Back from Meribel!

Hey guys, got back 2 nights ago from the 3 valleys - we stayed in Meribel, Mottaret - I really liked Mottaret, the highest point in Meribel with a free bus service running from Mottaret down to Meribel and back up every night until 12 midnight!

Great holiday, loved every single day.
Weather? - The first days skiing (Sunday - we arrived on the Saturday) was sunny, clear blue skies - lovely! However, the following days were not so lovely, white-outs with snowfall and high, icey winds. We did have one more day of sunshine in the week - if anything it made us appreciate what a difference it makes to skiing when you can actually see where you're going ;) We had fun nonetheless!

On the second day of skiing, we were reviewing the piste map and noticed in the information area it mentioned '3 Valleys Escapde' So we looked more into it, and for those of you who don't know what this is, it's a 'challenge' that you may take the entire week to complete, but basically you use your ski pass on 15 specific chairlifts spread all over the 3 valleys and then when you complete it, you take your ski pass to the ski pass center to get a diploma and a badge declaring you an expert of the 3 valleys! All 4 of us who went on this holiday complete it. We inteded to do it all in 1 day, we sat the night before planning the most efficient routes to take - this literally took hours, which of course was encouraged with some nice beer time.

So anyway, we planned to complete it in 1 day, but the day we set out to do it - white out conditions! Plan failed, so we got as much of it done as we possibly could and continued the rest of it on the next day. However.. there was one chairlift which was closed most of the week - Masse 2 - The ski pass center knew about this and published our diplomas regardless!

We travelled with Crystal, they had a meeting which we attended and they informed us that for a chaity they help out, they were holding a treasure trail - so we went along to this and what great fun it was! They handed us a sheet of paper with a number of clues such as.. 'How many people can the X chairlift take up per hour' etc.. So you head in that direction and the next clue is on the same route as the last, so they lead to one another. That was great fun, we of course turned it into a race and maxed 53 MPH on one of the routes we had to take to find the next clue according to the GPS we were using! What a laugh it was. We came third (due to us trying to be smart and taking a 'shortcut' on an off-piste area which eventually took us one hour to get through because we got lost and had to hike up a bloody hill!) And our party won a meal for 2 in a little mexican place, so 2 of our party went for the meal and they came back with another box of beer for myself and my friend who didn't go! Good times all round.
Despite their crazy prices some places, which I did read about on here before I left.. I still had an amazing time andwould definetly go back! Infact I wish I was still there!

I do have pictures and a couple of videos, yet to upload them but I will and an update will follow this post :)
I just thought i'd share my experience with you guys!

You sound like you're still buzzing :mrgreen:
Good to hear you had such fun.

A challenged that I always wanted to do, but the weather never played ball for in my 5 seasons in Meribel, was to visit all the 3V villages in one day that are on the lift system, including Brides. You only have a couple of weeks opportunity in a season to get down to Brides, and need the weather to be kind at altitude, and few queues.

Sounds like you had a tremendous time...It's good to hear and I look forward to the photos and vids. :D

Glad you had a good one dude.
3V is just somewhere I really dont get cravings to go to.

What... so you cheated? ;)

We are off to the 3V's - Courchevel 1550, in just under 2 weeks now, and very much looking forward to it. I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves. Coming back is always the hardest bit of the holiday!

Ally

Thanks for all the comments guys, had a really good time over in the 3V :)
Got some pictures here now for you all so take a look!
Some videos yet to follow as I can't be bothered uploading at the moment!

Our first day skiing on the Sunday, perfect weather;


What happens when your friend tries powder skiing and hits a hidden rock;


Europes highest restaurant;


Having a little break;


The weather stayed like this for all but 2 days in the week;


After having skied down from the highest point in the 3V, everything had frozen, jacket was stiff, gloves, couldn't see out of the goggles either;


A little pose from my friend and myself;


Beer & Vodka time;


Never too little time to relax for a bit;


Prized diploma;


along with its badge;


And Pablo.. We never cheated, we knew it was closed but we still went to the chairlift to try and scan our passes!