This year the most impressive snowman at Fish and Pips has been built by Karen and her friends in Chalet Corblettes.

I do hear that the Keating family in Chalet Braye may have used the huge snowfall of the last few days (over 1 metre) to build one that topples this one… photos to follow!

Sitting in the ‘London’ office - I am green with envy at the photos of Holly’s mega day yesterday.  Conditions in Meribel are, by all accounts awesome, and the snow was half way up the hot tub on Saturday.  Even the Sunday Times Travel reported on amazing snow fall in Meribel this weekend.

More is forecast on and off all week, so conditions are set to get better and better - roll on the 12th February when ‘London office’ goes to Meribel - strictly for business of course! 

 Holly opened the curtains this morning to over a foot of snow in Les Allues!  There must be alot more at the top and we are eagerly awaiting (with envy) a report from the Fish and Pips chalets team as they are of course spending this afternoon playing in the powder!

The enthusiam of our neighbour and his snow clearing efforts never fails to amaze - Holly wants one of these for her birthday!

After spending Friday night tossing and turning at the prospect of our impending write up in the Guardian, I was thrilled to open the paper (one of my 5 copies - my local newsagent initially thought I was mad until I explained and showed him the photo, now he thinks I am a local celebrity!).

The response has been amazing, and we are thrilled with Rupert’s write up on his stay with us.  Special thanks to all our team, Alice, Spoff, Marky et al for all their hard work in marking his stay a perfect example of a Fish and Pips holiday.

For anyone who hasn’t seen the article and might be interested, please see http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/jan/17/skiing-wintersports-france-chalet. 

HOT TUB BUBBLES AWAY IN CHALET AURIGNY - one eager guest getting ready for the plunge! 

The new hot tub in Chalet Aurigny has been in use almost constantly since we opened it up on the 13th December.  It has proved a huge success with all our guests!

Holly likes to insist special ‘Fish and Pips’ rules are kept, and asks all guests to roll in the snow before jumping in!

 This is the Marsh family - easing the muscles after skiing!

It has been a busy week here in Meribel over the New Year holiday but we are pleased to report the slopes are back to normal with suprisingly good snow cover considering the masses that skied the 3 valleys last week.

We are sad to say we lost one of our Fish and Pips chefs over Christmas to a broken ankle.  After an operation and 4 days in Moutiers hospital (where she was served tongue for lunch!), we waved farewell to Jenny on New Years Day as we she headed back to Surrey, with an ankle pinned together to be pampered and look after by her parents.  We hope Jenny will be back with us in February to chef in Chalet L’Ours.  Get well soon Jen from all of the team.

As sad as we were to lose Jenny, we were equally thrilled to gain Vinnie - our new chef in Chalet Braye.  Vinnie comes to us with bags of experience and bundles of enthusiasm for the winter ahead, so welcome to Vinnie from all at F&P!

Holly and I have managed to sneak in a couple of hours on the pistes this morning and can report on excellent conditions.  There is still very good snow cover, and although it is absolutely FREEZING we found miles of beautifully groomed and deserted pistes in the Meribel Valley alone.

Do have a look at the website for our remaining January availability and take advantage of these quiet slopes!