 Poster: A snowHead
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In response to Chris Bish on another forum...and in thansk to everyone who offered advice before i left on my holiday!
Mottaret last week was absolutely fantastic!
Beautiful blue skies, not a breath of wind. It was boiling, beautful ski weather! (we went skiing in just shorts for one run in the evening, to many looks of disgust/amusement...probably at my slightly portly belly!)
By some freak of chemistry the snow seemed to hold up very well in the warm conditions, and the green down to Meribel seemed to hold up very well, thanked by some excellent piste bashing in the evenings (too warm in the day i reckon!). It was awesome to look at the piste bashers in action at night, lighting up the mountains with their headlights, what an awesome job!)
Ive never been to the 3V before, and i was very impressed. The queuing was typically 'European' but not too bad, and all of the locals were pleasant and very polite. In fact the most arrogant people i met were the British, and especially one of the 'friends' whom i went with who was a complete idiot the whole time (i wont be skiing with him again!)
Airtours were very good, superb apartment right on the slope (Hameau du Mottaret apartments), and very very cheap deal (£170 for the week).
I was blown away by the ski terrain, and through the Meribel valley was surprisingly picturesque for a ski resort!
Val Throens was way to busy, and Les Menuires was a horrid place (tho i was having one of my 'blip' days, and spend most of the time falling over anyway, skis crossing and allsorts).
On the other hand, Courchevel was great, and thanks for the tips on skiing that Chapalets run right at the far end of the valley, lovely!
The place was very quiet, even with the high snow level (les allues was horribly green when we drove through it on the coach), and the longest queue time was no more than 5 mins
My fav runs were:
1. Venturon (from the Cote Brune chairlift....final run of the holiday, loved it!)
2. Combe Sailure (the widest piste ever surely!)
3. Come Vallon (sweet, the first real feeling of carving, nice and quiet!)
4. Combe Roc Mugnier (speed!)
5. Grand Duc (blue run from top of Olympic Chairlift in Meribel, not a soul there and beautiful skiing on fresh powder!)
Worst runs
Aigle - back to resort at end of day, horrid when its all cut up, took the Pas du Lac down by end of week to avoid it!
Rama - as above, not the biggest mogul/slush fan ever!
Best moment - Getting 'the' feeling coming down Venturon on the final day, and getting straight back on the chairlift to do it again! (and then again to do Lac de la Chambre, got the 3rd to last chair up of the day!), then ski hugging my girlfriend all the way down the flat piste to Mottaret, enjoying the final views of the holiday, lovely!
Worst moment - my idiot 'friend' calling the owners of a pizza place a bunch of w****rs cos they closed 5 mins early, trying to get in a fight. All i could think of was that it could be in the next episode of Sky One's 'Brits on the Piste' (what an idiot, i was ashamed to be British)
All in all, superb, in worryingly warm conditions, im already looking forward to next years holiday, wherever that may be!
Thanks to everyone for your piste suggestions and general good advice!
Mottaret rocks, and is surely the best location in the 3V for ski convenience, want to be back there now 
oh well, Castleford here we come!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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That's a fine report tomski01!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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A very good report, pity we can't archive such reports under resort names and be able to bring them up when required. Yes the official ski guides reports are useful but it is is hard to beat an on the spot report fresh off the press.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks tomski01, I was at Mottaret for Feb half term and will be there again next year. Vallon -fantastic! I can guess that Aigle would get busy and slushy late on. For all=round ski excellence can you beat it? And what about those high reds like Mouflon? Love the place.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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This report has brought back happy memories of my holiday in Meribel last year. Will definitely return.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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tomski01 , hmmm, not sure about boiling hot being perfect ski weather, call me a freak but I actually prefer it to be cold and snowy!! 
Have to agree with your assessment of the 3 vallees though (we stayed in meribel). I wasn't expecting much - I'm not a big motorway piste fan, but we managed to time the trip about perfectly towards the end of January and the snow was perfect (heavy snow and deep powder for the first few days, then blue skies), the area was huge and varied, and the food/drink/service was good and friendly a(if rather expensive - but kind of expected that).
A bit late for this year, but there are some good touring maps on the official meribel site; an easy 3-vallees one if you want to ski all the valleys in a day but are not feeling to adventurous (greens and blues), or a harder one if you fancy more of a challenge (reds and blacks).
The day we did the hard one we faffed about around val thorens and meribel (had too much fun there!), so ended up having to do the corchevel section in under an hour to get it in before the lifts shut - not many turns were made there, and many beers required afterwards to celebrate the feat!! 
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tomski01, Nice report... Good choice going to Mottaret - getting back to Meribel village can be a pain late season ( that last flat bit of the green by the road, in sticky conditions.... just about do-able with waxed skis and a bit of speed, but if you've got to wait for kids, SNM.)
If you're a powder hound though, the week you were there wasn't the best!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Go back! There are still plenty of places you haven't even seen, never mind skied!
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