Tag Archives: Meribel

Meribel & La Tania – Three Valleys Snow report – Week 10

Bonjour from a windy and wild Meribel and La Tania! The snow is falling, the clouds have come in and visibility is low but we are still out there enjoying the fresh powder and a good few vin chaud stops throughout the day. In the last week we have had just about every kind of weather thrown our way; rain, snow, sleet, wind and even some blue skies poking through! The weather has changed every 5 minutes so we’ve been carrying around a whole load of extra layers just in case.

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Right now the snow is hurtling down at resort level, we have had over 20cm in the last couple of days. Up on the mountain this has resulted in a lovely fresh layer of powder to top up the mixed snow conditions from last week. Visibility has been as mixed as the weather this week, we have had moments of the clouds breaking and blue skies poking through but eventually the clouds have rolled back in and more snow is pouring down!

In the next 5 days we are expecting snow every day! Over half a metre of fresh powder is anticipated which will make for fantastic half term skiing, the heaviest snow is expected for Saturday with some breaks in the cloud on Thursday and Friday. Our best advice for low visibility skiing is to stick to the tree-lined runs, there are plenty of options around Courchevel and La Tania, and be aware of lift openings as you don’t want to end up stuck in the wrong valley with a very expensive taxi bill!

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With half term just around the corner the Meribel and La Tania are going to full of smaller skiers and there are plenty of activities for families to get up to on and off the slopes! The family friendly areas such as the Inuit piste in the Altiport sector and the Yeti Park in Meribel Mottaret have a range of fun and games including meeting huskies so stop by and check it out!


Meribel & La Tania – Three Valleys Snow report – Week 9

It has definitely been a mixed-bag of a week in Méribel and La Tania! We have gone from blue skies and springtime warmth to resort-level rain and back again in a matter of days. The weather doesn’t seem to be making its mind up anytime soon, so be prepared for all conditions out on the slopes!

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Watch our Snow Report 

Weather

Temperatures have been unseasonably mild in the last week and as the snow clouds have rolled in it’s been falling a little damper than we prefer in resort and on lower runs however we have had 30cm of fresh snow at the top of the lifts. When the clouds have cleared the weather is almost March-like with us ditching our mid-layers, and even jackets at some points!

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Snow Conditions

The snow conditions are just as mixed as the weather, we’ve got a bit of ice, a bit of slush and everything in between. Up on the higher runs the snow is still in good condition so our advice would be go high and stay there! We skied the higher runs in and out of St Martin and Les Menuires this afternoon and they were really good!

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Forecast

We are expecting a drop in temperatures and snowy showers later in the week, which should top up the mountain nicely, and then more blue skies as we head towards the weekend. Next week is looking great with fresh snow and colder temperatures so we can put out t-shirts away!


Meribel & La Tania – Three Valleys Snow report – Week 8

Bonjour from the sunny Three Valleys! This week has been non-stop sunshine and blue skies, not what you would usually expect from January but we don’t mind one bit. The conditions this week have been positively spring-like and we have been working hard on our seasonnaire goggle tans, you can find us perched on the mountain with a demi and a deckchair!

Snow Conditions

The snow conditions are still very good, there has been some icy patches to the mild temperatures (up to 10 °C in resort) and a little slushy snow down on lower pistes but the snow has held its own.  Every single lift and piste is open in Meribel and La Tania so the season is in full swing! With over 600 kilometres of ski area there really is something for everyone, and plenty to keep you busy!

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Weather Forecast

The weather is set to stay mild and sunny over the next couple of days with some welcome snowy showers expected on Sunday. We are anticipating over 20 cm of snow on Sunday which will top up the pistes nicely and cover any icy patches. We are anticipating the rest of the week to be mild, sunny and with blue skies!

With good snow, sunshine and blue skies this is not the January skiing we are used to but we couldn’t be happier!

