Exciting times in Meribel

This weekend Meribel will host the FIS Alpine World Cup downhill and super combined race for women. This is a great honour and the excitement is definitely building together with the appearance of marquees at Chaudanne and the marking out of the course. This event will be a great opportunity for Meribel to shine on the world ski stage and will be a superb dress rehearsal for the 2015 Alpine Ski World Cup Finals which Meribel is hosting is 2015. There are many viewing points for spectators and importantly for those who didn't actually choose to be on holiday here  during the event the normal ski runs are unaffected. There are a couple of serious contenders from France so no doubt lots of French flag waving.

World Cup course marked in red - seriously a lot steeper than it looks from across the valley!

In addition to the World Cup event it is the middle of the busy half term period which means an influx of visitors. Luckily due to the sheer size of the area and the efficient lift system the impact is minimal especially with some pre-planning. We skied empty slopes yesterday by starting late and finishing late - easy now it is still light at 5.30pm. Today we skied early and called it a day once the end of the lunch period came around. The other helpful hint is to be flexible, we hit a huge queue at La Masse this morning despite not seeing another skier all the way there. A quick change of plan and we were able to find empty slopes and didn't face any other long lift queues. If you do find yourself at a lift with a queue look out for the "single person only" line which is used to fill up chairs and gondolas not operating at capacity. We find at this time of year the queues seem to form because groups want to travel together not because there is insufficient capacity on the lift.


A welcome additional visitor this week has been sunshine. This season has been remarkable so far for lots of snow and not a lot of sun. It's only mid-week but already the ski instructors have started to take on their usual bronzed appearance and the areas outside restaurants and bars are busy with sun bathers where previously there have been empty deck chairs. Snow is forecast for this weekend which will freshen up the pistes after the half term additional numbers although local knowledge has assured us that when the full moon arrives we will have 2 weeks of glorious sunny weather. We will wait and see.

At last the sun arrives............

Plenty of powder days here

This snow will last all the way to the end of the season and beyond

Finally it is only fair to say that whilst we have lots of snow and now sunshine it it still very cold. This picture was taken last saturday at Chaudanne which is at Meribel centre height. Minus 12 down there meant it was about minus 29 up in Val Thorens where we were skiing. Lots of layers, handwarmers, feet warmers and many hot chocolate stops were required.

January weather; inversions and diamond dust

We have had all sorts of weather this January, nothing too hard to cope with but enough to keep us on our toes. We have had a series of good snowfalls, enough to keep the pistes in wonderful condition but not so much that areas have to be closed off while Pisteurs work to make them safe. 

One of the interesting weather events we have had this month not just once but several times is a temperature inversion. Typically as you go up in altitude the temperature falls, the temperature here in Les Allues is usually higher than at the summits. When a temperature inversion occurs the opposite becomes true, the normal decrease in temperature with height switches to the temperature increasing with height. The result is that on the summits it can be much warmer than down in the valley.

In addition to the impact on temperature an inversion can create an interesting cloud effect. Clouds just below the inversion tend to spread out and take on a flattened appearance. When skiing in sunshine it is quite strange to look down the valley and see the where the thick cloud has sunk, almost giving the appearance of glaciers. These pictures do not give the effect full justice but hopefully give you an idea of what happens.

Another curious weather effect we have experienced is diamond dust, again this occurs when the air is coldest near the ground. The result is sparkling flecks in the air which you can feel biting into your skin as you ski through it. Hard to see unless you can get the sun in the right place, if you look carefully at this picture the diamond dust is sparkling in the sunshine.

 

Thrills at night in Meribel

Through this Blog we try to give a varied and balanced view of life here in Meribel, some events however breach my personal limits of risk aversion. For this reason we have a guest blogger for this post reporting on a popular night time activity.

Last time I was here, the guys at Chalet Vache Bleue suggested I may be interested in giving sledging a try. Unfortunately, I ran out of time, so it was on the top of my list to do this visit.

Tuesday night saw me along with 40 other people, of all ages and experience, stood outside the Mottaret Tourist centre at 6pm, ready for a sledging adventure down the Green Truite run (book beforehand by dropping into a tourist centre and it is 17 euros/sledge). I have no sledging experience and wasn't sure what to expect but did snow board down the run earlier in the day just to plan my route.

It all started not too long afterwards, with the people running the event walking us down to the top of the run to get instructions, rules and equipment (I brought my own helmet but both helmets and sledges + glowsticks are provided). It all seemed quite simple, so we lined up at the top of the Truite, ready for action. I should warn you, there are no lights on this run and the glowsticks are to make sure that you don't crash into anybody (1 of the 2 rules on the sledging adventure).

Heaps of cheering and we were off, following the guide who had a large red version of our glowsticks. We had been told that there would be 2 safety stops along the way and that we were at no time to pass the red glowstick (the 2nd of the 2 rules, easy to remember!). The start and the first stop was the learning stage, figuring out how the brakes and turning worked, which resulted in sledges spinning and shooting off across the run but we all arrived. After this, my confidence had increased in using the sledge, which resulted in not doing anything like my planned path plus more 360's and shooting off in random directions with better braking ability.

