What with fires burning through chalets seven days ago and temperatures reaching up to 25 degrees yesterday, Meribel has seen a scorcher of a week! Meribel hit the headlines last Saturday as a blaze started up in a chalet in Meribel 1600, just meters from Ski Savvy quarters, at around midnight. It quickly spread to five neighbouring chalets and took over 9 hours to put out, restarting later in the day. Thankfully, and astonishingly, nobody was injured even though the flames spread across the rooftops, where most bedrooms are situated... The cause is unclear but the whole side of the hill looks slightly blacker than a week ago! Fires in the Alps are a rare occurrence; however the warmer and therefore dryer conditions were partly to blame so this was certainly newsworthy...

Temperatures have also soared on the slopes, the change is phenomenal – down to minus fifteen in Meribel last week and up to plus twenty-five this week, the weather can’t seem to decide what it wants to do! Although surprisingly a fair few centimetres are forecast to fall over the week next week with temperatures due to hover around zero, if this happens, it should be just the snow replenishment we need! And with the French children back at school now the slopes are back to their quieter, peaceful selves with few lift queues or snaking ski schools! Happy skiing J

March time and the 3 Valleys are looking very spring-like! Snow is dropping off trees and the sun is shining. Although we still have lots of snow :-) still two meters on the higher slopes and we have lots forecast for the next few days - 6cm tonight itself... Lots of stuff happening this week too, beat-boxing on the piste, comedy nights at Jack's Bar in Meribel and the usual live bands such as Bring Your Sisters, Dominos, Livewire etc playing live at various venues around resort so lots to keep everyone entertained! So for those who like their winter holiday to be a mixture of sunbathing AND skiing now is the time to head out :-) Happy Skiing!

Halfway through the ski season of 2011/12 already! The weeks are zooming past at a very fast rate indeed and temperatures are becoming more spring-like which is good news for the fingers and toes! The snow however is still in great condition in the Meribel/Courchevel valleys with around 10cm having fallen last Wednesday/Thursday to freshen things up and a few specks falling through the clouds today. On the upper slopes the snow depth is still well over 2 meters and a meter on some lower slopes. We at Ski Savvy are looking forward to lots of great skiing along with relaxing in a deckchair in the sun on the piste-side! Check out ski-savvy.com for great March/April deals to the Meribel/Courchevel valleys from under £299 per person J Happy Skiing!

February 2012 Newsletter

Hello J

Another month has gone by and February has arrived, along with tonnes more snow! The snow does not seem to want to stop falling this season – road clearers are out in force doing their jobs around the towns of the Meribel and Courchevel valleys and the piste bashers are doing an excellent job of grooming the pistes making conditions the best in a number of years for skiing and boarding.

Temperatures are well below freezing , even as low as the minus twenties at night so lots of layers are a must! However the sunshine makes up for the chilly temperatures and for some hardy souls sun bathing at lunchtime is still a big part of the ski holiday experience. Such cold weather makes walking inside a bar or lounge at the end of the ski day all the more enjoyable with the promise of a log fire and vin chaud just seconds away!

So where to get your winter holiday while keeping the pockets warm?! Ski Savvy has loads of great cheap ski deals; if you fancy being right in the thick of the action, Les Ravines apartments are in the very heart of Meribel surrounded by shops, bars and restaurants and less than 2 minutes away from access to the slopes. Ski Savvy is offering a week’s stay here from the bargain price of £334 based on four sharing.

For an even cheaper get-away Brides Les Bains is the place to go. Le Grand Chalet apartments are recently refurbished and in the centre of Brides, right next to the casino, Spar shop, cinema and bars and restaurants and only 150m from the gondola up to the slopes of Meribel and Meribel centre. A week in April based on four sharing would be from £286.

For ski-in/ski-out half-board luxury check out Hotel Le Montana in La Tania from £619 or Hotel Le Mottaret in Meribel-Mottaret from £647 based on two sharing in March.

Most holidays are available from Liverpool, London Gatwick, Glasgow and Belfast. Prices are inclusive of a low-cost flight so as their costs rise, so will ours, so don’t delay in booking! Prices also include transfers, accommodation and 24/7 fluent French speaking rep service in resort.

As the season heads out of the winteriest of months and into February and March now is the best time to be booking that spring or Easter break with Ski Savvy so check out www.ski-savvy.com!

We hope to see you all out in France soon,

Best Wishes,

Kirsty and the Ski Savvy Team

Its freeeezing here in the 3 Valleys along with other parts of France, UK and Eastern Europe... As temperatures are regularly reaching the minus twenties, even thirties taking windchill into account, we are looking forward to warmer days as we head into February! Although the cold weather is keeping the snow in tip-top condition – after snow falling every few days recently, the latest about 10cm on Tuesday the powder is staying deep and conditions near perfect, we all just have to remember to layer up on the hill!  

After the MASSIVE snowfall over the weekend, we here in resort were lucky enough to experience some of the best powder skiing of our lives this week! Bosses under the Plan De L'Homme chairlift was an especially good run with a nice tree run and off-pisty bit next to the run! If the snow wasn't good enough, a day's skiing over to Val Thorens showed more powder than we'd experienced in recent times had fallen recently and with it being 1km higher up than Meribel, although the cold was extreme at times, the snow stays fresh for a long time after snowfall. Good ski times! Check out www.ski-savvy.com for your cheap ski holiday deal to the snowy world of the Meribel/Courchevel Valleys!

Meribel is peaceful, the slopes are quiet and after a few weeks of pure blue skies we are expecting quite a few centimetres of snow to fall over the next few days starting this evening giving the pistes a well-deserved freshen up. A visit to Val Thorens yesterday for the day was a nice change - lots of skiing including on a glacier at the top of Le Col chairlift and a drink to end the day at the famous Folie Douce. To come and join the fun in the 3 Valleys, check out www.ski-savvy.com for a cheap ski deal!