Samoëns – APASSION

Tour de France Femme hits Samoëns

robin.tarr — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 06:12:55 +0000

Bravo Pauline!

What a treat to be able to witness the Tour de France Femme take-on the challenge of the Col de Joux Plane. Starting from the village of Samoëns the ascent combines a total elevation gain of nearly 1,000m with an average gradient of 9% and was described by Lucien Van Impe (5 times winner of the Tour de France mountain jersey) as one of the toughest climbs in France.

With over a week of racing already in their legs the ladies of the TdF Femme seemed to make light-work of the heat and gruelling ascent en-route to the race finish in Châtel.

Whist Anna van der Breggen won the race to the 1691m summit of the Joux-Plane with a 45 second lead over the peloton, the day was really only about one lady; The incredible Pauline Ferrand-Prévot who doubled down on her stage win of the day before to win both her second stage of the 2025 Tour but also to extend her overall lead and become the first French winner of the ladies edition of the TdF in over 30 years! Bravo Pauline!

Fat Scoot Fun

robin.tarr — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 05:01:50 +0000

Recently introduced into the Grand Massif by the Sport2000 team at Morillon Les Esserts we thought it only right that we should give Fat Scooting a go!

The combination of torrential over-night rain followed by a blue-sky day made for the perfect conditions; Wet slippery grass and plenty of mud!

The Fat-scoots, with their massively wide knobbly tyres, suspension and disc-brakes made light work of the tricky conditions although it wasn’t too long before a few of us ended up in the dirt! After a couple of runs down the Marvel green-piste we were all covered in mud and in need of re-fuelling so after a fantastic lunch at the L’Igloo mountain restaurant we were recharged for a final descent!

Amazing fun for all the family!

Le Criou Revisted

robin.tarr — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 14:03:41 +0000

With the prospect of amazing views on another blue-sky day we decided it was time to head back up the Montagne du Criou, the iconic mountain that acts as the back-drop to the village of Samoëns.

After our recent exploits climbing Mont Buet (3100m) and the fact that we’d climbed the Criou (2200m) before the hope was that ascending for a second time would be an easier outing. How wrong we were and how glad we were to find that the “Criouly” café at the Chalets du Trot (1400m) were open and serving fresh coffee!

As you climb above the level of the chalets the views open up and you begin to appreciate how steep the ascent is and how perfectly flat the Giffre Valley seems below.

The last 200m of ascent are, rather unfortunately for the legs, some of the hardest of the hike but on reaching the top you are rewarded with the most magnificent 360 degree views encompassing the Mont Blanc mountain range to the south, Pointe Rousse and Mont Buet to the east and as far as the Swiss Jura mountains, more than 60km to the west.

We were so pleased with our efforts on such a perfect day that we couldn’t help but reward ourselves with a second pit-stop at the “Criouly” but this time for something a little stronger!! All-in-all a great day-hike of around 7 hours for those with a reasonable level of fitness. Why not give it a go next time you have a summer stay in Samoëns.

Are we Crazy? Building Apartment ACCORD

robin.tarr — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 13:39:48 +0000

Given the success of both Chalet APASSION (2010) and Chalet ALLURE (2014) we decided in 2017 to start building again!

With planning permission in place to develop the land adjacent to the original Chalet ALLURE we demolished the remnants of an old farm building and cleared the land during the Autumn of 2017 ready to start the ground work for a new building in Spring 2018.

The creation of a spacious two-bedroom / two bathroom apartment provides an alternative offering to our larger chalets and perfectly suits either a small family, two couples or even a group of friends through the use of configurable ‘zip-n-link’ beds.

Using the same architect that we’ve used for both Chalet ALLURE and Chalet APASSION the exterior is designed very much in the same traditional timber style whilst the spacious, open-plan interior maximises the stunning views through the addition of large picture windows and French-doors that open out on to a wrap-around balcony.

Guests can expect to find the same high quality finish and attention to detail that you’d find in our existing chalets along with all the usual luxuries in the bedrooms and ensuites and the latest gadgets in the kitchen and living areas.

Being only a 200m walk from the foot of the Grand Crêt piste and the Vercland bubble the apartment could not be more conveniently located for those that love to ski!

After just 6 months, Apartment ACCORD was complete and ready for the arrival of the first guests over Christmas / New Year 2018-19.