Alpine Royalty

Hi everyone and welcome to another post from your favourite blogging Méribel ski instructor. I've been back in the UK now for well over a month, and the ski season certainly feels like quite a while ago. Having said that, I'm still catching up with friends and family that I haven't seen since last year. This is always nice, and a very common question I get asked is "How was your winter Martin?". An obvious one to ask, especially from those who know me well and who also might enjoy skiing and the mountains. So how was the winter?

I tend to answer in several ways, let me explain. First off, the snow conditions. Last winter on the whole the snow was pretty good, especially the first half, and definitely better than the previous two seasons which were below average. So that's always a plus in my book, good snow means people are having fun. Ski teaching is a career for me, and my work was enjoyable once again, with all the hours I wanted. Plus I seemed to pace the work reasonably well and had some recovery periods. I met loads of new clients, and had many many regulars return which again is always fun. And finally, I seemed to avoid any injuries, niggles and unwanted illness. So in short, it was an excellent season.

I do of course love skiing, it's a passion. I've just mentioned that ski teaching is a career, which is true. But one of the main reasons for heading back to Méribel every winter is that I just love being in the high mountains. It's a privilege. It's not only about the skiing, I love the scenery whatever time of the winter. In April when work fizzles out, it's 'Me Time', which means soaking up the mountains even more. All of these photos were taken in April.

About forty minutes drive away from Méribel is an area called Champagny. It's on the back of the La Plagne and Les Arcs ski area and is a small resort itself. When skiing in Courchevel (connected with Méribel), if you know where to look you can see across to Champagny. I often pop over to Champagny in Spring because sometimes, if you are lucky, you might get a glimpse of some Alpine Royalty..... Bouquetins.

Bouquetins are what the French call Ibex. Many French ski resorts will have a ski lift, a piste, a hotel, maybe a restaurant or chalets named after these mountain goats. In fact Méribel has a 'Bouquetin' chairlift as well as a black piste called Ibex! Many piste names in the 3 Valleys ski area are either animal, bird or flower names. Another piste in Méribel is Gypaète in the Tougnete/Roc de Fer sector. A Gypaète is a big vulture where between 70 to 90% of its diet is bone! Anyway, here's one I captured above Champagny in April.

Back to the Bouquetins, they are incredible creatures, and it's a real honour to be able to witness them in their natural environment up close in person. They have such strong characters. This certainly isn't the first blog post where I've mentioned them, and guess what, this probably won't be the last in the coming years.

There you go, I hope you found this post interesting and enjoyed the photos. Amazingly, I've started to receive enquiries for next winter already, so if you are thinking about taking some private ski lessons or want some ski guiding around the 3 Valleys ski area, please get in touch via this website. Right, here's my normal credo again..... don't forget to Live With Passion. Martin.