Meribel Snow Report: 31st January 2012

Greetings all. Jack here, standing in for Caroline as she escapes the Meribel bubble to remember what the real world is like for a few days. I’ve just arrived back at my chalet after what I can confidently say has been the best powder day here in at least a couple of weeks. Snow has been falling heavily for the last 24 hours and regardless of reports of sunshine tomorrow, it does not seem to want to let up. I’m currently looking at about 10 inches piling up on my balcony and still growing.

Having got used to the slightly milder weather over the past couple of weeks I foolishly forgot to bring a scarf out with me onto the mountain today and I am still waiting to be able to feel my face again. It is incredibly cold out there, even in lower altitude areas, so if you want to be able to express emotion using your facial muscles over the next few days I sincerely recommend some sort of face covering.

With heavy powder comes the opportunity for some heavy off piste skiing. This was precisely the order of the day today and I would like to share with you some of my favourite off piste areas in Meribel. Being a tree heavy resort means there is still plenty to enjoy on a low visibility day and there are some great tracks off the edge of the runs around the Altiport area. If you aren’t terribly confident off piste or between the trees this is an ideal area to get some practice in as there are always tracks dipping in and out of the woods and if you aren’t enjoying yourself it is very easy to find your way back onto the piste. This is actually the area that many of the ski schools take beginners to on off piste lessons. If you do decide that this is the thrill for you however, there is the opportunity to drop down underneath the Altiport chairlift for an incredibly bouncy run down to the bottom.

My favourite off piste run of all is also dense with trees. The first time I took this route I wasn’t the best skier in the world and it was quite a struggle. I ended up spending about half an hour climbing out of a bowl underneath a large tree but thankfully I was laughing all the way and the rewards of this run turned out to be well worth the burning legs I suffered for the rest of the day. If you too would like the risk of making camp underneath a tree for much of your day then take the Loze lift up. Drop down beneath the lift and when the trees start to become denser make sure you keep to the right of the chairlift. If you follow this route correctly you will eventually pass a couple of walking/cross country ski trails. Keep heading downwards and hopefully, just when it feels like you have gotten yourself very lost indeed, if you have miraculously gone the same way as I did the ground in front of you should open up into a large white plain with rollers rising and falling down the hill. If the weather isn’t too bad then you are very much in luck by this point as this is the landing path of the aeroplanes coming in to land at the Altiport. There is nothing quite like skiing down a tumbling untouched snowscape with planes coming in to land just a thrown snowball's distance above your head. I felt like I had accidently skied into a scene from a James Bond film!

Living up in the Morel area of Meribel means that it isn’t ideal to ski home from our most famous après venue, The Rond Point, unless you fancy a 15 minute walk back to the chalet. If you are heading back to this area and all you are looking for is a ski in pub/bar to get yourself a nice hot drink to bring your fingertips and your insides back to life then look no further than ‘Le Lac Bleu’. Situated at the bottom of the Lapin run just below the Morel chairlift, this charming hotel also functions as a cosy bar with plenty of board games, books and interesting wall decorations to keep you entertained, whilst thawing out.