Spring skiing in La Tania and Meribel

The spring conditions are continuing here in Meribel and La Tania in the Les Trois Vallees, not a bad thing in the middle of March. This season is a real contrast to last year when the Winter seemed to carry on until the start of the Summer in June. Recently we have had a run of really nice weather with warm sunny days, it is a definite change in the seasons from Winter to Spring.

As well as good weather conditions we also have great snow thanks to regular falls throughout the Winter. Again, this is very different to last year when we had good snow but largely as a result of bigger snowfalls, this year has seen a lot of small falls forming the base. We are experiencing slushy conditions on the sunny slopes but not too bad and easily manageable on modern skis and snowboards. The north facing slopes still have Winter snow with around 1.5metres on the upper slopes. 

With just over a month remaining we are all looking forward to a great Spring season in the Alps. If you are interested in a late ski or snowboard chalet holiday we still have availability between now and the end of the 2013/2014 season.

2012/13 ski season has started

Yesterday was the official opening day of the 2012/13 for Val Thorens. As usual this is the first of the Three Valleys resorts to open. Anne, Aiden and I made the trip over to see how it is shaping up.

We had a relaxed start to the day with the intention of arriving at Val Thorens around mid morning. I had taken our ski equipment out the night before to make sure there were no surprises on the day. It is not normal for me to be this organised, prefering to rely on my lovely wife to make sure we get anywhere on time. What I hadn't done was put the inners into our ski boots, when Anne went to put her liner in she discovered a mouse had been nesting in one of them. So much for no surprises, all part of living in a semi rural village in the French Alps I guess. Thankfully there was no damage and we were able to sort it quickly.

The drive around to Val Thorens takes about an hour. It is part of the same linked area but the drive between the resorts involves dropping down to Moutiers in the valley floor before climbing back up the Belleville valley, past St Martin de Belleville, Les Menuires and finally Val Thorens at 2300m and 40 kms  of climbing later. After getting ourselves kitted up and passes organised we were on the snow just after 11am, an ideal time with a 3 year old in tow.

Test skis were available from the slopes near the resort.

The skiing itself was limited, but only as we would expect for late November. The sky was overcast but the temperatures were mild and visibility was fine. The snow was in good condition however the pistes were busy with the limited runs open. We managed to get Aidens skis on without any fighting and hanging on to my pole he was able to ski straight down to the learners area with magic carpet lifts. This was all much easier than we had anticipated and he had a good day with Anne and I taking it in turn to ski a few runs then ski with him. By the end of the day the parents looked more worn out than the child!

We left the resort around 4.30pm and made our way back to chez nous, then finished the day off with dinner in Bozel. It was an excellent day in the end and nice to get it in before our season truly begins. The staff begin to arrive next week and it may be a while before we get the chance to do similar.

Picture taken from the top of the Portette lift looking up at the Thorens lift and closed piste.

2012 - 2013 ski season about to start

The new ski season is nearly upon us, and the usual mad rush as each Winter approaches has started. I had to make a trip up into Meribel this morning and the place was very busy. France being France of course, it suddenly stopped at midday, and I expect that was it for the next 2 hours.

The following picture is of the new 5 star hotel being constructed near the Chaudanne in Meribel.

 The outside looks as though it is nearly complete, it is due to be finished by next month, in time for the season start. It will be nice to see it finally opening as the work has been disruptive for Meribel over the last 2 Summers.

The photo below is of the base station of the new Saulire Express gondola lift that will run from the Chaudanne area of Meribel and replaces the old Burgin Saulire gondola.

This new lift will link with the chair that was installed last year and replaced the top section of the old gondola. The new lifts nearly halve the amount of time that will be spent on lifts getting from Meribel to the top of Saulire, it does mean getting off one lift and onto another half way up however.

The next picture of the front door of the Barometer bar is further proof that the season is very nearly here.

Opening night is tonight and with La Taverne across the road and Evolution just down the road both open, a 3 bar pub crawl for anyone in Meribel this evening. You could also get a taxi down to the Tsaretta bar in Meribel Les Allues. 4 bars in one night, I am not sure that is even possible.

Night skiing on Courchevel in 2013

I feel that in general the customer service in France is outstanding, that nearly everywhere you go restaurants, shops, tourist attractions and associated services the staff are extremely friendly, they trip over themselves to offer a great service, especially if they establish that you speak English as a first language.

Just kidding, I had you going there for a minute. But seriously, I do believe there is a slow shift towards a more North American attitude to service. I guess this is a good thing but I also hope they don't carry it too far, it just wouldn't be French if they end up being polite.

Still, it is good to see the ski areas like the Three Valleys making a bit of an effort to offer a little more. They cannot be faulted for the way they develop the areas lift system, snow making and piste preparation but we are now starting to see other events taking place. An example of this is night skiing in Courchevel. In 2013 the family park will be open for night skiing on a Wednesday night from the 26 December 2012 until the 6 March 2013, 12 weeks in total. On these nights the family park will be open  from 6 to 8pm and the Verdons piste will be lit for the return to the main Courchevel centre. Courchevel posted a you tube video about this last year

So if you are interested in skiing after the sun goes down then Courchevel may be just the place. It is possibly an idea they have taken from American ski areas but please don't expect the lift operator to come across all 'have a nice day now', it just isn't very likely that it will happen!

