First Slide Here And There

Hi everyone, and welcome to another post from your favourite blogging Méribel ski instructor. As you may've seen in my previous post, I arrived back in the Alps for the winter last week. And guess what, I've managed to squeeze in a couple of days of skiing already this early in the winter. And I've blimmin loved it. So let's jump straight into how the skiing has been and in particular the snow conditions.......

Last Saturday I drove round to Val Thorens, which meant I could use my 3 Valleys ski pass. It takes about an hour from Méribel, and is a pretty drive as well. As you can see from my photos, it was glorious weather. The evening before, I had bumped into a friend (also a ski instructor) in a supermarket down the valley. I noticed he was wearing ski kit and asked where he had been skiing, and what was it like. He said Val Thorens, and then sighed saying it wasn't the best. But the following day I took a look for myself. And I was pleasantly surprised by how reasonable the skiing was on the pistes that had snow cannon coverage.

I'm not going to lie, the natural snow depth was thin, but the pistes that were open skied really well. I had a ball, and really enjoyed myself.

It's worth noting of course, one reason why Val Thorens was able to be open is its height. The village is at 2,300 metres, with the skiing going above 3,000 metres. This altitude means colder temperatures, and enables the snow cannons to run. To be able to do that in November is definitely an advantage over the lower resorts. More on this later.

A couple of days later, I decided to have another ski with a change of scenery. This time I drove to Tignes in the Espace Killy ski area, which is a longer drive from Méribel. Again I was delighted to see a good number of pistes and ski lifts open. The villages of Tignes are also high altitude, at around 2,100 metres.

As you can see from my photos, there was an ok amount of snow around, especially - again - on the pistes that had snow cannon coverage. The light was a little more flat, but the skiing was great fun and I enjoyed being over there. I even bumped into some ski instructor friends which was nice. I'm quite positive about the start of the winter, with the Courchevel and Méribel valleys opening this weekend, along with the links of the 3 Valleys. It's also turned much colder the last 24 hours.

How does the weather forecast look? Staying pretty cold through until early on Friday, which is great for snow making. And then, I'll be honest with you, it looks a little moist for 24 hours, before turning to snow over the weekend. Opening weekend could be a little challenging with this stormy weather, but great news for receiving plenty of the natural stuff. Then from Sunday onwards through until all of next week, it's looking as though it turns freezing cold. This again will be ideal conditions for the snow cannons to kick in again. Smiles all round then.

No pain means no gain then. But that's life in the mountains for you. Hopefully you can understand why I'm positive at the moment with the conditions. I'll post again just after the weekend and keep you informed. Do come back soon, and please tell your skiing friends to check out my blogs. As ever, don't forget to Live With Passion. Martin.

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