Purchasing Ski Resorts

acey wrote:
[...]
I personally think it works quite well - it's nice enough (and practical)
when you're in the resort, and looking down on it from the mountains it
integrates with the surroundings quite nicely (more so than the twee
mock-Nordic chalets further up in the Hameau de Flaine).


These mock-Nordic chalets will be further integrated into the
surroundings in the same air-strike as the Stalinist towers.

In message , funkraum
writes
acey wrote:
[...]
I personally think it works quite well - it's nice enough (and practical)
when you're in the resort, and looking down on it from the mountains it
integrates with the surroundings quite nicely (more so than the twee
mock-Nordic chalets further up in the Hameau de Flaine).


These mock-Nordic chalets will be further integrated into the
surroundings in the same air-strike as the Stalinist towers.

Is there any kind of ski resort you do approve of (other than secret
nuclear bunkers) and if so which?
--
Sue ];(

Sue wrote:
writes
acey wrote:
[...]
I personally think it works quite well - it's nice enough (and practical)
when you're in the resort, and looking down on it from the mountains it
integrates with the surroundings quite nicely (more so than the twee
mock-Nordic chalets further up in the Hameau de Flaine).


These mock-Nordic chalets will be further integrated into the
surroundings in the same air-strike as the Stalinist towers.

Is there any kind of ski resort you do approve of (other than secret
nuclear bunkers) and if so which?


Good question. I think the answer is no.

I would rate Zermatt as 'OK'. Even it has as supermarket, however.

Kitzbühel is very close.

The expansion of an architectural leitmotif such as the Alpine roof
from the bucolic architecture evolved to meet its function to a much
larger scale necessary to house (ever larger) droves of the liberated
proletariat is not an easy goal to achieve. Not quite as difficult, as
for example, adapting a classical progression of Doric, Ionic and
Corinthian columns through three stories to something like a
sky-skraper (impossible of course). My guess is that the architect who
specified the buildings such may be seen in Val D'Isere has pondered
long on this problem:

While gigantic in form by Alpine standards, they have alpine
roof-lines and extensive use of rough stone and wooden timbers in
their exposed faces. Viewed from the mountains, their rooflines strike
the note of the Alpine village in the cognition of the observer and
from a point where the scale of the building cannot really be measured
by the eye.. From close-by the large quantity of exposed stone and
wooden timbers gives the correct impressions to the senses.

The block-work and rendering plus large-eaved roof ubiquitous
throughout Mitteleuropa is a distant second but still just about
acceptable.

Courcheval's church-less spire is an example of someone understanding
how important an outline is when viewed from further up the mountain.


Things to avoid:

+ Stalinist-Brutalist French skyscrapers. Even mentioning them is
enough to make my blood boil. In fact this is an insult to Uncle Joe,
who gave us the fabulous Moscow Metro, finest in the world. I think we
should call the architecture of Flaine and Les Arcs "French Brutalist"

+ Genuine Alpine Indian Tee-pees apres-ski disco-bars blaring out
authentic Alpine rap music. Although I suppose the disposable income
of young persons is so high these days that one must bow to commercial
pressure at some point. Groan... (St Moritz + others)

+ Underground parking-lots which are not underground (Saas-Fee)


Logistical arrangements I would either plan or inspect and approve
myself. A further test would involve hiring someone from Mongolia or
Papua New Guinea and asking them to make a transfer from an Alpine
airport to a specified hotel in the resort in question. They must
arrive without losing the trail or hauling their own luggage for more
than a few seconds.

Failure of the resort to meet with approval would result in the
withdrawal of the license to operate and in the execution of the
district official by hanging from the telecabine wires. This might
just focus sufficient attention on getting the job done well.

In message , funkraum
writes

Is there any kind of ski resort you do approve of (other than secret
nuclear bunkers) and if so which?

Good question. I think the answer is no.

I would rate Zermatt as 'OK'. Even it has as supermarket, however.
Tourists can't eat without supermarkets, and Zermatt's is remarkably
hard to find.

The expansion of an architectural leitmotif such as the Alpine roof
[...]
sky-skraper (impossible of course). My guess is that the architect who
specified the buildings such may be seen in Val D'Isere has pondered
long on this problem:

While gigantic in form by Alpine standards, they have alpine
roof-lines and extensive use of rough stone and wooden timbers in
their exposed faces. Viewed from the mountains, their rooflines strike
the note of the Alpine village in the cognition of the observer and
from a point where the scale of the building cannot really be measured
by the eye.. From close-by the large quantity of exposed stone and
wooden timbers gives the correct impressions to the senses.

