THE mountains. The snow.
The skis. And no other skiers to cramp your style.
Lee Kun-hee, the billionaire chairman of the South Koreanbased Samsung Electronics conglomerate, is treating himself to the dream skiing holiday, renting three runs all to himself at Courchevel, the upmarket French Alpine resort, management of the visitor attraction said yesterday.
Such luxury does not come cheap. Mr Kun-hee, who will have exclusive access to the runs for a maximum of two hours a day, will pay - pounds1039 for the first hour and - pounds831 for the second, Claude Faure, director of the Three Valleys firm that manages the ski area and its lifts, said.
Mr Kun-hee has rented the runs for three weeks, beginning today. Netting will separate his area from other parts of the resort, giving him a total of about five acres of slopes to ski on.
He has selected easy runs, ranked green and blue on a four-colour scale that goes up to black for the toughest slopes.
He will also have a snow scooter to carry him back up the slopes and ferry him back and forth to his four-star hotel, as well as six ski instructors.
Samsung is South Korea's largest conglomerate and Mr Kun-hee, 63, is one of the world's richest people. Forbes magazine ranked him 122 on its list of billionaires this year with an estimated wealth of - pounds2.22bn.
Samsung's website lists skiing among Mr Kun-hee's hobbies which also include golf, table tennis, horse riding, watching films and classical music.
The local French newspaper, Le Dauphine Libere, reported that Mr Kun-hee would arrive at the ski resort today with an entourage of about 80 people, including aides and bodyguards.
Mr Faure dismissed some grumbling in Courchevel provoked by Mr Kun-hee's largesse.
"I don't see how this arrangement differs from those that we put in place for a ski race, or a commercial or festive event, " the resort director said.
"It will not at all disturb the normal functioning of the resort."
The skiing trip comes at the end of a remarkable year for Samsung Electronics which is edging closer to Sony, its Japanese rival, as the world's leading consumer electronics firm.
Samsung, which employs 88,000 people in 46 countries, is already the largest producer of many digital devices and is poised to overtake Motorola as the world's second biggest maker of mobile phones.
QUEEN OF THE VALLEYS
Courchevel is known as Queen of the Three Valleys (Trois Vallees) area, which has 200 ski lifts and 370 miles of runs.
Its clutch of four-star hotels and chalets have few mountain rivals for comfort.
Courchevel is not one but four separate resorts at different altitudes above the Bozel Valley.
Courchevel 1850 is an international resort with a jetset image. Courchevel 1650 is 200 metres lower down the mountain and is also lower down the price scale.
Courchevel 1550 is away from the heart of the skiing and is a cluster of apartment buildings.
Le Praz (Courchevel 1300) is a farming village at the foot of the lift system.
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