Another One Ticked Off

Hi everyone, and welcome to the final blog post of the 2023/24 winter here in Méribel. And what a winter. Many people ask me how the ski season has gone, and it's a tricky question to answer because there are so many aspects to it. For example; the weather, snow conditions, health, numbers of hours worked, quality of work, and the list continues. This winter has hardly been a vintage one snow condition wise, and the temperatures have been very mild indeed. But I've skied with some wonderful clients and have had a lot of fun. And perhaps this is the important point, one thing I've picked up on is that everyone who comes out skiing on the whole has a great time. Isn't that a nice feature of this sport? As ever, all the following photos in this post were taken in the last couple of weeks or so.

For my final ski of this winter, I went out with my friend and colleague Ian S (see above and below). We went over to Val Thorens, up over to the other side to the top of the Cime de Caron cable car. And then skied an interesting off-piste route down towards the Lac de Lou at the bottom of La Masse. It was lovely to be in the high mountains and enjoy the tranquility.

There was some nice winter (powder) snow at the top, which gradually evolved the lower we skied, as is typical when skiing in the middle of April. And the final traverse out was a little sketchy, however we could easily pick our way through the rocks and mud!?!

Spring is a great time to venture further afield, even away from the mountains. Annecy is one of my favourite destinations for a day trip. I stumbled across a fact recently: the alpine town of Chamonix is only about 10kms further away than Annecy (in a different direction of course). When I realised that, I thought "Why not go there for a day trip as well?" And this is what I did....

I hadn't been to Chamonix for well over ten years, and it was fabulous being back. It's not a small town, but the fact you are surrounded by some very impressive big mountains and their glaciers, certainly gives it a unique feel.

Famous for skiing and alpinism, Chamonix offers many sights. It was a very warm day when I was there, well over 20C in fact, but it isn't unusual to see groups of skiers walking through town to and from the cable cars. Fully loaded up with high mountain kit including harnesses, ropes and ski touring skis, I couldn't decide if they looked out of place or not during that 'summer' weather!

I loved this unusual day trip and am sure I'll visit Chamonix again at some point. Anyway, now back to the wonderful Méribel Valley in Spring.

I've just done a Google search to try to find out what the plural of crocus is.... and I'm not surprised I was confused. Apparently both croci and crocuses are correct!?! Croci/crocuses are commonly found in gardens all over Europe, but it's a spectacular sight when you see a carpet of these flowers in the wild. As was spotted up in the Tueda Nature Reserve above Méribel-Mottaret, beautiful.

As is this view just below the Altiport runway, one of my favourite views in the Méribel Valley. So that's another ski season ticked off, and I return back to Leamington Spa this weekend. It's always tough leaving, as I'm sure you can also relate to after a ski holiday. However this feeling is softened knowing that I'll be back later in the summer in just a few months time. I hope you've enjoyed reading these blog posts again this winter. See you soon, and don't forget to Live With Passion. Martin