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What Emily Sarsfield Loves About Méribel

Emily Sarsfield is the UK’s number 1 female Ski Cross athlete, has been ranked 20th on the World Cup circuit and is a member if the British Ski and Snowboard squad. For the last 10 years Emily has lived, worked and trained in Méribel and is a big fan of the Three Valleys.  Recently we had a chance to sit down with Emily and talk to her about what she loves about our Alpine home.

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Val Thorens World Cup, credit: Daniel Smye-Rumsby

Not only does Emily train in the Three Valleys she also runs a small ski school offering private lessons out of Méribel, this is obviously when she isn’t competing and is often during the school holidays. The reason she does this is because unlike many other athletes she doesn’t receive funding, so has to find ways to fund her own training and racing. As Emily bases herself in the Three Valleys and is always returning in Méribel, we started be asking her why she keeps coming back, her response was that the resort has a strong community, although she doesn’t behave like the usual seasonnaire and is likely to be found in the gym when everyone else is in the pub.

We then chatted about her missing out on the Winter Olympic Games and becoming a ski instructor but we soon ended up back on the subject of Méribel. One of the first thing Sarsfield mentioned was the fact that all of the resorts in America would fit into the Three Valleys before pulling out the usual but true clichés and declaring that Méribel is “postcard picture perfect”.

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Megeve World Cup, credit: Daniel Smye-Rumsby

In the 10 years of skiing in the Three Valleys she doesn’t think she has skied every run, which is probably very true, after all the years we have been working out there we probably haven’t either. If you live somewhere for a long time you will inevitably notice the changes, one of the big things Emily has noticed is how the access to cross the entire ski area has developed and even beginner skiers can now move from resort to resort on mainly green runs.

“There is always something different” – Emily Sarsfield on the Three Valleys

Of course one of the main reason Emily loves the Three Valleys is because of the Ski Cross park in Val Thorens, which is one of the best in Europe and regularly hosts World Cup Events. Over the years she has fallen in love with off piste skiing which the the 3Vs has plenty of when the conditions are right and Sarsfield top tip is to head up the Loze chair on a bluebird for some easy access powder.

We saved our “best” question until last, when we asked her in our serious interviewer voice, what is her favourite run in the resort and the answer was the Mauduit. The run is from the top of Saluire and goes all the way down to Méribel Center, or you can choose to head down to Méribel Village. She described the run as “long, open, well groomed and a thigh burner”.

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If you would like to keep up to date with Emily then check out her Facebook or Twitter.

To book a holiday to Méribel visit our website. 

 


Meribel & La Tania – Three Valleys Snow report – Week 7

We have had another fantastic, and snowy week in the 3 Valleys! Since our snow report last week it hasn’t stopped falling and we have a snow pack of 2 metres at the top of the lifts so the rest of the season is looking very good indeed. We have been kept busy in resort clearing the fresh blanket of snow that keeps appearing every morning, not that we are complaining about it when we hit the mountain!

Snow Conditions

The snow conditions this week have been amazing, the pisteurs have left a number of runs un-pisted to give everyone the experience of off piste skiing within the safety of the piste. The constant snow fall has meant that if you’re out early enough there has been fresh powder to be had every day, so getting first lifts is definitely worth it!

Check out all our latests availability and prices in Méribel & LaTania

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Weather

Inevitably with heavy snow comes clouds so visibility has not always been the best but blue skies have been poking through and the sun is on its way! Even when the visibility has been low we have had a great time exploring the little forest tracks on and off the piste in the powder.

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Forecast 

Over the next week it looks like the snow clouds are going to clear finally and we are going to have some bluebird days. Temperatures are going to get a little milder to around -2°C, that combined with the expected sunshine means we might finally get to work on that all important seasonaire goggle tan!

With a whole pile of snow and blue skies on the horizon there has never been a better time to be in the  Valleys! 

We have two places left next week in Chalet Cote Coure for £559pp. Click here to see all our availability in La Tania and Meribel.

