Chamonix Apres Ski Report: 20th January 2011
With the disappointing snow conditions this week, I hope you've all been making the most of après life. It's best to get it in early so we're ready for an early night when the snow comes.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago about the introductory Tapas night at O'Byrne's. I popped in on Tuesday night to sample the menu and it is well worth a visit. There were all sorts available with lots of scrumptious veggie options. Make sure you pop down this week as the introductory price of €1 a plate is for a limited time only.
The big event of this week and one that I know a lot of you have been looking forward to is tomorrow night at Le Podium. The one and only Norman Jay MBE will be bringing his eclectic mix of hip hop, dance, funk, and soul to the Winter Sessions tour. If you haven't got them already tickets are available at Monkey Bar, La Cantina, Chamonix Office de Tourisme, and Papillion, tickets are 20€ in advance - 25€ on the door with a free drink before midnight.
We have a some big sporting weekends coming up, it is the return of the Kandahar, the men's alpine skiing world cup in Les Houches on the 29th and 30th and this weekend it is the Nissan Freeride competition by Swatch. This event is all about celebrating the natural terrain features found on any mountainside in the most exciting and elemental format possible. There‘s a start gate at the summit and a finish gate at the bottom and basically best run down wins. The riders are judged in five categories: difficulty of line, control, fluidity, jumps and crashes. Keep an eye out for the Chamonix Mont-Blanc locals; Aurélien Ducroz was Freeride World Champion in 2009 and will be striving to reclaim the title in front of his home crowd. Also from Chamonix is Sam Favret, a talented 21 years old who enters his first free ride event as a local wildcard. So head up to Brevent this weekend and catch a look at the action on the Hotel Face. If you miss it, head to the square on Sunday night and watch all the videos of the action on the big screen.
UPDATE: the Nissan Freeride will now be held in Courmayeur due to lack of snow cover on the Hotel Face. The event has also been put back a day and will take place on Sunday rather than Saturday. Courmayeur is in Italy and takes about 30 minutes to reach by car through the Mont Blanc Tunnel. It is included on the Mont Blanc Unlimited lift pass. After parties and other events will still be taking place in Chamonix throughout the weekend, see the Nissan Freeride World Tour website for details of all related events.
It is gonna be a big one next week with both Burns' night on the 25th January, followed by Australia Day on the 26th January. Lots of places round town put special events on for these two celebrations. My recommendation for Burns' Night is The Pub. They put on a proper Scottish shindig, with a dressing of the haggis, Céilidh dancing and real life bagpipe player who is being flown in especially from Scotland! On Australia Day you will realise just how many ‘Ozzie's' there are among us, head down to Le Vert where there should be a BBQ in full swing.
Make the most of the parties this week and make sure you squeeze in some more snow dances and then hopefully winter will return again!
Don't forget to keep an eye on the What's On Calendar for a full list of events over the winter season. You can also find full Bar and Restaurant listings in the Dining and Going Out section of the site.
