Festive Period Snow Conditions - Meribel and Courchevel

Hi everybody, and welcome back to a second blog post of the week! This time I thought that I'd give a quick round up of the snow conditions just as the Festive period starts. Needless to say that the authorities work very hard to prepare the pistes for this the first of the busy weeks of the winter. We are very lucky here in Méribel to have excellent snow making equipment and water reservoirs, however nature has to play its part by giving us cold temperatures in order to make the snow. This we have had, and the snow cannons have been blasting away. So how are the conditions?

Really quite good. Not only has it been cold at times, we've also had regular snow storms come through that have given us very handy top ups. Granted, we haven't had anything like those whopping snow storms we had last year, however they were generally considered to be once in a lifetime experiences. This winter, the many weather fronts coming through every three or four days have produced very good snow cover for most of the mountain. The skiing has been excellent and a real treat. Further down towards the resort, the snow cannon coverage has produced a very good base.

This is all good news because when the holiday makers arrive in their numbers, the size of the Three Valleys which is considerable to say the least, will spread the load very well. And also selfishly as a ski instructor, it provides me with plenty of terrain for whoever I'm teaching and guiding.

Over the last few weeks I haven't skied over any stones, which for this time of the winter is quite a result. All of these photos were taken yesterday during a brilliant free ski, and you can see how good the snow is. The only slight nuisance is that today the weather has turned mild, and is due to stay this way for about a week. The top half of the mountain I'm sure will stay in good condition. However, it wouldn't surprise me if the lower pistes will soften up during the day. All in all though, I'm quite encouraged by what I've skied on the last few days.

If you are coming skiing over the Christmas or New Year period, then I'm sure you will have a great time. It was only two and three years ago that we were all squeezed onto thin narrow strips of manmade snow (which then quickly turned into ice), surrounded by brown grass. That was a little grim at times. What we have now is the opposite, especially on the top half of the mountain. Hooray, and high fives all round. I'm not sure when I'll get to post again due to the busy period. Plus I'm covering for Caroline, of merinet.com fame, for the next two weeks. So I'll be prioritising writing several articles over on there instead of here. I've got no idea what I'm going to write about yet, fingers crossed ideas will pop up soon! Live With Passion. Martin.

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