Make Merry in Meribel. (Meribel)

Member Name: hypno06

Product:	Meribel
Date:	21/06/09 (115 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Something for everyone!

Disadvantages: Getting more expensive.....

My children are into their skiing in a big way, and that includes racing. Sadly, what used to be time spent on family ski holidays is now time spent carting the children to various race venues, or training for such events. We therefore don't get to choose our destinations in the same way as we used to, being governed instead by the race calendar.

At the end of the winter season, the British Champs are held in Meribel, and so for two weeks in April we find ourselves in this resort.....

Meribel, in France, forms part of the Three Valley ski area - an area in the Savoie region of France which includes Courcheval, Val Thorens, Meribel, and the new resort of Orelle.

You can get to Meribel in a number of ways - take a plane as part of a package or a DIY trip with car hire to Geneva or Chambery. Transfer time is a good two or three hours by car. Be warned, if you are taking a package - many tour operators are not including transfers in the price, so you may find that you are charged several hundred euros for a taxi transfer from the airport to resort......

You can drive - it is very simple, I have done it myself.....about nine or ten hours from Calais on easy roads. French main roads have numerous tolls, but to make things easy, and to save finding change, and reaching over to the opposite side of the car to throw money in a bucket, you can get a SANEF automatic device which you put on your windscreen, go through a dedicated tollgate at each toll station, and they simply accumulate your tolls and charge it to your bank account once a month - this doesn't cost more than a few euros as a deposit for the device, and your usual tolls, and makes things a whole lot easier.

You can travel by Eurostar - I have done this too....Going from London to Moutiers on the overnight train, arriving in Moutiers at the bottom of the mountain at about 6am, then getting a bus up the mountain that takes about half an hour or so......dead easy.

And you can get to Meribel by coach - try Ski Meribel, who have fantastic sleeper coaches at very good prices. Ski Meribel can arrange a full package with accommodation etc as well, or you can do what I have done, and just use their coach travel and book your accommodation independently.

So, we have ascertained that Meribel is an easy resort to get to - once there, what are you faced with?

Well, you have a friendly resort, suited for skiers of all abilities, from first timers to racers, and for all people, from families to groups of students.....there really is something for everyone.

The resort is quite spread out - Meribel Village, Meribel Centre, and Motteret being the main areas, all easily accessible by free ski-bus.

There is accommodation to suit all budgets and requirements, from luxury catered chalets, through hotels with spas, to budget self catering apartments. Take your time to look at the accommodation options, and you will quite possibly be pleasantly surprised at what you can get for your euros. My tip would be to move away from the package deal brochures that you get from the main tour operators, and look at www.merinet.com for a huge range of places to stay. If you do stay in a rented apartment, the agencies in the resort are incredibly good at helping you out should you have any queries or issues while you are there.

So, we have got to the resort and found somewhere to stay.......I suppose it is about time I told you about the skiing - after all, that is the reason you are looking at going to Meribel? Well, as well as being a winter ski resort, Meribel caters for the summer market too, so if you want mountain calm, somewhere to walk, bike and see some wonderful scenery, you could do worse than go to the Alps for your summer hols.......

As for skiing, well, Meribel has 150km (about 100 miles) of pistes, with 53 lifts (cable cars and chair lifts - no drags as far as I can recall). There is a good number of blue and red runs covering a vast area, with some gentle green runs into the resort (although these are hard work at the end of the day, late in the season when the slush takes over) and a couple of black runs for those that feel the need to push the limits.

The runs are varied, with some running through the trees, and other wider and more open. It is a resort that is popular with race organisers, so you sometimes find that a red run has been booked for the day by a race team for training. If you see a slalom course set up, don't just assume it is there for the general public, otherwise you may see yourself flattened by someone wanting to be the next Bode Miller......!

There is a stade at the Chaudanne area of Meribel, and a shorter stade in Motteret - these are not only used for the big competitions, but also for the local slalom and giant slalom races that tourists can take part in, and which are run by the ESF (French ski school), so why not give yourself a taste of racing while you are there - get the adrenaline rushing through your veins!

