Wednesday 1 January 2014

Early Season Snow Conditions in Meribel

Happy New Year to you all!!!!


Festive table at Chalet La Chouette
We have been busy bees at Delicious Mountain these past weeks with our very first guests arriving on the Friday 6th December ahead of opening day in Meribel, so they could get first lifts on the first day! We are now entering the New Year and after the Christmas festivities we are looking forward to sharing a great 2014 with you.

Groomers on the first day - 7th December


The snow conditions have been in the news recently so we thought we'd spend a few minutes on that as the theme of this blog post.

15th December - looking good up there at the top of Tougnete!
At the time of writing the cumulative snow  at top station in Meribel is 90/110cm and with over 2000 snow canons the pistes are in pretty good shape-not as good as they could be or will be ,but 95% of the runs are open (600km of runs in total in the Three Valleys ski area) there is still too much to take in on a weeks holiday.

27th December - view from the balcony looking down the valley

The very sad news that Michel Schumacher is in a Critical condition after sustaining a head injury whilst skiing in Meribel has hi-lighted the typical early season snow conditions we have at the moment. And although his injury could have happened at any time during the season, regardless of snow fall, a lot is being made of the snow coverage in the U.K. Press. We are in fact plumb average for snow depth at this time of year, with more on the way.


I'm writing this a few days after Mr Schumacher had his terrible accident and I feel slightly bad because quite possibly at the time of his fall I was enjoying some of the best powder turns I've ever had. The lesson, if there is one, is that you must always take care off-piste as a fall, is a fall in unprepared snow with all of the hazards that make it appealing waiting to bite you when you make a mistake.  Our thoughts are with Michael and his family and hoping he makes a full and speedy recovery.

So with a mind to move forward and leave the sobering reminders of our chosen sport behind and cast an eye to what we expect in the next week or so as far as snow fall is concerned. The beautiful white stuff will be gently floating down after New Year's Day with a forecasted 15cm to help turn our dreams and hopes into glorious moments of poise and turns of technical perfection.



All the best to you all for 2014, Peace and Love, Health and Happiness, Lou and Stu