Meribel Snow Report: 7th January 2012

Les Allues was without power for half a day; the top lifts all closed; some lifts were damaged by the violence of the storm and others froze solid. The road to Mottaret even had to be closed for a couple of hours while avalanche blasting took place - something which happens very infrequently in our valley.*

I’m not sure what the wind speed was as our Tougnète wind gauge stopped working (perhaps it blew away entirely). Two days later we are still digging out buried cars, paths and roads in the resort. The avalanche risk rose to maximum yesterday (5/5) and today the top Saulire lifts still haven’t reopened because so much avalanche blasting work is required.

However, it’s an ill wind that blows no good (quite literally). Andrea did bring us yet more snow, around 80cm in places, according to the lift company, and we now have a wonderful 265cm on the summits. An instructor-friend of mine, Mike Harrison, commented: “Even if it doesn’t snow again, we’ve enough snow to last us until the end of the season.” After last winter’s lack of snow, this is a deeply comforting thought.

Today the lower lifts opened more or less on time though the top lifts were delayed. We managed to get out during a brief window of fine weather before snow started falling again, and found fabulous snow everywhere. All the runs had excellent, squeaky snow, including the famously icy Martre run into Mottaret. I’ve never skied that run with so much pleasure before.

The wind has whipped the snow off-piste into amazing drifts, gullies, cornices, waves and rollers: pretty to look at but treacherous to skiers. The avalanche risk is still at high 4/5. More than ever, going off-piste should be undertaken only in the company of a professional.

The pistes were not groomed to their usual state of perfection today, with occasional ridges to catch the unwary. It seems almost churlish to mention this, as the lift companies have done a heroic job of getting pistes open at all and deserve our thanks. No doubt the slopes will be back to their usual bowling-green standard of smoothness very soon.

The ski area is now wonderfully quiet and there were no lift queues this morning, even with lots of lifts closed. This is my favourite period of the season by far. January has so many advantages: quiet slopes, fantastic snow, last-minute deals. If you ski in January, you just have to accept there may be some wintry weather.

* This storm has made me grateful that I don’t live in Val d’Isère. Val suffered a lockdown (curfew) in and the access road was closed entirely. Val’s residents are forever boasting about their superior snow. What they forget to mention is that they are also much more affected by winds and prone to avalanches - after a storm you may be confined to your chalet, sometimes for days. The reporter from our sister website for Val d'Isere, writes that getting around resort was a “nightmare” and conditions in Tignes were “hairy” with winds in the resort reaching 100km/hr.