Meribel Snow Report: 15th January 2012

Couchevel’s Plantrey lift is an interesting example. This 6-man chair replaces the previous 4-man chair which was itself the first high-speed chairlift installed in France in 1983. In other words, here we are benefitting from the second generation of fast chairlifts, while many other resorts are still running their original, slow lifts. Visiting la Plagne last week, I was surprised to see snail-paced two-man chairlifts still in use. It felt like I was in a time-warp to the 1970s.

This weekend we decided to try out the new Funitel lift and pistes in Val Thorens. January is not normally the best month to visit VT, the highest, coldest and windiest part of the 3 Valleys. Many miserable hours shivering on exposed lifts has taught me to postpone visiting VT until milder weather in spring. However, we are currently enjoying brilliant sunshine and quite bearable temperatures, so it seemed a good opportunity to check out “les nouveautés”.

The piste conditions are good in Méribel and Val Thorens, though some harder patches are appearing on the steeper runs. Where there are hard patches on the piste, there is usually grippier and more enjoyable snow to be found just off the side.

January, in my opinion, is the best month of the season. We normally enjoy great snow and blissfully quiet slopes. Saturday is the quietest day of the week in the 3 Valleys, because the majority of visitors arrive and leave on that day. So it follows that Saturdays in January are pretty special. Indeed, we enjoyed many completely empty pistes and skied straight onto virtually every lift. The current weather + snow conditions + Saturday + January = Heaven.

En route to Val Thorens, I spotted Alan, snow reporter for our sister site Seecourchevel.com, also heading to the Thorens Funitel. This is the first time in many years we’ve bumped into each other on the slopes, which proves what a vast ski area we inhabit.

The new Thorens Funitel lift is surprisingly short. It rises just 212m from the top of the Portetta chairlift to the Bouchet ridge above. (In comparison, the new Saulire Express II rises nearly 600m.)

Like many of VT’s new lifts, the funitel has two cables, allowing it to run in strong winds. It serves two new runs, a very short blue called Chocard and a rather dull red called Asters. Neither of these is particularly exciting and Asters was disappointingly stony and hard where last week’s gales had blown all the snow away.

According to the lift attendant, a new piste may one day be added on the far side of the ridge, opening up a new part of the Orelle or ’Fourth’ valley.

It appears the new lift’s main benefits are improved linking of the high runs in this area and access to masses of previously unreachable off-piste. The new lift doesn’t really merit a special trip over from the Méribel valley, but it does offer spectacular views and unbusy pistes.

From Alan I have pinched the idea of nominating a “Piste du Jour”. Today’s PdJ is the gorgeous Blanchot piste in Val Thorens, reached by the Boisment chair. This easy blue run is long and sinuous, with continually changing views over the Belleville valley. On Saturday, it had beautiful snow and was almost empty. Best of all, this was the first time I’d ever skied it. You may argue this proves I’m rubbish at reading piste maps. I say the fact that I’m still finding new runs to explore after 20 seasons demonstrates what a fabulously vast and varied ski area we inhabit. I do so love the 3 Valleys.