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Easter powder skiing in Meribel

25cm of fresh snow falls over weekend

featured in Snow report Author Caroline Sayer, Meribel Reporter Updated

This Easter weekend we’ve been enjoying some powder skiing, wintery temperatures of around -10ºC in the mornings and gorgeous snowy vistas all around the valley.

This latest snow has obligingly fallen at night (10cm on Friday and 15cm on Saturday) and then the sun has made fleeting appearances between the clouds, allowing us to make the most of these unexpectedly good conditions.

Easter powder skiing in Meribel

The one thing that is certain about April skiing conditions is they are varied and changeable. In the past three days, we’ve experienced every type of snow: perfect powder, sludgy slush, chopped-up fresh snow, ice, sticky snow and perfectly groomed corduroy. The weather has been similarly capricious: there have been howling winds, baking sunshine and fog so thick you can barely make out the piste poles. Every day is a bit of an adventure right now, but we’re certainly not bored by all this fresh snow that just keeps on falling.

Overall, there is plenty of snow: 360cm on the upper runs, that’s nearly 12 feet. There is also lots of snow in the resort, as shown by this photo of a signpost at the Altiport. Virtually the entire ski area is still open, a rarity in April. Only one run is closed through lack of snow, the low Villages run to Les Allues.

Easter powder skiing in Meribel

I can’t tell you where is best to ski as this changes from day to day and even from hour to hour. I will suggest that it’s worth checking the webcams on foggy days as sometimes the resort is shrouded in thick clouds but a check of the webcams reveals the summits are in gorgeous sunshine, high above the clouds. Also, do take heed of any signs at the lifts warning you not to leave your own valley when high winds are forecast. There were a lot of very lost and forlorn-looking Courchevel skiers trapped in the Méribel Valley on Friday when all the top lifts closed for much of the day.

If this should ever happen to you, note that the lift companies lay on buses to take skiers home to their own valley, so the place to ask for information is at the main lift offices. Or call a taxi, though this is an expensive option, especially if you end up stranded in the Val Thorens/Les Menuires valley, a good hour’s taxi ride home.

Easter powder skiing in Meribel

Today’s photos were taken in the fresh powder on the St Martin side of the Cherferie and Roc de Fer. These are some of my favourite off-piste areas, with wide expanses of gently sloping terrain. The majority of this area is what the French call “la montagne à vache” ie pastureland that is not too steep, with less risk of hidden boulders or avalanches. Obviously, you should only venture off-piste with a guide or instructor and with all the right safety equipment, but this is a wonderful area to learn off-piste skiing with a professional.

Our best run of the day was from the top of Roc de Fer to the little village of Beranger. There are no lifts here, so to re-join the ski area you have to ring for a taxi or, even better, arrange with one of the restaurants in nearby St Martin de Belleville to pick you up at lunchtime. We did this and ate an excellent lunch at Restaurant le Lachenal in St Martin, one of my favourite places for lunch in the sun in springtime.

The forecast for this week is interestingly varied, with everything from full sunshine to snowfalls. At this rate, you may be seeing yet more powder skiing photographs before the season is out.

Location

Map of the surrounding area