Down Time

Hi everyone and welcome to another post from your favourite blogging Méribel ski instructor. As we enter into the second half of April, the ski season is definitely drawing to a close. For most of this month the weather has been absolutely stunning. I've taken some time off skis after a long season, and am in the phase of enjoying some rest and recovery. It's also a period where it's much easier to make the most of the surroundings of this incredible part of the world. So I guess this post is more about that than skiing, hope that's alright with you?

When we are skiing however, sometimes we catch glimpses of views. One of them could be the beautiful Lac de Tueda just above Méribel-Mottaret. When skiing back from Val Thorens or Mont Vallon, one route is to use the Ours flat piste into Mottaret. It's a 'marmite' type of piste, some people can't stand it, others love it including me. One reason I like it is because of the views on offer especially looking down onto Lac de Tueda. With cross country tracks, and a couple of mountain restaurants, it's well worth a visit if you have the time, and just a short walk from the main Mottaret car park.

During the ski season most visitors will stay in the main resorts, such as Méribel les Allues, Méribel Centre and Méribel-Mottaret. However there are many satellite villages and hamlets dotted up and down the valley. These provide homes to people all year round, with their own small communities. They also provide slightly different viewpoints that most of us haven't seen.

Another thing I love doing during this period is to jump in the car and drive down to Bozel below Courchevel, and then up the other side of the mountain towards Champagny. Not only is the scenery absolutely stunning, there's also a chance you might catch sight of some Bouquetins. I've written about this over previous years, and will probably do another soon. It's incredible up there.

As you can see, I've loved getting my big camera out and having a play. Even going back to some regular spots is still very special including this viewpoint above Méribel. I shall never bore of this spot, which is on the big bend of the road underneath the Altiport runway.

Another favourite is walking up to Le Nantchu. It's quite a grunt of a walk for about fifty minutes from town. Part of which is the Raffort ski piste starting on the Gelinotte blue piste, going all the way down the Brides les Bains bubble at Raffort. This little area is only about 100 metres from the Raffort piste, but is hidden from view because of trees. A lovely little gem.

This time of year is also an opportunity to catch up with friends, when it isn't possible during a busy season. I've mentioned my mate 'Slippers Jackson' over the years, he and his wife are also ski instructors over in the Portes du Soleil ski area. Sometimes I meet him in Morzine, other times we meet halfway in Annecy (mostly at the Salomon Pro Shop). We arranged to meet this week on Thursday. I noticed there was some dodgy weather mid-week in the forecast, and thought that was an ideal time to go, because it wouldn't be much fun up the mountain. On social media I picked up that this storm that was due was going to be the biggest of the winter!?! I took note, but semi-ignored these statements because sometimes people love to grab headlines. Anyway, Wednesday was filthy weather with it plopping down with rain all day long, and it gradually turned to snow late evening. It was lovely seeing the snow fall again in Méribel. I woke up early next morning in preparation for driving off to Annecy, and couldn't believe my eyes when I looked out of my window.

So much snow had fallen, it was everywhere with loads of trees bent over because of the weight. Before leaving Méribel I had to dig my car out, it certainly was the biggest fall of the season!? What seemed like a good idea at the time to catch up with Tim, was now going to be rather challenging. There was carnage on the roads, many vehicles trying to travel uphill were getting stuck everywhere, but my winter tyres did me proud. So many trees had fallen down onto the road. And I kid you not, I didn't move out of 1st or 2nd gear until I reached the tunnel the other side of Moutiers. The roads were that bad, the worst I've experienced in years. Places like Val Thorens, Val d'isere and Tignes were in total shutdown with people being advised not to leave their buildings because of the avalanche danger. Road access to and from these resorts were closed as a precaution. Anyway, I eventually caught up with Slippers Jackson in Annecy and shared many stories from this winter.

Right, that'll do for now. Have a fantastic Easter Weekend everyone. I'm leaving Méribel next weekend, with an overnight stop planned, somewhere I've never been to before. 'Never Stop Exploring' and all that. Not sure if I'll have the chance to post again before I leave, but let's see. As ever, please do Live With Passion. Martin