   

Is Winter on its way?

We are back in Scotland at the moment, the weather has made a big change with a real cold blast this weekend. Looking at the webcams for La Tania and Meribel it appears they have had the same with snow down to resort levels. We can still expect most of  this to disappear but looking at the forecast it appears as though it will stay cold for the next few days, lets hope this is a promising sign as the start of the season gets closer.

Last ski season was amazing with a lot of snow but it did wait until the very last minute before it started to fall. I am normally relaxed about the beginning but I will confess that at the start of December I was starting to get a little twitchy. I do not expect to have the road bike out in the Alps in late November but that was exactly what happened.

So the snow on the ground today and the predicted cold weather are welcome. More snow is forecast for later in the week but higher up this time. We now have less than 6 weeks before the lifts open in Courchevel and the week after will see the opening of the ski lifts in Meribel and La Tania.

Snow for Aidens birthday

Well, the big news in house over the weekend was that Aiden turned 3 yesterday so Anne and I held a little birthday party celebration for him in Chalet Martin in Meribel le Raffort. It was a good afternoon with some of his friends and their parents, and we all got to eat cake ... and tart ... and chicken ... sausages ... pizza, wedges, crisps, coke, juice, more cake ......

The 3 of us are now on a very strict diet of leftover party food for the next 4 days.

Of course, because we were organising a party, and despite there being blue skies in the morning, the weather was always going to deteriorate just in time for the first guests to arrive.

And it did. To be honest it was not at all terrible, but the clouds did come in and the temperatures dropped. As a result the kids ended up playing inside the chalet for the afternoon. Later on it was amazing to see the parents calmly sat around the dining table, or in the lounge, while a dozen hyperactive kids erupted about the chalet, full of great tasting sugar and  chemicals.

We only just managed to load the kids up with a few extra e numbers before their lucky parents got to take them away, I am sure they were grateful for our kind deeds. At the same time as all this was taking place the weather continued to get worse and by early evening we could hear rain outside the window.

This morning when we woke the temperature had dropped even more, and it was starting to feel wintry outside. Later, on the drive back to our village, it was snowing on the road between Meribel Village and La Tania. The snow was lying on the ground at about resort level and the cars coming down from Courchevel 1850 had a good few inches of snow on them! A nice thing to see with just under 8 weeks left to the start of our ski season. I think we may be planning an outdoor birthday party for Aiden every year from now on!

This photo of snow on the ground behind a small group of chalets was taken this afternoon on our way back from Meribel.

At this time of the year many of the locals are preparing themselves for the mad rush that is about to start in the lead up to the next ski season. This is the time when a lot of the important last minute jobs will get done. The major companies, including those operating the ski area, are in a similar position except their work started months ago. Every Summer sees significant changes to the lift system, or the slope preparation, or installation of snow making, or road works, or new hotels, restaurants, ... it goes on.

Yesterday in the late afternoon I was up in Meribel and Mottaret having a look at a few of the changes taking place.

MERIBEL CHANGES

In Meribel the towers and cable of the new Saulire Express gondola are in place. This is the second phase of the replacement of the old Burgin Saulire gondola, the top part of the lift was replaced last Summer.

The photo above shows the base station in a half finished state so I guess there is still plenty of work to be done there. I am sure the workers will not share our enthusiasm each time we see snow at this time of year, but instead hope for better weather in the Autumn while their job continues.

Other work taking/taken place around  Meribel include:

- piste changes in preparation for the Womens World Cup alpine events to be held in February 2013

- construction of a new 'La Folie Douce' bar and restaurant on the West facing slopes above Meribel (I will write more about this sometime soon)

- completion of a new 5 star hotel not far from the Chaudanne, the area where the lifts, including the Saulire Express above, depart.

                                              CHANGES IN MERIBEL MOTTARET

  Mottaret is also getting a new lift with a new chair replacing the first 2 stages of the old Plattieres gondola. 

The picture above shows the new lift being installed and the now obselete base station of the old gondola on the left of the photo. I have read on another website, therefore it is true, that the journey time on the old Plattieres gondola was 22 minutes and that this new lift will take just 9 minutes - waaoohh!

Mottaret also has a new Magic carpet lift for beginners, if you have not seen one of these before, they are like a travelator you see in airports except they travel up a mountain slope.

There is also piste reshaping work taking place on the slopes at the bottom of Mottaret. This includes the construction of a mogul course seen in the picture below.

Apparently this earth moving work including the slope in the photo and improvements to the Martre piste just above it has cost S3V(the lift company)about 2 million euros - WTF! - I am sure my mate Billy could have been up there in his digger over the Summer and had it finished for ... about ... for ... well ... much less than that!!