Here we are, half way through the season already and we can't quite believe it. The last 9 weeks have seen us welcome, host and bid bon voyage to many guests, dig the minibus out countless times, board some of the best snow in years both on and off the piste and give skiing a go.

To give you more of a flavour, the guests we have looked after this season have hailed from a wide variety of countries, not just the UK and have included skiers and snowboarders from Sweden, Germany, Iran, Israel, France, Canada, Russia (and even Wales!) We have had all age groups too with our youngest visitor only 6 months old. Whilst it's fair to say she didn't see too much action on the snow another young guest at one and a half loved sliding down the slope on her Daddy's snowboard at the Chaudanne. Some of our guests had such a good time in early January they are returning to us in March to hit the slopes again. Partly we think to take advantage of the amazing snow conditions but maybe it's the lure of the infamous Alpine Ethos chocolate fondant.

If you have seen the reports you'll know that Europe is experiencing one of the best seasons snow-wise in many years with 230cm on the higher slopes and 150cm on the lower slopes. To give you a better idea by Christmas we had had more snow than in the whole of last season and it's kept on falling! In the last few days a cold snap has hit Europe with temperatures this morning at -19 degrees centigrade in Les Allues village. This is extreme but the best thing about it is that the snow has retained a lovely soft fluffy quality and is virtually ice-free! So it's merino and multiple layers all the way, mittens and buffs and plenty of vin chaud!

If you have been following us on Facebook or Twitter you will have heard (and seen the evidence) that we learned to ski last week. With 18 or so years of snowboarding between us we thought it about time to see what all the fuss was about and these are the things we discovered:

The boots: They really aren't as uncomfortable as everyone says they are although we will concede they aren't the easiest things to walk in but hey, who's walking?

Ski-lifts: Everyone knows this but they really are an easier prospect on two planks

Turning on skis it's a bit like riding a bike: Pressure on one leg and off the other, then to turn the other way pressure on the other leg

Skiing = unnatural? You have to force your body to ignore its basic instinct and lean on your downwards leg i.e. down the mountain. Whilst the same applies when snowboarding we still had to fight with our heads to make our bodies do as they were told

And so that was that, we'd made it down the mountain from the top to the bottom on two planks carrying two sticks (sorry, poles - we're still not quite sure what they're for) and all was well. A quick thank you to Marmalade Ski School for the lessons and Slide Candy for the loan of the skis. Whilst we're not complete converts we are keen to improve and will be seen sporting skis on the slopes again soon.

If you haven't booked your ski holiday this season we have our 2 chalet apartments available the week commencing 26th February and again the week commencing 11th March. Get in touch, we look forward to hearing from you.

Well, the snow arrived on 5th December turning the whole resort from grey and brown to white in an epic 48 hour dump. We measured 16 inches of the stuff (that's 40cm in new money) on the picnic bench at Alpine Ethos HQ. Excitement levels were high as the resort confirmed its opening day as 10th December. Saturday came, the sun was shining and the snow was deep we had a great day cruising the slopes (and off-piste) of Meribel and St. Martin. Conditions were excellent from the mid-stations upwards with plenty of fresh tracks to be had in un-pisted areas. It's fair to say things were a little more icy below the mid-stations but it was still very skiable right down to the Chaudanne.

This morning the snow-gods are providing once more with heavy snow for a good couple of hours this morning and intermittent snow showers in the forecast for this afternoon. Looking at the 6 day forecast there is more to come with over half a metre on its way by Saturday.

All of this snow is generating much excitement and anticipation but there are a few bits of advice we thought we'd share if you're coming out on holiday for Christmas or New Year...

Snow chains - Although the main roads are generally kept clear you should always have snow chains in your vehicle whilst driving up the mountain roads, you never know what conditions you may find and heavy snow can lead to loss of traction very easily.

Insurance - Do ensure you have winter sports insurance that will cover getting you transported off the mountain should you have an accident. If you don't have this it is available to buy with you lift pass. Brits, carry your EHIC card with you too.