If you are a complete beginner, don't fret - beginners are well catered for. So much so that Meribel gives a free trial day - free kit, free instruction and free access to the slope. Many of the ski hire shops have a sticker in their windows indicating that they take part in this scheme, so why not take advantage and "try before you buy"? If you don't like it, you have lost nothing, and can spend the rest of your week doing other stuff - if you do like it, you can book up lessons for the rest of the week with confidence! I think this is an excellent scheme and something that other resorts could look at doing to encourage those who are not sure whether the white stuff is for them.

If you want to have lessons when you are in Meribel, again there is something for everyone - whether you are are skier or a snowboarder, beginner or on your 20th year of hitting the piste, there is a lesson or a guide out there for you. ESF are, of course, the main providers (go to www.esf-meribel.com for more details) and have always always in my experience been excellent, from ski kindergarten for tiny tots to private tuition in preparation for racers. There are others providers available too, and again I would suggest looking at merinet.com to get an idea. Costs vary according to time of year, length of lesson and numbers in a class.

Of course, you need to get up the mountain before you can come down, so a lift pass is vital. Free for under 5s and over 75s (proof of age needed), lift passes can be an expensive part of any ski trip, so work out what it is you will actually need before you buy. Family lift passes work out much cheaper if you have two adults and two or more children under 18, whereas if you buy single child passes, they count as adults when they are 13.....so you can see there are big savings to be made. Beginners can get a very local lift pass for much less money, but for the majority of people it is a choice between a pass that will allow you to use the Meribel ski area only, or one that will allow you to explore the wider Three Valleys area. The difference can be considerable, again depending on time of year etc, so think about whether you WILL actually get round to going to Courcheval or Val Thorens, or will Meribel give you all the skiing you need this time round.

My tip here would be that you can upgrade for a day if you want to explore further afield one day, and although that won't actually save you any money if you DO go elsewhere, it will save you money if you stay in Meribel after all!

At the end of the day (and if you want to stop for refreshment during the course of the day) you will want to take off your ski boots, and head for somewhere to relax, have a drink or two, have something to eat perhaps, and to soak up the apres ski atmosphere, and I have to say that Meribel does this incredibly well.

Slightly cheaper than the neighbouring Courcheval, Meribel has a good range of bars and restaurants, offering everything from pizza to traditional Savoyard food. You are spoilt for choice, yet are not faced with the "fast food strip" of Val Thorens - no kebab kiosks here. Bars are friendly, often offer free internet access, and quite frequently have resident bands. It is not a 24 hour party place though, so you can still get a decent nights sleep before hitting the slopes the next day. We have stayed right in the resort centre, close to bars and entertainment, and still manged to get enough sleep to get up for racing at 5am.....

What about if you are a non skier? Well, there is again plenty for you to do. Get a pedestrian lift pass that allows you to use all the bubble cars linking the resorts - head over to Courcheval and watch the rich and famous as you drink a very expensive cup of coffee.....visit one of the many spas for a bit of pampering, go snow-shoeing with one of the guides available, swimming, ice-skating, ten pin bowling.....or just watch the world as it whizzes by you, as you sit with another Vin Chaud.....

Meribel have a comedy festival in April - some of the best known comedians come over for it and it is well worth getting tickets for if you are there at that time.

There is a good range of shops, from supermarkets providing everything for the self catering skier, to the most amazing patisserie, gift shops and of course a whole range of ski gear. Generally fairly reasonable prices considering.

All in all, Meribel is an excellent resort......my two negative points would be that late in the season, it gets slushy in the afternoon as you head back into resort. If you want guaranteed all day skiing, look at the higher resort of Val Thorens. Secondly, the prices have increased noticably over recent years, and with the Euro still being fairly strong against the Pound, what would previously have been considered cheap alternatives, are not as cheap as you might expect.

Head over to www.merinet.com where you will find loads of information, including webcams.

www.merinet.com
www.esf-meribel.com

Summary: We'll be back next year!