Could the snow arrive towards the end of the week? The ensembles are still showing good possibility of snow from Friday, Méteo France and other sources seem to agree. We expect the resorts to confirm over the next couple of days whether they will open this weekend, and we are hearing rumours that Les Menuires have delayed opening to 10th December. We will try to get confirmation…..
Courchevel are doing everything possible to ensure that they are able to open on 3rd December, as planned. Priority for snow making is in the Verdons-Saulire sector, the slalom course for the World Cup, and the beginners areas. The snow canons will operate whenever the temperature permits.
Source: Le Dauphiné Libéré
During the ski season, Méribel hosts a giant slalom race every Thursday evening at the Stade de Corbey, La Chaudanne. The race is open to all, and admission is free. It generally includes all standards, from intermediate holiday makers to local kids from the race teams. To participate, you will need to register for the “Coupe de Méribel” at the tourist ofiice before Wednesday afternoon. Then simply turn up at the stade on Thursday before 6pm, find your start number on the list, grab your bib, and go for glory.
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While Méteo France have been forecasting snow from next week, there is no feeling of any imminent change at the moment. Today’s wigglies are looking less promising than they were a few days ago, but of course these will remain very changeable further than a few days out.
Snow canons were operating in Mottaret today, and Val Thorens is now open, but skiing is almost exclusively on artifical snow. We are holding our collective breaths!
The Delancy British Apline Championships will again be held in Méribel this season. The senior races take place from 25th March to 2nd April, and the Children’s from 3rd to 6th April.
Serre Chevalier has decided to bring forward its opening date from 10th December to 3rd December. In the Monêtier-les-Bains area, snow conditions are sufficient to open the Bachas, Cibouit, Eychauda and Yret lifts. The resort is reporting 30cm of snow at 2000m and 100cm at the summit.
Source: Le Dauphiné Libéré
Work on the first stage of Méribel’s new Saulire gondola is being finalised. The top section of the new Saulire Express will be ready for December 2011 and
the lower section will be installed next summer. When completed, this
fast 8-man gondola will cut travel time from the resort to the Saulire from
over 20 minutes to 12 minutes.
The new lift will arrive at the same point as the Courchevel Saulire cable car, at the top of the Couloir Tournier. The slightly higher arrival point will also give
Méribel skiers access to the Grand Couloir black run and the off-piste Saulire
couloirs. For this winter, skiers from Méribel will take the old Saulire 1 lift
to the midstation, then descend a couple of hundred metres to the new Saulire
Express 2 midstation to continue their journey to the summit.
Every Wednesday evening, from 21st December until 7th March, the Family Park on the floodlit Verdons piste will be open for skiing back to Courchevel 1850, accompanied by music.
Well, Val Thorens opened today, and we (half) expect Méribel and Courchevel to open in nine days time. But the season is starting where last season left off. ValTho webcams show a handful of skiers braving the bright sunshine, and thin, artificial snow cover. The canons elsewhere have produced dotted threads of snow on a few runs, ready to be coaxed into shape in 10 days time.
This picture shows the Saulire, taken in mid-April this year. Sadly, current conditions are not looking this good today. The 2010/11 season started well; a good dump of snow in October (shin-deep skiing on Truit, between Mottaret and Méribel) was following by a long, cold spell. Opening weekend was bitterly cold, but with very good snow. However, there were no significant snowfalls after Christmas, and the season was effectively coming to end end by late March. The only reason it lasted this long, was due to very cold temperatures in January and February.
Amongst locals, talk is of a severe winter. Village elders have been predicting a good season since the summer, with tales of genepi plants being taller than average and various other portents, but we have seen no sign of significant snowfall yet, and the temperatures remain unseasonably warm.
The good news is that Méteo France are predicting heavy snowfalls next week, with a cold front heading across the Atlantic from Canada, and other forecasts and weather prediction models that we’ve seen tend to agree.