© SeeMeribel.com
© Sylvain Aymoz
© SeeMeribel.com
© SeeMeribel.com
© SeeMeribel.com
© SeeMeribel.com
More Gorgeously Sunny Days in Meribel
Substantial snow expected early next week
The weather here seems to have got stuck on beautiful, mild and sunny days. While storm Doris is wreaking snowy havoc on the UK, in Meribel we are still enjoying blue skies and brilliant sunshine. Which is ironic, as I’m sure the UK would love some fine weather and we’d certainly love some of that snow.
This week has been notable for all the fine weather activities we normally associate with late March and April. Picnicking is a delight; paragliders float about the skies; fancy dress is appearing on the pistes. I spotted this bunch of bikini-wearers yesterday on the slopes – an unusual sight in February when skiers are usually normally still bundled up in layers of thermals.
Conditions were perfect, too, for the Patrouille de France, the national air display team, who performed in Méribel on Wednesday. This was the first time the Patrouille has ever performed in the Alps in winter and the show was amazing, especially as we were able to watch the planes at eye-level. The display even made the national French news – you can watch the clip here.
All this warmth and sunshine is lovely for holiday makers, but not been so good for our snow pack. The pistes are getting rather worn and tend to be hard in the mornings. The best way to deal with these conditions is to start out on runs which face the morning sun which are already softening. That means skiing on the Tougnète side of the Méribel valley or, alternatively, heading over to the east-facing runs in Courchevel.
Now here’s a top tip from someone who hates hard snow: the blue run Creux (accessible from the Saulire link) and Lac bleu (accessible from the Col de la Loze link) are two Courchevel runs which get full morning sunshine and are beautifully soft while north-facing runs are still judderingly hard.
I’m pleased to see the weather forecast looks promising for more snow. A little snow is due on Friday then more substantial falls are expected on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