Seen from down the street, the newer buildings in Val d'Isere look as if
they'd been designed by Asterix the Gaul - the effect's amusing, and
makes Val look at bit different from every other resort.

nitpick
From close up the stone cladding looks wrong because arranged with the
natural layers of the rock at all angles.
People building a wall from rough stone always tend to place the stones
with their bands or layers horizontal, even if the builders are amateur
volunteers and local outcrops are sloping.
/nitpick


Courcheval's church-less spire is an example of someone understanding
how important an outline is when viewed from further up the mountain.

That's a point, though if they're bothering with a spire they might as
well add a church to it. What of Val Thorens' spire, which is certainly
distinctive but looks as if they'd bought it in a cane furniture shop
sale?


Things to avoid:

+ Stalinist-Brutalist French skyscrapers. Even mentioning them is
enough to make my blood boil. In fact this is an insult to Uncle Joe,
who gave us the fabulous Moscow Metro, finest in the world. I think we
should call the architecture of Flaine and Les Arcs "French Brutalist"

I haven't been to Flaine but from photos it clearly isn't Stalinist (the
1930s "neo-classical" style). The proportions and effect are very
post-war, though by the time it was opened in the late 60s they'd
already have become a little dated - they go with the A-line rather than
the miniskirt.

The 1960s Benidorm style with the zigzag balconies is more common
(there's a fine specimen half way between Val Village and La Daille) and
the utilitarian 1970s slab-block (as seen at Les Menuires) is
everywhere.

None of these block styles was able to make any concession to being in
the Alps rather than Los Angeles or Glasgow, because internationalism
was in fashion at the time. The most their owners have been able to do
for them is paint them cream and brown instead of brilliant white and
swimming-pool blue.
When the 1980s brought sloping roofs back into fashion (due to the
unexpected discovery that in wet climates flat roofs tend to leak)
today's "faux-Savoyard chic" became possible.

Naturally architects still had a lot of deep hostility to express, so
they invented the chalet with "under-eaves" rooms. This is where the
plans show a top storey you could stand up in, but the architect
conspires with the builder to steal a metre of its height. They use the
materials to build their own projects, and you (the 170cm tourist) soon
lose count of the number of times you've hit your head on the ceiling.

+ Underground parking-lots which are not underground (Saas-Fee)
That can be fixed, by putting a roof on, turfing it over and grazing
your goats in the summer. Les Menuires has large open car parks,
neither pretty nor practical.

Logistical arrangements I would either plan or inspect and approve
myself. A further test would involve hiring someone from Mongolia or
Papua New Guinea and asking them to make a transfer from an Alpine
airport to a specified hotel in the resort in question. They must
arrive without losing the trail or hauling their own luggage for more
than a few seconds.
But Zermatt's the antithesis of that - a warren of narrow lanes where
you're sure to enjoy getting lost among the cow byres, and you can tow
your own luggage or pay someone with a cart. I don't agree that
uninjured skiers shouldn't have to wheel their own luggage along - it
might save them being collected from the Trockener Steg restaurant by
helicopter after a heart attack, like someone we saw.

Failure of the resort to meet with approval would result in the
withdrawal of the license to operate and in the execution of the
district official by hanging from the telecabine wires. This might
just focus sufficient attention on getting the job done well.

That's the punishment for unsafe parapenting, we need to preserve some
differentials.
Anyway all your resorts would be the same, and that'd be boring.
--
Sue ];(

Originally Posted by David Off

J-Ph wrote:
"David Off" a écrit dans le message news:
...


Yes you are correct, control of the resort was transferred back to St
Bon in 1971 from the department but this did not include the lifts, my
error.

However the Savoie department is part of the French state.... Savoie
lost its independence around 1878.


The Savoie department being a local community ("collectivité locale") is
not part of the French state, even though it is part of France.

Certes, depuis la reforme de la decentralisation de 1982, les
collectivites locales ont acquis une certaine forme d'independance par
rapport a l'Etat francais mais font toujours partie de la France.
D'ailleurs, par exemple, le Prefet de chaque departement peut exercer
diverses formes de controle sur les maires.

Pour en revenir a la question et a ce que je disais, est-ce que la
commune de St Bon et le departement de Savoie pourraient vendre la
station de Courchevel 1850 a un bussinessman sans demander l'aval du
conseil general? Je peux t'assurer que le 1er ministre, par
l'intermediaire de son representant dans le departement, le Prefet,
serait amene a donner son avis sur la question.

Okay, maybe I'm just greedy, and maybe I just want my 2 year old to grow up without any financial woes....but I have a real chance to help Roman...you knew he was an orphan, right?...to achieve his goal...if any of you know how I can secure this deal - 20 odd hotels in 1850 - then please call me to discuss, and I'll give you 5% of the commission....do the math...in France we sell business property for 10% commission (as opposed to 6% on private residences)...sooooooooooo...what's 5% of 15 million Pounds?

Nick