Meribel Snow Report: 17th March 2015

“What’s the snow like?” I’m often asked. “Is it any good?” That’s not such an easy question to answer because opinion on conditions is very subjective. I personally love a bit of soft, sludgy snow and hate hardpack. However, the World Cup racers currently training on Méribel’s Roc de Fer piste love seriously hard snow (and teams of volunteers are hosing the competition piste with water or sprinkling it with salt to make sure it stays as hard as possible). A chacun son goût.

Snow conditions on the (non-World Cup) slopes are generally quite spring-like. The snow is a bit tough on the lower and sunnier pistes, especially after a cold night, but conditions are pretty good everywhere else. As you’d expect at this time of year, the snow turns a bit slushy on warm afternoons. The past few days have been cooler and cloudier than last week and the snow has been better as a result. We’ve enjoyed some especially lovely skiing on nicely softened snow around the middle of the day on the higher slopes.

The best advice for this time of year is to stay high and north-facing, or follow the sun around the valley. And consider taking a lift back down at the end of a sunny day if your legs are tired and you don’t want to tackle the sludgy stuff.

I’m pleased the slopes are noticeably quieter than last week, when they were almost as busy as the French holidays. The week following the French holidays is very popular so the slopes are often quite crowded. If you want to plan your holiday next year, note the French half term runs from 6 February to 6 March 2016.

Méribel has been transformed this week by the arrival of the World Cup ‘circus’. The Chaudanne is unrecognisable, hosting a whole village of tents and grandstands, and it has been packed with spectators watching the morning training sessions. We enjoyed watching the downhill training today, marvelling at the speeds which the racers devoured the Roc de Fer course (about 1½ minutes, if you want to know) and oohing and ahhhing at the occasional high speed crash into the safety netting.

Merinet’s own racer and writer, Cara Brown, has been honoured by being chosen to be a forerunner for the competition. She’ll be writing this week in our news section about what it’s like to race down the course and be part of this amazing event. And you can follow her tweets here…

For spectators, the best places to watch are alongside the course just below the Gelinotte tunnel or at the Chaudanne where you can follow the whole race on giant screens and listen to the bilingual commentary.

Thank you to the people who have said they enjoy the occasional restaurant recommendation in this report (which, by the way, are based my own opinion and have nothing to do with whether the restaurant advertises on this site or not). Today we stopped off at Les Crêtes in Méribel, which lies on the blue run of the same name. This little restaurant has been run by local character Jojo for years. The setting and the food are traditional and authentically Savoyard. The dishes are all local, copious and generally meat based. It’s not for vegetarians or finicky eaters but perfect if you want something hearty and rib-sticking. The restaurant doesn’t take credit cards, so bring enough cash. Bon appetit!

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Read more 3 Valleys Snow Reports from Val Thorens.