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Meribel & La Tania – Three Valleys Snow report – Week 6

It hasn’t stopped snowing since our last snow report! We are a week in to heavy snowfall with it set to continue until early next week so there has never been a better time for a visit to Méribel! Weather this week has been hit and miss, with lovely fresh snow comes clouds and even some rain in resort and on lower pistes. However this hasn’t put us off, nothing a vin chaud by the fire couldn’t fix, and is worth it for the mounds of untouched powder we have been greeted by on a daily basis!

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Weather 

This week the temperatures have dropped significantly so another layer was very much needed out on the slopes, the start of the week was milder with the snow falling a little wetter than we prefer. This has all changed now and the snow is falling thick, fast and fluffy!

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The snow is amazing! Some runs have only been pisted down one side leaving the rest pure powder, our chalet manager Eloise (who has worked 4 seasons and skied A LOT) described the champagne powder as the best she has ever skied on, and that’s saying something. The snow pack is over 2 metres deep at the top of the runs and 75cm on the bottom and this is only going to increase over the next few days. As incredible as the powder is the avalanche warning in resort is very high so off piste skiing is not advised at this moment in time.

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Forecast 

The good weather is set to continue with snow expected until Tuesday with some blue skies poking through on Sunday which is set to be spectacular! Temperatures will continue to be low so wrap up warm and layer up on the mountain.

For the time being we have a lot of snow clearing to be doing, not a bad thing at all!

Check out all our last minute ski prices here

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Meribel & La Tania – Three Valleys Snow report – Week 5

The snow has finally arrived and it’s not stopping anytime soon! In the last week the 3 Valleys have been completely transformed with over a metre of snow having fallen and more is on the way. We have been out with our shovels on a daily basis clearing snow from our drives for it to reappear only hours later- not that we are complaining!

Weather Forecast

The weather has been mixed this week, with heavy snow comes poor visibility and we have had some strong winds as well. For a couple of days we have had the holy grail of fresh powder combined with blue skies and beautiful sunshine but even in the poor visibility the snow has been so amazing it’s definitely a fair trade. The temperatures have dropped slightly this week and an extra layer of clothing has been needed on the slopes, especially when you get to the higher points of the mountain.

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Piste Conditions

The snow conditions have been incredible with fresh powder on top of groomed pistes almost every morning this week. There are a few bumps and moguls around which has been great fun, even for those of us who have taken a couple of tumbles while trying to perfect our mogul technique! We asked a few of this week’s guests to describe the snow conditions in one word and this is what we got, “cracking”, “incredible” and we are slightly unsure of this one, but get the gist, “POWDERFUL”!

The slopes are unrecognisable from a mere week ago and things are only going to get better as more snow drops over the next week. Over the next 5 days we are anticipating another metre of snow to drop on the 3 Valleys so there are plenty more powder days on the horizon! The temperatures will continue to drop to around -10°C so if you are coming out remember to pack your thermals.

Check out all our last minute ski prices here

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Three Valleys Commitment to Snow Making

The start of the 2015/16 season wasn’t the best in terms of snowfall with many resorts being forced to postpone their opening. The lack of snow at the start of the season has highlighted how impressive the snow-making infrastructure of the Three Valleys is. While other ski resorts suffered the Three Valleys was boasting that it had 70% of runs open and they were in pretty good shape.

When the Three Valleys opened up in full on the first week in December the last snow had fallen three weeks earlier and the temperatures were not consistently low. However, on opening day Méribel looked like this.

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And after two weeks they looked just as good with the run down to La Tania being one of the best maintained slopes in the area.

So why is the snow cover so good?

The Three Valles has made a huge commitment to snow making. It currently has 2186 snow cannons located across one third of it’s 327 runs, which are attend to by a 72 strong fleet of piste bashers. The snow making starts long before the lifts open for the season as the cannons get turned on as soon at the temperature drops low enough. It is also rumoured the Méribel alone spends half a million pounds a year just making snow.

