeling proud of the fact that we breathe her trailblazing principles in to every new adventure we take.

Have your own peek at  Consensio Holidays and let us know what you think!

Joanna

Planetskieu interviews Joanna on 2009-2010 ski season

Joanna talks with  PlanetSkiEu’s James Cove about the upcoming ski season!  

To see the full story and other ski news, videos, blogs and pictures take a look at www.planetski.eu.