Post the final stop, we hit the longest part of the track and it was on! Parents with kids between their legs, zooming past those that were steering slightly all over the place who were battling it out with the young at heart. It was a heap of fun, sometimes bumpy, sometimes pointing in the wrong direction all done under a starry night.

All made it back to Meribel, to hand back in the sledges and either to catch the bus back to Mottaret, otherwise feel free to use your glowstick at any number of venues in the centre. 

Christmas, New Year and then peace

Christmas and New year are always a busy period in any ski resort especially when a large amount of snow falls at the start of the season and every available bed in the resort is sought after by those making a last minute decision to make it a white Christmas. This year was no exception, on one of the busiest transfer Saturdays of the year a heavier than forecast snowfall resulted in long delays for many as the reality of putting snow chains on hit drivers on their way up to Meribel. The moral of this is to practise putting snow chains on your car before you are faced with doing so in the dark, in heavy snow with a long line of cars and buses behind you.

Despite the busy period we are lucky here in Meribel to have such a large ski area at our disposal that getting away from the crowds is not that hard. Research where ski schools meet and at what time - avoid that area. Eat lunch late or early and ski when everyone else is having a long lunch. Start early and finish early to avoid the rush on the "home runs". Although the snow is what most people come here for don't underestimate the value of a day off. We took a day off in the New Year week and discovered the beauty of Conflans a Medieval town just 30km from Meribel. No matter how much you love skiing/boarding it's always nice to wear normal shoes, normal clothes and enjoy a good lunch off the snow.

The Savoie flag is proudly on display throughout Conflans

We spotted many signed walking tracks around Conflans which have been added to our "to do" list

One of the several Chateaus in Conflans

Now that Christmas and New Year are over we have to get used to that almost spooky sensation of skiing some runs alone. The distances that can be covered with no waiting at lifts and few pauses on the runs can be staggering. A trip to Val Thorens can seem like a long way to go sometimes but on Saturday we started at a leisurely 10.30am, skied a section of VT and still had time for a top to bottom run off Saulire before getting home at 4.00pm in time for Vin Chaud. Our peaceful time has been enhanced by glorious sunshine which we are enjoying whilst keeping an eye on the weather forecast which promises a couple of snow days at the end of this week.

Enjoying a picnic lunch with visiting friends

Finally one of the odd things that happens in a ski resort is that Christmas can stretch a bit beyond the normal timings. For example the Christmas decorations here in Meribel do not usually come down until March. You get used to it although occasionally it can catch you off guard as happened this week when we came across Santa over in Courchevel 1650. As he didn't have Reindeer - only a shopping trolley - perhaps he was a little behind schedule.

Overview of week one of the 2012/13 season

"Weather" is probably the best word to sum up week one of the 2012/13 season. We have experienced sunshine, poor visibility, a chilly wind, light snow, heavy snow and lower down even rain. Despite all of that we have amazing conditions here in The Three Valleys and have been enjoying skiing on almost empty runs for the last seven days. In Courchevel on Saturday we shared the beautiful Creux red run with 4 other people, once they had overtaken us it was all ours, a true treat.

Today was a particularly snowy day, we tested out the new Plattieres lift out of Mottaret which is very fast and blissfully quiet. The original Plattieres 3 Gondola is still in use and the transition from new to old is quite jarring although soon forgotten when we exited from the Gondola into deep, deep powder. The run down to St Martin was probably as good as it gets and lower down visibility improved dramatically.

Searching for lower altitude skiing saw us at the Meribel Altiport and onto one of my favourite runs "Piste des Animaux". Hidden at the base of the Loze Chairlift this short run through the trees features models of animals and informative signage. Not a person had skied down it and it appears no one with a shovel has been near it either as most of the animals are now hidden under snow or about to disappear.

The outlook is for more snow and hopefully a few clear days to take some pictures which really show off the area. In the meantime the following pictures represent the first week of the season.

From Saulire mid station looking down to Meribel Altiport

Golf Chairlift in need of snow clearing

No sun but lots of powder!

Halfway down Foret run and the sun decides to show up

Festive decoration in Mottaret fighting a losing battle with the snow

Piste des Animaux, hopefully someone will come and dig the animals out soon

Day one of the 2012/13 Season

The most important thing to start off a season well is to have snow and it would be fair to say we have that by the bucket full. It would be lovely to also start with a nice sunny day to admire the scenery and also make finding your snow legs a little easier. We couldn't quite get delivery on the sun today, even at mid station the visibility was bad and the temperature was well into the minus numbers. Snow continued to fall throughout the day and it is still snowing now. Conditions under ski and up to about mid calf were lovely, now we just need to sort out the rest and see some blue sky.

At the start of the season there is always a limited area open, it's simply not worth it for the number of people around and due to the depth of snow there are safety issues to be addressed. The links to the other Valleys were not open today but will gradually open as the week progresses. We skied a limited area, just enough to get the ski legs and ski brain working and take some snaps. The weather forecast is for a least 2 clear days in the next 5 days so will report back when we have gone further afield.

Not a bad view for a bus stop

Waiting at the bus stop it seemed there may be some blue sky appearing

Higher up no breaks in the cloud but a lovely run through the trees. Perfect conditions - Piste bashed corduroy down the middle, untouched deep powder at each side

Skiing down into Meribel some of the smaller trees have now disappeared completely under snow