When we had a chat with the manager from Méribel Alpina, the company that runs the mountain, he was keen to point out that part of their promise to skiers coming to the area is to always have the highest number of runs open in Europe. We thought we would test this by comparing 29th of December 2015 in Méribel to five of Europe’s most popular resorts and looked at the percentage of lifts they had open.

Méribel 76%
Avoriaz 45%
Les Arcs 46%
St Anton 74%
Val d’Isere 37%
Verbier 68%

Booking a ski holiday at the beginning of the winter season has always been a gamble and this had been reflected in the prices of December ski holidays. But the work that goes on behind the scenes at in the Three Valleys means that snow is as guaranteed as it can be throughout the season. Take a look below at our snow report from the end of December and you can see that despite there being no snow since the resort opened the piste were in pretty good shape.


Meribel & La Tania – Three Valleys Snow report – Week 3

Once again the 3 Valleys has delivered when it comes to sunshine! This week has been sunny with blue skies every day and the perfect weather to hit the slopes. We have had a sprinkling of snow this week that has topped up the higher runs but we are still waiting for a dump! With Christmas just around the corner we are all feeling very festive in Meribel and La Tania with vin chaud, mince pies and questionable Christmas knitwear to be enjoyed over the next week!

 

Piste Conditions

The snow conditions are generally good although the warm weather has left the lower runs a bit slushy. The lower you get the thinner the snow cover, there are a few patches of ice and some rocks around so slowing your speed is advised. There is plenty of good snow to be had throughout the 3 Valleys and you can ski into every resort. Most runs and lifts have opened up this week, a few are still waiting for a bit more snow (it’s coming we promise!) but as the biggest ski area in the world we still have plenty to choose from.

 

Advice from the ski schools is to pick your runs carefully, check your speed and just ski with a little caution when it comes to lower and busier runs. Of course over the Christmas break the slopes do get a little busier but there is plenty of pistes for all ages and abilities.

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Weather Forecast

Over the next week the blue skies are set to continue with glorious sunshine expected on Christmas day. You may have to jump on a lift to get your white Christmas but you will definitely have one! We are not expecting any major snowfall in the next week but the amazing cultured snow system in the 3 Valleys will be working hard to top up the pistes. Temperatures will stay relatively high for the time of year, between 1 and 4 °C throughout the day so don’t put on too many layers!

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Whats on

There is all sorts on in the 3 Valleys this week for the whole family. There are carol services, torchlight descents, live music and even a few visits from the big man himself. There is no better place to spend the festive season than with us in Meribel and La Tania!

Check out all our last minute ski prices here

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Meribel & La Tania – Three Valleys Snow report – Week 2

It has been a beautiful second week of the season here in Méribel and La Tania for our guests and us! Over half of the lifts and pistes have been open this week, with decent snow, mild temperatures and a lot of sunshine. Around resort you can begin to see the faint lines of goggle tans emerging, so you know the weather has been good!

Piste Conditions

With only a sprinkle of snow in the last week some of the busier runs are starting to show a little wear and tear, however thanks to the 3 Valleys trusty snow canons the pistes are being topped up with cultivated snow overnight. Half of the resorts lifts and pistes are now open with many more expected to open next week for our Christmas guests.

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Weather Forecast

As we move into one of our busiest, and most magical, times of year we can expect more sunshine and mostly clear skies. There is no snow forecast for the next few days but the solid snow pack means you will be guaranteed a white Christmas! Temperatures are set to stay mild, between 2 and 5 °C with some spots of cloudiness throughout the day.

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Whats on

If you are coming out to join us this Christmas make sure to dig out your best Christmas jumper as there will be plenty to do in resort. Vin chaud, hot chocolate, Christmas markets and even a visit from the big guy himself, there truly isn’t a better place to spend this time of year!

Check out all our last minute ski prices here.

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