Val Thorens Snow Report: 26th November 2013

In contrast with the previous two years, when virtually no snow fell in November, this year we have oodles, heaps and tons of the stuff. At the top of Saulire, there is already over 1m of snow and the whole valley is white as far down as Les Allues at 1100m.

Val Thorens opened up on the 23rd of November, whilst Méribel and Courchevel don’t officially open until 7th December. However, the snow is so good that Courchevel decided to open the Saulire lifts for a couple of days last weekend – for free. So many people turned up that the queues were enormous, but everybody agreed that the skiing conditions were utterly fantastic.

Why was your snow reporter not on the Saulire enjoying this pre-season bonus? Sadly, I’ve been away from the resort and have been reduced to enviously drooling over the webcams feeling an intense desire to be back in Méribel and on my skis. I now know how you must feel.

Friends in Méribel say the village looks like ‘a proper ski resort’ already, with snow lying on the ground and in the trees, snow cannons running and avalanches being blasted. Many of the pistes are groomed and ready to go.

I will be back in resort in the first week of December with a video and written snow report and lots of pictures of the lovely white stuff. Until then, do keep watching the webcams and why not think about booking that premieres neiges holiday? This is definitely the year to sneak in a little extra pre-Christmas break.