Off-piste in powder : 26 January 2012

There are days when it seems the ski area has been made especially for your personal pleasure and today was one of them.

It was a joy to see sunshine and cloudless skies again this morning after the murky and snowy weather earlier this week. We were first on the lifts to Tougnete which gave us first run on new, squeaky corduroy snow all the way down Coqs into Mottaret. If big carving turns on new corduroy doesn’t put a big grin on your face, then nothing will.

The small amount of snow that fell on Tuesday and Wednesday has left the pistes in fantastic condition. It is low season so the slopes are uncluttered and lift queues almost non-existent.  As far as I’m concerned, sunshine + fresh snow + empty pistes = skiing happiness. The only other thing needed for ski perfection is an instructor to lead you to the best off-piste, and today we were lucky to be in the company of Mike from Snoworks to show us around the still-excellent Courchevel powder.

A quick run on the Creux Noirs off-piste got our ski legs working; a second run from Chanrossa ridge tired them out again; and the ten-minute walk up to Equinox left our party in need of a good sit down and rest. The view from Equinox is awesome and the run down was gorgeous in the fresh snow and left us all on a high. One word of warning: I wouldn’t think of skiing this area without a professional instructor or guide. The slope gained its name from the seriously scary Equinox Avalanche film a few years back. If you ever ski or board off-piste, please do watch this film. It might give you nightmares, but it does teach the necessary respect for off-piste.

After all this effort, we required a good lunch so we headed to the Adray Telebar in Méribel. If you have ever wondered where the beautiful people go, check out the Adray terrace on a sunny afternoon. There was a good smattering of ESF uniforms in the restaurant (always a sign of good food). There were also lots of elegant ladies in the sort of slim-fitting ski gear that is designed for restaurant-skiing rather than actual skiing. And there was a lot of air kissing.

The food at the Adray is good, if expensive. The signature dish, escalope de veau a la crème, is €28 but so utterly delicious that you almost forget the eye-watering cost.

We finished the day with a few runs off the Tougnete ridge in late afternoon sunshine: a perfect end to a wonderful day.

• Altitude of upper slopes
  2700m
• Avalanche risk
  3
• Depth of snow on upper slopes
  222cm
• Altitude of lower slopes
  1450m
• Highest temperature
  5C
• Total number of pistes
  85
• Latest Conditions
  WEATHER FORECASTSUNDAY 29th of JANUARY: Cloudy all day long with some bright intervals. Some snowfalls possible from 1 to 3 cm from 200 to 300 meters.Maximal Temperatures: At 1000 meters: +1
• Depth of snow on lower slopes
  140cm
• Altitude of last snowfall
  2700m
• Date of last snowfall
  25th January 2012
• Depth of last snowfall
  10cm
• Number of pistes open
  83
• Altitude of highest temperature
  1450m