Summer In Méribel Never Disappoints

Hi everybody, and welcome to another post from your favourite blogging Méribel Ski Instructor. It's the first post for several months, and a bumper edition to make up for this lack of activity. If possible I always try and return to the Alps every summer, and this year was no different. However, thanks to Boris fiddling about with travel restrictions, and my other work commitments, this year's visit was much later than normal. I can confirm though, that the month of September is a jolly good time to experience Méribel. Having said that, summer ski lifts and 99% of the resort's facilities had already closed. It certainly had the feel of a ghost town, but there was some excellent cycling and hiking still to be had. One of my first hikes was up to the top of the Tougnete ridge before sunrise...... Why was this?

In the near future I shall blog about upgrades being made up the mountain which skiers will benefit from this winter. One of these is a new mountain restaurant up on the Tougnete side. Being a photographer, I had this bright idea about photographing it in lovely soft (very) early morning sunlight. This didn't quite happen how I'd hoped; having said that it was still amazing being able to watch the light and the colours evolve during this special time of the day.

Another area that is a favourite of mine is the Tueda Nature Reserve above Méribel-Mottaret. Many skiers will have spotted the Lac de Tueda, frozen over in winter, as they ski down the 'Ours' piste back into Mottaret from the Mont Vallon area. In summer this lake is absolutely stunning, with the mighty Aiguille du Fruit peak on your left, and of course Mont Vallon itself. If you continue to walk up further into the Reserve, one has to climb up to what Harriet and I call the 'Lung Buster'. It's about a thirty minute grunt up to a new valley floor! Just after the 'Lung Buster' is a large area where you have a chance to observe some beautiful marmottes. This time of year their coats look lovely, and they have been slowly building up reserves in preparation for hibernation over the winter. It's rather special being able to watch them, from a distance, especially in September with the autumn colours.

Without the summer ski lifts running, I decided to leave my mountain bike in the UK but I brought my road bike instead. Cycling in the Alps is very different to Warwickshire that's for sure. But then, so are the views. After a few rides, including up to Les Menuires from Moutiers (to visit another mountain upgrade as mentioned earlier), I decided to tackle one of the toughest routes in the Méribel Valley.... the Col de la Loze. In winter, there are two ways to ski over to Courchevel from Méribel. One is via Saulire at 2,700 metres altitude, perhaps the main route. And the other is Col de la Loze at 2,300 metres. Built three summers ago, this cycle track featured in last year's Tour de France, with Superman Lopez from Colombia winning the stage. It was dubbed the Queen stage of last year's Tour, mainly because of its difficulty -both with steepness and the high altitude. I had cycled up to the Col a couple of times before, but from the Courchevel side. This year it was time to tackle the ascent from the Méribel side, finishing with riding up the Boulevard blue piste.

It was such a shame that very few spectators were allowed to watch in person the day of the stage due to the pandemic, and was something Harriet and I were aware of at the time when we were there. However, I heard some interesting news last week, from a reliable source in Méribel Les Allues. This source told me that when Méribel signed with ASO (the organisers of the Tour de France), the contract stated that two Tour stages within five years will finish on the Col de la Loze. If this is correct, then the Tour de France should come back to Méribel again before 2026. Fingers crossed.

Right, that'll do for now. As you can tell, Harriet and I had an amazing stay. We travelled back to the UK last weekend after stopping off overnight (look out for a new post about that), and we arrived in Leamington Spa on Sunday. It now seems like ages ago already that we were last up at altitude. From now on I'll be blogging regularly with the lead up to the winter, so do keep an eye out. Right, time to ditch the 'Stay Safe, Stay Healthy and Stay Fabulous' sign off from the last 18 months of the pandemic, and let's return back to the more usual 'Live With Passion' from years gone by. Live With Passion, Martin.