Méribel New Year 2025

Hi everyone and a very Happy New Year from me here in Méribel. I hope you've all had a fabulous New Year and are re-energised after the Festive break. How has the week been here in the 3 Valleys, utterly bonkers is the answer. If this week isn't the busiest week this season, it will be a very close second. I dread to think how many humans have been skiing this week, there were some proper massive ski lift queues at times and rather busy pistes. However the snow conditions this week have been very good indeed on the whole. Plus I've had the pleasure skiing all week with Team Harrington.

A couple of days ago I worked out that over the Christmas and New Year period, we had ten days of sunshine and blue sky days in a row. How amazing is that? I understand this has been the complete opposite to the UK. Sunshine every day, and waking up to freshly groomed pistes has been a real treat. Granted towards the end of the day, the main pistes were sheet ice. But that's down to the sheer skier traffic than snow or weather conditions. As a ski instructor, it's my duty to help skiers of all standards, especially how best to cope with ice. It is possible, but takes great belief and trust. And no, we don't try and 'dig our edges in' like you hear all the time.

New Years Eve approached quickly on Tuesday, this meant torchlight descent responsibilities after the ski lifts closed to the public. There were three ski shows and firework displays taking place in the Méribel Valley. Mottaret was one, as was Méribel Village, and I was signed up for the main big one above Chaudanne in Méribel itself. We had to report for duty at the Legends chairlift at 17.30 hrs with our ESF LED torch (charged!). I finished work a little early that afternoon, and shared a hot chocolate with Harriet my wife, before having a cheeky small beer with my ski instructor colleague Ian. After we signed in the presence of our ski school director, we were sent up the Legends chairlift in the dark, and turned right to the start of the Caves button lift.

As is customary during the annual New Years Eve torchlight descent, the ski school organised some welcome refreshments before the off. Cheese, dried meat and bread are provided, as well as a cauldron of Vin Chaud. And it also had to be said that some individuals take their own supply of whisky in a hip flask. My friend Ian is very inventive with his quality choices, whilst I usually stick to classic Speyside options. Oooops, Ian and I are rumbled. We do both enjoy the Vin Chaud and a swig or two from a hip flask!?!

Remember I mentioned earlier the late afternoon sheet ice on pistes, well this ingredient still existed. Add in the pitch black darkness, and the stupid choice of red for the LED torches. Granted, I recognise the importance of red branding for the ESF ski school, but for goodness sake it barely gives out any sense of light to help us see during the descent!

Somehow we all got down safely and then enjoyed the massive firework display at the bottom. As ever, it was amazing. Afterwards, I scuttled off with Harriet and Ian for a couple more drinks in town before aiming for an early night well before the midnight bells rang!?!

The following morning (New Years Day) started as the ski lifts opened, and myself Laura and Laura popped across to Courchevel 1650 (sorry, Moriond). The first couple of hours skiing was amazing with sunshine, freshly groomed pistes and barely anyone else around. This was our 'Piste du Jour', Gentianes.

Going off at an angle briefly; I've really enjoyed doing my 'Piste du Jour' selections the last few weeks. It's an inclusive thing, subjective of course, and fun to share on Social Media and my blog posts. It's fascinating the reaction I get through Facebook and 'X', and something I enjoy very much. I'd like to continue this theme as I have done over the last many years, but am also aware of not wanting to over do it. Having said that over our mid-morning hot chocolate stop with Laura and Laura, I was made aware of an interesting article from the Telegraph newspaper recently. It's an article titled 'The World's Best 50 Ski Runs', click here for the link, well worth a read. And yes, the 3 Valleys features, I wonder if you can guess which ones are mentioned?

Just after New Years Day, snow was forecast to fall during the night of the 2nd. Twenty centimetres was forecast, which sounded great. However sometimes less actually falls, and sometimes more. What happened this time? Way more, in fact I reckon well over thirty centimetres......

What an epic way to end the week for Team Harrington on Friday, and for my colleague Greg and I? And that was the end of the Festive Period for 2024/25. It's been a belter with the snow conditions and weather for sure. I hope that the Gazillion number of skiers over this period had a great time, and fingers crossed the resort can quickly recover for another week of alpine fun. The weather looks to be bouncing around all over the place, with temperatures ping ponging up and down all week. So who knows what will happen. Happy New Year again, and let's dive into 2025 with my usual mantra.....Live With Passion. Martin.

‍