Meribel Christmas Week 2024

Hi everyone and welcome to a bumper Christmas post from your favourite blogging Méribel ski instructor. I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas week with family and friends. From what I could see on the mountain, there were many happy families and groups of people having fun - making the most of the incredible snow conditions. Speaking of which, let me get straight into this......

For a while during the previous week, the weather forecast had strongly indicated a decent snowfall. These forecasts proved accurate. Sunday was a freezing cold day, with some snow falling but with also very high winds. The wind was so strong that very few ski lifts were able to function safely, and it felt as though only the lower magic carpets ran from early afternoon onwards. You know how some heavy dumps take place with snow falling calmly and vertically? This storm was not one of those!  I've been skiing with Gilly, John and Poppy this week.

The following day on Monday, the wind had dropped with the snowfall getting heavier. This was great news of course because more ski lifts could run. However the avalanche danger had shot up which meant only the bottom half of the mountain was open. Not ideal, but a big improvement on the previous day. Monday had its windy challenges, and Gilly and I just about coped to live and ski another day.

Then came Christmas Eve, oh my goodness. Regular readers of this blog will know I like to take photos, but even I couldn't record the utter beauty very well. Blue skies, sunshine, pretty cold still, and the most sublime snow to ski on.

Again, the avalanche danger was still sky high which meant large chunks of the mountain were out of bounds (more on this later). But this didn't matter because there was plenty of terrain available on the bottom half of the mountain. Including pistes that weren't open at all last winter due to lack of snow. Below is a photo of the top of the Pas du Lac bubble which was closed for a while on Christmas Eve (as it opened I sent John and Poppy up for fresh powder tracks on the Mauduit piste, while Gilly and I rushed to the mountain restaurant for our lunch reservation).

Just a little rant here, which is very out of character for me by the way. When the avalanche danger is graded at 4 out of 5 (defined as strong), and there are pistes that are officially closed (fenced off) stating high risk of avalanche, then why in God's name do people in high numbers totally ignore this danger and nonchalantly dip under or around the fences into these closed areas? These people are utter Muppets. Do these Muppets have years of studying specialised mountain environments and training in dangerous scenarios, way more than the local Pisteurs. I think not. So why do these totally inexperienced Muppets and their followers take these risks?

There have been so many closed pistes, many of their signs totally ignored, this week. However as you can see, plenty of amazing, accessible skiing still available!

One of my ski instructor colleagues has got a great way of comparing dangers in the mountains to a different environment. He says, imagine a car ferry captain announces that the risk is too high to set sail because there's a very strong likelihood of sinking in stormy seas. Would you in your inexperienced wisdom order him to set sail? Surely no Muppet would do that!?! Please people, use your brain and stay safe. And don't put rescuers' lives in danger. RANT OVER (ish).

From Christmas Eve onwards this week, the skiing has been absolutely fabulous with stunning weather and snow conditions, a real skier's Christmas present. John and I came across a brand new piste in Val Thorens on Friday. I spotted it from a distance and was a bit confused. John suggested we turned into trail blazers and take a look and ski it, which we did. I had never seen this piste before, called 'Face Nord', with many of the piste sign posts not even mentioning it. What a treat. It wasn't very long, but had lovely snow conditions.

Right, that's it for now. Sorry for the rant earlier. In the last fifteen years or so of blogging I've really tried to be not too opinionated. But for goodness sake people, please Don't Follow MUPPETS Down Closed Pistes. In the meantime, let's continue with my usual mantra, Live With Passion. Martin.