Meribel Snow Report: 1st January 2012

New Year’s Eve went off in spectacularly noisy fashion. The night began with several booming firework displays (the resort thoughtfully puts on early evening displays for families and then another at midnight for party-goers) and ended with thunderous, echoing explosions from the avalanche guns. Deafening avalanche guns are not what you want to hear first thing in the morning with a pounding hangover, but they are always welcome as proof of a big dump of snow.

Vast amounts of snow have indeed fallen over the past two days. Yesterday, parked cars almost entirely disappeared; a bus nearly slid off the main road and I started to seriously worry that my shed would collapse under the weight. Snow clearing was turning into a painting-the-Fourth-bridge type activity. Then, sadly, the temperature rose during the afternoon and the snow turned to rain on the lower slopes. This transformed all the lovely fresh powder in the resort into a compact, wet mass and made the off-piste unskiably heavy.

Today, the upper lifts opened late. This was not because the lift workers were still in bed; setting off avalanches to make the pistes safe after a big dump takes several hours. There was plenty of evidence of avalanche activity all around the valley today – yesterday’s avalanche rating of 5/5 was obviously correct. Just the Mont Vallon remained closed all day: this mountain always is the last to open after a big snowfall as it takes the longest to make the runs safe.

The snow on the upper runs was absolutely glorious this morning, but the lower slopes were rather wet and/or hard. Thanks to the mild weather and bright sunshine, it was deliciously enjoyable being on the tops of the mountains and enjoying the best of the snow. What could be a better cure for any overindulgence last night?

Piste du jour was the easy blue run 3 Marches – always a joy thanks to its swooping turns and wonderful views over the Belleville valley. Like many of the upper runs, it had not been fully groomed, and by the early afternoon, uncomfortable troughs, lumps and bumps were developing. I managed to fall into one of the troughs and decided that it was probably time to head home. The slopes were growing busier and busier, and having just bought a season liftpass, it seemed unwise to overdo it on my first day on skis and risk injuring myself.

The forecast is for more snow all this week and, crucially, it will fall down to below the resort. Conditions should get better and better as the week goes on. What a joy it is to start 2012 with lots of snow, especially after last winter’s drought-like conditions.