The Interactive Resorts crew out for a hike in the Lake District

We spilled out of the train in Penrith, slightly worse for wear, and hopped onto the bus into Keswick. Within minutes we had entered into a sun-drenched frisbee tournament in the park that quickly became highly competitive, despite the presence of various company directors’ children who also wanted to play! Rupert managed to keep his competitive edge under control and only spat the dummy out a little bit when our team beat his on goal difference alone! Our first night in Keswick needed to be a low-key affair, with big plans afoot for the next day. It wasn’t. Yet again, Nick “Balls” Barlow flew the flag for excess and staggered home in the wee small hours, barely able to stand!

9 AM Saturday, and the Interactive Resorts team reassembled, bright eyed and bushy tailed, for a half day of Via Ferrata along one of the high, steep cliff faces outside of town. As ex-seasonaires we all understand better than anyone the medical benefit of Alpine air in clearing a fuzzy head, but we are happy to report that we’ve found a better hangover cure: dangling 60 feet up in the air, hanging onto iron rungs up the side of a cliff face. It works wonders! Some of us were more scared than others and special mention must go to Sarah “the Reservator” Mitchell who was so terrified at the prospect of a zip wire that she began blubbing, only then to absolutely nail it, smile beaming! For a big lad, Crispy’s concern over the diminutive size of his safety rope was understandable, though watching him slowly fall silent and begin shaking before leaping off the cliff side was a highlight of the day that the other lads relished!

The Interactive Resorts pirates getting ready for a night on the tiles

Safely back on terra firma, our minds turned to the afternoon’s festivities. We hot-footed home and transformed ourselves into the most terrifying crew of pirates never to have sailed the Seven Seas, and headed over to the beer festival! We were confronted by a mind boggling array of local ciders and beers, and did a good job of sampling as many as we could. Rossco “Marmot Man” Dolton and Hardcore Holly tucked into the booze wholeheartedly, and the afternoon saw a good few sword fights too. Rob “Fails” Taylor broke a few swords in the mêlée and spirits were high as we plundered the casks till they ran dry, then dominated the dance floor till we could barely stand. Staffy found buried treasure, Mrs B kissed his parrot and Theo was made to walk the plank for insubordination. Business as usual really! Mustering all our strength for the final attack, we climbed the steps into The Loft, Keswick’s answer to Ministry of Sound, and our ship sank without trace!

…Only then to be awakened at 11 in the morning by Captain Bonington and Lord Staffordshire, the local lads keen to help all us weary sailors get the spring back in our step. A strong team of half-cut ski chalet specialists began the relaxing walk into the hills, and we were soon strolling safely under the cover of tall pines on our Sunday forest walk. Leading from the front, Crispy had no idea which way to go but we made it to the lake for a relaxing sit down at the water’s edge. A rare moment of calm ensued, as we laughed together and pondered on how much fun we’d had as one big team the day before.

After two and a half days of wonderful sunshine, we didn’t mind the rain that fell as we boarded our bus to the train station. We waved a fond goodbye to our dear friends in the North, and were soon on the train to London for work on Monday morning. So it’s back to reality with a bump for this adventurous team of chalet specialists…Anyone fancy a ski holiday?

The Little World Festival – 13-19 March 2010

The Little World Festival is a brand new event to the Alps this year. Meribel will play host to some of the biggest names in pop music with Sophie Ellis Bextor already confirmed. The highlight of the festival will be The Feeling, who started life as Alps band Superfly playing a FREE outdoor concert on the piste. With plenty more acts to be announced this is set to become one of the most popular weeks to be in resort.

The Altitude Festival – 20-27 March 2010

Chalet Braye, the perfect base if you're planning attending a Meribel festival this March

The Altitude Festival returns for its third year in resort bringing with it the very best in stand up comedy, live music from international DJs and top bands, slopestyle events and plenty more besides.  With Marcus Brigstocke at the helm (who has featured as a panellist on TV shows such as Have I Got News For You and QI and on a whole host of BBC Radio 4 shows) and Al Murray – Pub Landlord appearing, this promises to live up to all expectations and match the success of previous years. For those families travelling, don’t worry, there is always a great variety of events for all ages.

Accommodation in Meribel

Both of these events are great opportunities to enjoy fantastic skiing and boarding in one of the world’s largest linked ski areas whilst partying to great acts every evening! If either of these events sounds like just the ticket then we’ve got deals still available on both dates with and without flights. The Chalet Fleur des Alpes has a big discount on 13th March and Chalet Isba is the perfect choice if you’re after a touch of luxury. If you’ve planned ahead and booked your flights already then the Chalet Braye is available on both dates and the Chalet Sorbier is discounted on the 20th.

For the team here at Interactive Resorts, group trips away are an absolute highlight in the calendar and few are as eagerly anticipated as our annual pilgrimage up to the Lake District for the Keswick Beer Festival.

Working hard all day discussing ski resorts, deals, discounts and altitudes is all well and good, but there’s a time and a place for letting your hair down and for us, it’s Keswick. With this in mind we all clambered into the coach early on Friday 5th June and span along the motorway, bound for the North.

Keswick’s a beautiful Cumbrian town with a truly superb atmosphere – the perfect place for us to kick back and relax. Friday was spent exploring the town and choosing a few ale-houses to visit, eagerly awaiting the weekend’s planned activities.

The company directors are an outdoorsy bunch, and first on our itinerary was ghyll scrambling. And so it was that we donned fleece-lined body suits and waterproof outer layers to jump over rocks and tree branches, down streams and through deep plunge-pools down our very own Cumbrian mountainside. Team bonding is somehow so much better when you’re soaking wet and laughing!

The afternoon ticked round and we had beer on the brain! With the theme being AustrianEuroPartei, the fellows donned their Bavarian lederhosen and the fillies strapped into their corsets, and we hit the beer festival. Some of north England’s finest beers and ciders were arranged in barrels along the sides, though we took to the ciders as the weather was so sunny.

After a heavy night of Austro-revelry, there was only one thing for it; a hill-climb to blow out the cobwebs. Keswick is surrounded on all sides by hills of all sizes, and after a short drive through the tall pines, the team’s hardcore elite found themselves at the foot of the ascent. An hour or so of heather stomping and rock scrambling later, we were looking down on some of England’s most stunning scenery, the Lake District falling away at our feet and the wind battering our jackets.

Monday morning came around, and a tired Interactive Resorts team clambered aboard the bus back to the City. True to form, we got back in time to get a couple of hours’ work in. Those enquiries don’t answer themselves!