Favourites From This Summer

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest post from your favourite blogging Méribel ski instructor. This time I'm being a little self indulgent and  showcasing some of my favourite photos that I took whilst on holiday last month in Méribel. Although I don't shoot weddings professionally anymore, I still love having a camera in hand, and keeping my creative eye focused so to speak. And what a place the French Alps is to be able to do this. I keep saying to myself I must venture further afield with summer holidays, but then every year I return back to the mountains, and they continue to blow me away.

Given freedom and choice, the best time of the day to take nice photos is when the light is at its best, either early morning or late evening. The quality of the light can be exquisite during these times, and really helps any scene pop. I'll often organise my day's activities around this, including eating plans, it's that important! If you think about it, this is no different to skiing. Have you ever made it up one of the first ski lifts in the morning? The quality of light is amazing, being low with lovely tones and shadows. And of course, the pistes will be perfectly groomed.

Likewise late afternoon just before the ski lifts close, the sun is low again, painting beautiful light across the mountains and valley floor. If you are a regular visitor to the 3 Valleys in the winter, in particular Méribel, then here are a few suggestions where you could experience such beautiful late afternoon winter scenes: the top of the Col de la Loze between Méribel and Courchevel is stunning, as is the top of the Saulire looking west across the Méribel Valley and beyond. Finally another favourite of mine is the top of the Tougnete ridge looking north down the valley. These scenes are stunning, and I strongly recommend you try to experience them at some point. My goodness I can't wait to put skis on again in a few months' time to see these views.

I may've mentioned in recent blog posts that it was unusual for me to be on holiday in July; I'm normally there in August. However this year was different and I really noticed the difference with way more wild flowers on the mountain compared to just a month later.....

Right, back to another chairlift photo in late evening light, this is the Dent de Burgin looking down towards the Altiport ski area.

The above photo was taken on the summer bike track, which is the Boulevard de la Loze blue ski piste in the winter. It was taken in a rush, and I didn't quite nail it technically, so I'm looking forward to doing a much better job next summer.

Let's just have a quick break from nice photos. In a previous post I showed photos of debris on the mountain created by an avalanche last winter. Another area that was affected by avalanches, created and controlled by the safety authorities, was just above the Altiport ski pistes. During the February school holidays, there were huge snow storms, which created massive snow depths in places. These danger areas needed to be supervised with controlled releases. Here are a few photos of the effect that an avalanche can have on the terrain, even once the winter snow has melted......

The Piste des Animaux was closed from the middle of February though until the end of the ski season. This piste starts at the bottom of the Dent de Burgin chairlift, and rejoins the Atiport piste at the bottom of the Loze chairlift. For me as a ski teacher this piste is absolutely brilliant with introducing beginners to piste skiing after progressing from the nursery pistes. So I was a right old Grumps when it became unavailable. Now I understand why.

It wasn't closed because of excess snow, but all of the squashed trees making a right old mess of the piste. This wasn't necessarily visible at the time last winter, now I understand why!?!

Ok, enough of that. Back to some nicer photos.... Regular readers of this blog will know I love taking wildlife photos, and in the summer that means marmottes are my go-to animals. These are my favourites from last month.

I really hope you enjoyed this post. Next time I'll write about loads of observations I had whilst up the mountain regarding ski infrastructure improvements in advance of next ski season. I had better dash, I've got a few jars of pears to preserve this afternoon! Our pear tree in the back garden is fully loaded with fruit again this year. Right, credo time, don't forget to Live With Passion. Martin.