Friday 13 December 2013

More on the new Season

Sunny days in December

The 2013-14 Season is now 6 days old and as we have been out skiing every day it's time to report back. There has been no fresh snow in the area for 10 days however we have been enjoying great skiing not to mention glorious sunshine. The considerable snowfalls during November have provided a great base and the ability to run snow cannons most nights has ensured there is great snow coverage. The official depth at the top of the resort is 95cm which is pretty impressive for the time of year.

Every day this week we have found beautiful soft snow on perfectly prepared runs. There are very few people here, it is possible to ski an entire run alone. The pick of the slopes each day have been the ones "bashed" the previous night by the impressive fleet of snow groomers called "Piste Bully". If you don't fancy taking your chances going up in a lift to see what has been groomed you can find out before you even leave the Chalet and plan you day accordingly. On the Meribel website you can view an interactive plan of the runs where there is an option to see which runs have been groomed:

Plan des pistes - Meribel Official site

On the same Map you can also view which lifts/runs are open or scheduled to open and which 3 Valley Links are operating. If you are already on your way to the slopes and you forgot to check don't worry you can ask at any lift station for advice, the Tourism Information noticeboards display a list of groomed runs each day and many lift access points will have a blackboard listing the condition of the runs the lift serves. If a run is show as "D"  it has been groomed "ND" it hasn't. 

There will be more people around from Saturday although as more lifts and runs open it is unlikely to feel any busier. A change in the weather looks likely from Tuesday next week, in the meantime we will enjoy the sunshine and unexpected pleasures of picnics on the snow in December.

Lac de Creux run in afternoon sun