Méribel & Courchevel Opening Weekend - Winter '24/'25

Hi everybody and welcome to the next post from your favourite blogging Méribel Ski Instructor. Now then Ladies and Gentlemen, the Méribel and Courchevel ski lifts have opened for the winter, including some of the links for the 3 Valleys. On my previous post I described my skiing last week from Val Thorens and Tignes, however as previously mentioned, these two resorts are at very high altitude and wouldn't necessarily reflect what the snow would be like elsewhere. So here goes with my feedback and photos from the weekend......

Just like last week I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the snow. In my mind I knew that the top half of the mountain would be ok with a mixture of natural snow cover and artificial snow. This was indeed true. Unfortunately I didn't get to ski on Saturday, which was the official opening day for Méribel, however I did ski yesterday on the Sunday. The weather forecast proved to be pretty accurate with lower temperatures, and a fresh snowfall starting the Saturday afternoon through the night off and on, until Sunday afternoon.

There's no doubting that this fresh snowfall has definitely helped. I don't know the official figures, but I reckon between 20 and 30cms of snow fell, perhaps even more on the lee side. The skiing was fabulous, although unfortunately you could barely see anything in the thick fog at the top.

As is typical this early in the winter, not all of the ski lifts or pistes are open at the moment. And I couldn't help but notice that the pistes that I skied on all had snow cannon cover. But there's plenty available to enjoy your skiing. I do think that we all get spoilt during the main season when all of the pistes are open. The 3 Valleys claims to be the biggest ski area in the world after all. It was really nice to be back on familiar pistes again, and reacquaint myself with this fabulous ski area. Oh, and see  some of the latest Courchevel mountain art.......

There you go, good old Courchevel. Back in Méribel, the Chaudanne area at the bottom of the ski lifts last week was looking slightly sketchy, but with the lower temperatures and recent snowfall it has developed nicely. Lots of snow making has taken place already, and with the freezing nightly temperatures this essential snow making will continue at a rapid rate. This of course is very important leading up to the Festive Period, not far away in a couple of weeks' time.

My plan is to continue skiing off and on through this week, before starting work at the weekend. I can't wait to get back up there again, and hopefully with some better visibility compared to Sunday which was tough at times. My final thoughts on the current snow condition? I'd say pretty good. Of course I'd like there to be more natural snow cover, but I'd say we are in a good position and about 'on point'. So no complaints at all, with plenty of lovely skiing available. If I get the chance I'll report back again soon. In the meantime....... Live With Passion. Martin.