Méribel, France

Hi all,

I have returned from a week there 2nd-9th April. We flew to Geneva and
went past the lake at Annecy with people sunbathing and running around in
shorts. It was quite the contrary as we came back with a very low ceiling
and snow falling all around.

The first few days had temperatures around 15-16 degC in the village
(1450m asl) and barely sub zero at the top (3230m asl). this allowed for
slushy pistes at the bottom and firm pistes at the top until about midday.
The best snow was to be found at the top of the Maurienne valley (4th
valley) and also the glaciers in VT, yet these were all very crowded
areas. Furthermore, there seemed to be a sewage problem in Orelle and eggy
smells propagated all the way up to about 2000m, not very pleasant.

The last two days were incredible. It started with precipitation falling
as rain upto about 2200m, this gradually lowering over 24hrs to 1400m,
just beneath Méribel itself. As we left the resort the snow fell all the
way down to Geneva Airport, meaning the freezing level was at least down
to 400m. Apparently, after a telephone conversation this evening with
someone in resort, over 65cm has fallen at the top of Mt. Vallon with more
than 20cm in the village.

The Trois Vallées really impressed me, despite the lack of snow at the
beginning of the week. The natural snow line was around 2200-2400m due to
the heatwave in the preceding weeks. If anyone is going out there in the
coming week then I am very envious !

ATB, Joe