Meribel Snow Report: 20th December 2013

Snow conditions have been good this week, despite the relatively low snow cover. The groomed runs are mostly in excellent shape though you have to keep an eye open for stones and some of the lower runs get a bit hard towards the end of the day. There is enough snow to get us through the holiday period, and with the fresh snow forecast to arrive, the piste conditions should stay good.

As I’m sure you know, Méribel is blessed with excellent ski schools, all of which offer tuition in English. I believe you should never stop learning, so this week I’ve been making the most of the quiet pre-Christmas period to learn some new skills.

First, ski lessons. Many people believe once they’ve learned to ski, they can quit ski school forever. To my mind, the people who have the most fun on the mountain are the ones who can do it best – and their mogul-hopping, powder swooshing, extreme carving skills didn’t come without plenty of coaching. Getting stuck on a skiers’ plateau is deeply annoying, so I’ve been spending this week fine tuning my skiing techniques with small, specialist school Ski Marmalade.

Ski school director Derek has given us all sorts of new and fun stuff to try: turning on the ‘wrong’ ski, whitepass turns, full-on carving and, most revealingly, watching ourselves on film. Tuition is a fantastic way to start a holiday or a ski season. Not only do you have the pleasure of seeing improvement, but you also learn new ideas and techniques to play around with throughout your time on the snow, making even dull runs more interesting.

Second, I was fortunate to join some off-piste avalanche training with Parallel Lines ski school.

Led by instructor and BASI mountain safety trainer Neil Milne, this was a fascinating (and potentially life-saving) session on off-piste safety. Everybody knows you shouldn’t venture off-piste without an avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe, but did you know that your transceiver requires regular software upgrades and servicing? I must admit I didn’t.

Neil made the point there is no use in having all the correct safety equipment if you, and the people with you, don’t know how to use it properly. Now this may seem blindingly obvious but I know an awful lot of people who own the kit and have never once practised using it.

We discussed the ways of informing yourself on avalanche danger before you set out: use your ears (have the avalanche guns been firing); your eyes (what aspect slopes have already slipped?) and where to consult the local detailed avalanche bulletin.

We then went off-piste in the Cote Brune area and learned to look for risk signs; discussed the best type of shovel (metal, not plastic) and where to stop off-piste in safety (the bottom of the slope beyond the run-off zone).

Neil also warned us this low snow start to the winter is likely to lead greater risk of off-piste avalanches throughout the season due to non-cohesive layer in the snow pack.

If you ski or board off-piste it is well worth doing this sort of training. Most ski schools, including Parallel Lines, can provide group or private training. Contact them for details.

Finally, what is the snow like off-piste? Well, having played ‘dodge the boulders’ under the Cote Brune chairlife, I can confirm we need a good dump of snow before the off-piste becomes practicable. If you want to be the first to know when snow is falling, do sign up for our free Dump Alert.