Nightlife Previews and reviews in Chamonix

It's been a week for the girls this week. Tuesday was International women's day and it was celebrated in style here in Chamonix. Two local girls Eve and Elena put on a two day session just for the ladies. Tuesday was a day up the mountain at Flegere with coaching and video analysis and finished up at Le Chavanne. Le Chavanne is one of the mountain restaurants at Flegere. It's had a spruce up this season, there are some awesome bean bags and deck chairs for lounging in the sun and there is always some funky tunes playing too. The day was sponsored by various people including Nikita and there were some wicked prizes up for grabs. On Wednesday night all ladies were invited down to Le Vert for the evening. There was a three course meal for the bargain price of €15 euros, and the food was excellent, especially when served to you by men in drag! Plus for every table of 6 booked there was a bottle of vodka to help us on our way. It was a great evening, with some outrageous fancy dress costumes and some very entertaining games and prizes.

I'm a bit broken this week. There has been so much going on in town, the weather and conditions on the hill have been fabulous and oh yeah…..I have a job too..…it's all added up to a very tiring week!

I've been floating around on such a high this week after Scotland won the rugby that I've barely noticed it's done nothing but rain. Nothing like endearing yourself to your readership by mentioning an English sporting defeat in the opening line – buy hey ho, it was the Calcutta Cup, it was at Murrayfield and I'm still glad! (but please carry on reading……;O)

Well the good news is the weather is beautiful and we have a wicked weekend of Winter Sessions coming up and a week full of closing parties after that. The bad news is the season really has finished early as Compagnie du Mont Blanc has announced the early closure of parts the Grand Montet. But there are a few lifts still running, get up early make the most of the snow before its mush and then start the après early. Grand Montet has had a great atmosphere over the last couple of weeks with live music, beers and deck chairs in the sun.

A wise man (might have been my dad) once said "there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes". The same applies to Chamonix in that there is no such thing as bad weather here, only poor planning (another favourite phrase of my dad is "failing to prepare is preparing to fail", this will become relevant shortly, in the meantime are you starting to build a picture of him yet?).

What a busy weekend it was last weekend. Friday night saw the return of the Winter Sessions crew and a fantastic night of Disco Bloodbath. Although it was not the busiest of Podium nights that was certainly made up for in the amazing outfits that appeared. From afro wigs, sequin hot pants to disco ball helmets and all mixed up with a little blood and gore, brilliant! The next winter sessions night returns on the 25th March and then after that we have the winter sessions weekender coming up in April.

Chamonix parents, lock up your sons and daughters because it's that time of the year again when Le Podium hosts the legendary La La Land! The clue's all in the name and a night with such a reputation needs little introduction but needless to say it will be a night of top class DJ's and one of the best sound systems to grace Chamonix. The line up this year includes Transglobal Underground, Spiritual South featuring Aurora vocals, Kinior and Makaruk and many more!

Enjoy longer sunnier days up the mountain. Don't forget your sunscreen!

It's what we've all being praying for over the last month and this week it dutifully arrived just in time, bucket loads of the stuff, snow, snow and more snow, falling as I write! When the clouds are full and the lifts are closed what and where should you go? On occasions like this I always find that food and cocktails can hold the answers and luckily for me Chamonix is great at both these things!

Chamonix is noticeably quieter this week, both on the pistes and in town, so there have been minimal lift queues and it's been much easier to grab a table in the bar. Doesn't mean that the nightlife has quietened down though and we've still been dancing on the tables in Chambre most evenings – just with a bit more room to move and a bit less sweat dripping off the ceiling than in previous weeks.

This week was a mellow one in Chamonix as the town geared up for the Half Term rush that is February! I decided to round off my week upstairs in La Terrasse with a handful of drinks and a couple of friends. Before getting up there of course we braved the crowds down stairs who had faithfully turned out to watch Hors Piste play which was the perfect opportunity to take a couple of sneaky snapshots of the night and the action on the dance floor !

With so much going on in Chamonix lately I have been like a kid in a sweet shop, this week as usual I will be filling you in on what were highlights of last week and what to put in your diary for the week coming.

Confession time. The snow has been so utterly incredible this week that I'm afraid my focus has shifted somewhat from après ski to just ski. When conditions are this good there is no missing first lift because you're feeling a bit shabby from the night before. If you want to get the powder in this valley, you have to beat the Scandies to it and they are ALWAYS on first lift. So whilst it's been a bit quieter on the partying front for me this week, there has certainly been no shortage of things to do.

Bonjour and bienvenue to the first apres ski report of the winter! Not only are the bars and clubs of Chamonix coming back to life but it is snowing, actually properly snowing!

It seems like we've had the best of everything this week in Chamonix; glorious sunshine, fresh powder, St Patrick's Day madness and some great nights out.

With summer here, there is a whole host of events this month in Chamonix.