Sunday 1 September 2013

Winter is just around the corner

First day of Spring today in Sydney which means the first day of Autumn in France, winter is not far away! In Meribel the summer season is drawing to a close and although that usually means a quiet period before the winter preparation commences in ernest we do have some winter related news to share.

No new lifts for Meribel Valley this season which is hardly surprising given the huge investment over the preceding few seasons. Changes will occur to some of the runs and an improvement to facilities. Regular readers of this Blog will know I love to ski the Moon Wild Piste at the Altiport which is populated with life sized animal models and useful facts about the animals and their habitat. Great news then that even more animals will be added this season and that the start of the Piste will be changed slightly - hopefully to avoid the confusion which currently exists between the start of the Piste and the Loze chairlift.


New animals will be arriving soon

Also over at the Altiport another one of my favourites the Louveteaux Piste will become the base for an Inuit Village. This sounds like serious competition for the Indiens Piste over in Courchevel 1650!

The Doron Piste which leads to Chaudanne from the upper areas of Meribel will benefit from widening this year. It's never been a pleasant run so lets hope this eases some of the problems caused by the traffic it receives and the way the conditions seem to move from icy in the mornings to soft snow once the sun hits it.

Over on the other side we have a brand new Piste thanks to the World Cup events. Originally Grand Duc and the bottom half of Escargot this Piste is now to be known as Roc De Fer. In 2015 this will be the site of the World Cup Finals so take the opportunity to Ski/Ride it now before the experts are let loose.

Finally not a Piste change but something we have long been hoping for; the addition of a covered area where you can eat a picnic or simply wait to meet up with friends out of the elements. Situated within the Saulire Express building at Chaudanne this rest area is a great move forward and hopefully means in the future we can see more being provided throughout the Meribel Valley.


Love a picnic but a warm spot will be appreciated when the weather is not kind