Warm clothing - layers are best for trapping warmth and can be easily removed if you get too hot

That's it for now, here's to a great start to the season...see you on the slopes!!!

It has reached that time of year again with the winter season fast approaching when snowfall is at the forefront of every skier and snowboarder's mind. Conversation in resort currently varies between "it's too early to tell" to "it's going to be epic" to "it can't be any worse than last season!"

Long range weather forecasts seem to predict that it will be another "La Nina" season although La Nina's presence won't have such a strong effect as it did last season. The forecast is therefore slightly warmer than average season here in the French Alps but wetter meaning better snow conditions than last season. But what does that mean in reality?

Well, based on last winter here in Meribel, like elsewhere in the French Alps; we had good early snow which resulted in an awesome powdery opening weekend on 4/5th December. It snowed on and off throughout December with snow falling on Christmas day (awww). The clouds then disappeared until around 13th January when a sharp significant dump freshened things up and allowed for some off-piste action. What followed was five and half weeks of cold with glorious sunshine which made for some very enjoyable skiing....no complaints here!

Panic set in a little with thoughts of February half-term guests arriving to fairly worn pistes and no fresh snow but the snow gods knew what they needed to do and delivered that Saturday night - hallelujah! This really was a blessing since the pistes would have suffered from the stampedes of UK and European school holiday-makers.

In March we started to receive emails from guests asking about the snow conditions since the ski news in the UK was dominated by the lack of snowfall in the Alps. We reassured them that all was well which of course it was. The early snowfall, the well timed dumps in January and February and the cold conditions meant that 95% of pistes were still open for business.

Although season 2010-11 was one of the poorest for snowfall the snow lasted well into mid-April thanks to a combination of the extensive network of snow cannons Meribel and the Three Valleys have invested in over previous years and some clever grooming by the piste teams who pulled snow from everywhere to keep the pistes open and in great condition.

So the moral of this blog is don't worry too much about the snow. It will come and if there isn't as much of it as we'd like there are ways and means ensuring that Meribel will be open for business and ready to give you a great ski holiday whenever you come this season. Bring it on!

After a 6 week end-of-winter-season-break (yes, long we know!) seeing friends and family in the UK we returned to Meribel to find that spring had sprung and summer was on its way. The trees were in full leaf, the meadows green and filled with alpine flowers and there was plenty of work going on to ready the resort for summer holiday-makers. For us, this is our first summer living and working in Meribel and we've been doing our utmost to make the most of all there is to see and do out here.

The most exciting prospect for us was hitting the trails on our new full suspension mountain bikes and unable to wait until the lifts opened at the start of July, we did just that cycling the trails above and around Les Allues. This was a good start which allowed us to get used to our bikes and get a flavour of things to come. The first weekend of July marked the opening of the lifts and we joined hundreds of other mountain-bikers as we took part in the "Rando-bike des Trois Vallees" an organised event with an 80km circuit marked out across the whole 3 Valleys ski area. Ok, we didn't complete the circuit but we had a fantastic day discovering the trails in Meribel, Courchevel and La Tania with a bunch of mates.

The biking didn't stop there and we've been out on numerous rides with various people discovering new trails as well as repeating and perfecting our favourite runs.

On 20th July our first guests of the summer arrived, two very keen mountain-bikers who'd flown over with their own bikes for 4 days of intensive trail riding and Alpine Ethos hospitality. This marked the start of a busy couple of weeks as guests came and went. After this we were delighted to welcome Megan (who will be our chalet host this coming winter) and her parents to Chalet St Joseph for a taste of what's to come this winter and it's fair to say we didn't put Megan off!!! We've also hosted the Clarke family (great photos, thanks Brian) and have another group of keen bikers in this week who were on their bikes within an hour of arriving at the chalet!

