Meribel

In February 2001 we went to Meribel. That is to say, actually we went to Brides les Bains. What's the difference you might ask. Well, for starters, Brides les Bains is "down the mountain" so it's easier to access. On the other hand we had to ride the ski lift for approx. 40 minutes twice a day. That also meant we had to be back in Meribel at a certain time, otherwise the lift wouldn't working anymore. And of course it meant being in line twice a day extra. The good thing about Brides is that prices are lower.

We had a lot of snow, so skiing conditions were good. As Meribel is part of the three valleys, there's a lot of area to ski and for everyone (beginners and more experienced). Funny thing however was that skiing conditions further up the mountain were better than downhill (due to the warm weather), so a lot of the beginners were having more difficulties than they would have had, had they gone higher.

We made some nice trips to Courchevel and Les Menuires (over the mountain into the next valley), but we never made it to Val Thorens because of the strong winds. That was funny because on our side of the mountain there was almost no wind at all. Only once, when we were on top of the mountain there was a very violent wind and we could hardly see a thing. We were literally snow blasted. The results you can see on two of the pictures.

We had some bad luck as well. The second day I found out that my ski was on the verge of breaking in two, so I had to hire a set and on Wednesday (while on the top of the mountain and just out of the lift (luckily not later) Ilke found out that her shoe was broken. She therefore went back with the lift and had to wait for me in Meribel Mottaret. We thought that there wasn't a slope down to Meribel and were looking for ways of getting there, when my eye fell on a green sign (which we hadn't seen before) and yes, it was going into the right direction. So with one shoe broken, Ilke managed to go down (on a very easy slope) to Meribel on ski. She then had to hire new shoes.

Looking back on Meribel we were enthusiastic, although for some reason we liked Flaine more. We'll be going to Flaine and enjoy it fully when there's even enough snow. Hopefully in February 2002.

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