For two weeks of the ski season, the Lacroix shop dusts off its £50,000 skis, La Grange nightclub slaps a £10,000 charge on its top tables and Chabichou restaurant doubles its lobster shipment. Welcome to Courchevelski.

Between Orthodox Christmas and New Year, Moscow decamps to Courchevel 1850, a resort that for the rest of the season is dominated by Parisians and rich Brits, and Russians make up just a few per cent of the visitors.

Russia’s richest men have all been - Roman Abramovich, Vladimir Potanin and Mikhail Prokhorov, who is widely regarded as introducing Courchevel to the Russians, and hit the headlines in January 2007 following a raid on a party in a £5,000-a-night suite at Hotel Byblos.

Stories of a Russian-led boycott of the resort in response to the arrest, and an anticipated backlash have failed to materialise.

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Russians still come in their thousands to Courchevel every January and their arrival isn’t subtle. Armoured Humvees loiter outside expensive restaurants and the streets become a catwalk of fur, glitz and very expensive handbags. So valued is the arm candy that in the Michelin-starred Chabichou restaurant, handbags can command stools alongside their owners.

The interlopers line the pockets of local businessmen with their apres ski and shopping splurges, and while most are well behaved, some raise the odd eyebrow. There are locals who bemoan the “Russian invasion”, but then there are those who condemn the heavy-handedness of Prokhorov’s arrest.

It’s love-hate for Courchevel and the Russians – business owners welcome the income but many don’t want to be associated with the Muscovites for fear of losing favour with the Brits.

As a deepening recession and weakening pound put a dampener on what could have been a bumper season for the resort, it's Russian season that the resort will be relying on to fill the coffers.