Aside from the biking and our guests, there have been plenty of other things going on in Meribel and the local area to keep us busy. These include the French mountain-bike championships (3 days of competition in 4-cross, downhill, cross-country and trial biking), the world cup of the summer ski jumping in Le Praz, Bastille day fireworks, the Fete a Fanfoue (a big celebration in Les Allues of local customs and traditions) and much more besides. On top of all of this we've been busy walking up the hills with our dog, Benny and putting together our new look website which is where you're reading this now. We hope you like it and are tempted by our snapshot account of the summer in the French Alps to come and see for yourself!

Heather & Andy

Andy and I have been back in Meribel now for 3 weeks during which time we've caught up with friends, made some new ones, walked many kms with the dog on both sides of the Meribel valley and done a spot of mountain-biking too.

Our mountain biking efforts have all been in preparation for the opening of the ski lifts this weekend. The lifts give access to countless mtb opportunities on singletrack, doubletrack, man-built routes and natural wooded trails across the whole of the 3 valleys ski area.

To celebrate the start of summer 2011 there were 2 mountain-bike events (labelled the 3VTT) to showcase the best the 3 Valleys have to offer. Saturday saw 150 competitors launch themselves down a trail from the top of the Saulire (at 2,600m altitude) to Brides-Les-Bains (at 600m) - a 2,000m descent across a 20km route. The sun blazed and the riders flew down the marshalled route, the fastest time recorded being 27 minutes and 4 seconds! We chose to spectate rather than participate this year, saving ourselves for Sunday's challenge.

On Sunday the whole of the 3 valleys was open for business with an 80km marshalled ‘Rando tour' route that allows participants to take in all 3 valleys in one day. Participants can set off from any resort on the route. Our day started with 5 of our keen mountain-biking buddies at 9am at the Tougnete lift station in Meribel. From there we went up to the mid-station of the lift and warmed up with a run down to Mottaret to take the Pas Du Lac lift right to the top of the Saulire. We then proceeded to follow the Courchevel loop which begins with a fairly steep and technical section down the side of the Creux ski piste (a red run). Singletrack turned into slide-tastic stony doubletrack before entering the woods for some rocky and rooty runs. We hit Courchevel 1650 for some elevenses at one of the refuelling stations - bread, ham, cheese, dried fruit, water, wine (this is France!) and coca-cola all available for participants.

We headed off again, re-energised and refreshed on target for Le Praz 1300 and then a bit of a climb up to La Tania (1400) where we could refuel again and take a lift up to begin the next section. At one point we biked through a herd of grass-munching cows who didn't seem perturbed by us helmet-clad mountain-bikers charging through their pasture. Our team's next stop was Meribel where some essential bike maintenance took place. At this point Andy and I nipped back through Meribel village to Les Allues to let our dogs out for a call of nature before rejoining our team and heading back up the Tougnete lift (this time to the top) to continue our trek. From vantage points on the lifts we'd noticed some trails off the official 80km route and couldn't resist deviating to take in the Lac Tueda, the Ours ski run and then the singletrack down the Saulire. This run formed part of the Freebike route from the day before. We weren't disappointed with our choice. Although we didn't get across to the St. Martin valley we had a brilliant last couple of hours taking in our chosen routes, the Saulire singletrack providing one of the many highlights of the day.

We finished at the Taverne pub in the centre of Meribel at 5.30pm with a long-lusted after pint, inspected our dusty, slightly battered arms and legs and reflected on the excellent day we'd all had. If there was one thing we learned yesterday it was that the 3 valleys has a huge amount to offer any keen mountain-biker: lifts to take the strain out of the up-hill, countless trails and routes that include technical sections, singletrack, doubletrack, woods, open ground, streams, lakes, stunning scenery and of course some decent bars to compare notes with like-minded people.

Now the lifts are open 6 days a week until the end of August so the 3 Valleys is our oyster for the next 8 weeks....bring it on!

To find out more about mountain-biking in the 3 valleys check out the 3 valleys website and of course for accommodation and more click through to our summer page