Join us in Meribel this season

Summer has been monumentally good back here in at the Basecamp head office in London the weather has been amazing and the bookings have been coming in surprisingly early. Even so, it is around about this time every year that we are ready for winter!! Bring it on.

 

Having secured the Basecamp Chalet in Meribel for the next 5 years, Meribel is all set to be a cental fixture for all our ski instructor courses in France for many more years to come. This winter will be our 12th consecutive year running BASI ski instructor courses in France.

Off the back of last year's amazing winter season in Meribel, we have made the call expand the number of ski course places available in Meribel for this coming season. As well as having 14 beds available in Chalet Les Matines, we have also doubled the number of Basecamp  seasonal apartments in Meribel for this coming winter.

We will be saving our exclusive chalet beds for our full season Basecampers. Our apartments up in Morel, are available to those looking for seasonal accommodation in Meribel as well as those keen to do a basecamp course whilst having more of their own space and independence in resort throughout the winter.We are pleased to announce that our apartments have been fully refurbished (they did need it) and like every year, they will fill up super fast so don't leave it too long to book your apartment in Meribel for the season!

“I Love Meribel”

 

In my own view, there really is no-where better to do a ski season. Meribel is in the heart of the 3 Valleys which again is in my view the world's best skiing area. 

 

What makes Meribel so special?

The layout of the town is just what you want, the classic wooden chalet archictecture gives the whole of Meribel a really authenic alpine vibe. Unlike other reaorts in the 3 Valleys there is no sign of ugly apartment blocks, Meribel is without doubt one of Europe's most pictureque ski resorts.

 

One of the best thing about spending a season in Meribel has to be a mix of the amazing ski area all interconnectied by an ever increasingly modern lift system. World class skiing is just so accessible and then there is the apre ski. The all-round vide is Meribel is amazing.

The Basecamp Accommodation in Meribel
The Basecamp chalet is right in centre of Meribel and is exclusively reserved for our full season trainnees. In our view it is not good enough to be based somewhere near Meribel, espically when doing a full season long intensive BASI ski instructor course. We want our trainees to have the convenience of being able to ski right to their door as well as having the luxury of being nice and close to the centre of town. Chalet Les Matines sleeps 14 and offers exactly that. No other Basecamp course (or any other other ski instructor courseon the market) offers ski in ski out chalet accommodation right in the centre of a resort like Merible. 

We also have a range of different sized apartments up in Morel (6 minutes walk from the centre of town) for those wanting to have more of their own space during the season. These are always very popular and sell out super fast to both seasonnaire workers and Basecamp trainnees, as a result we have doubled  our number of basecamp apartments up in Morel for this winter. There should be a fantastic atmosphere up there this winter. 

The Lifts in Meribel…

Over the past few years lots of development and infrastructure has gone into Meribel, an in actual fact, not just Meribel, there have been constant upgrades to the entire lift system across the 3 valleys. These continued developments to the lift systmens have kept the 3 Valleys right out in front, not just in Europe, but on a world stage of headline ski resorts.

New for the 2012/13 season came a number of brand new liifts taking you from the centre of Meribel right to the top in style helping to make the 3 Valley’s vast expanse even more accessible. As it happened,  even with these new lifts in operation, I always seemed to take the chair lift (Plan du Homme) next to the two new bubble lifts as my preferred first lift each day. You can't beat kicking off the day with a refreshing chairlift. It didn't much matter what the weather was doing, we were on that first chair almost every day last season. Howver, if you were on a mission to link up with a friend in the Courcheval Valley, the Solaise Express was definately the way to go.

 

The Apres Ski…

So much is written about Meribel's Apres Ski. Lots of work has also gone into Meribel’s famous apre’s ski venues. La Folie Douce opened in Meribel last winter and was a big hit, no one else knows how to throw a party on the side of a mountain like those guys. We can expect them to go even bigger this winter! Which is the best Folie Douce, Val d'Isere, Val Thoren or Meribel? I have to admit that I do actually prefer the Folie Douce in Val d'Isere. However there is no better way to end a blue bird day in the mountains!!

Then there is the Rond Point, just down from the Folie in Meribel, this place is the seasonnaire apres hangout (helped by the discounted seasonnaire drinks prices). Skiing down the mountain after a session in the Folie followed by one or two in the Ronnie always makes for an interesting last run home. Just as well the basecamp chalet in Meribel is right on the side of the piste. You can literally ski accross the roof of the chalet, round and down and up to the front door.

 

It’s all about the Skiiing!

 

For me, it really doesn't matter how entertaining as the après skiing is in Meribel, it is the actual skiing itself that matters. This is why I like doing seasons in Meribel so much, the skiing is absolutely amazing and because Meribel is at the centre of the 3 Valleys, the world's largest skiing area, there is is absoultely no way you can get bored of skiing here. It is the skiing in Meribel that has kept us going back year after year.

A bit of Basecamp history
 

We first starting running our BASI ski instructor courses in Meribel back in 2002. In the 12 years that have followed, we have been lucky enough to ski and snowboard all over the world. Running exlcusively off the popularity of our original courses in Meribel, we opened ski and snowboard instructor courses in Val d’Isere as well as over in Canada with ski instructor courses in Whistler and Banff. Today we prefer to run our Canadian ski and snowboard programs exclusively in Banff, main reason being that our courses in Banff have a direct route to working for the Lake Louise Ski School. Basecamp ski and and snowboard courses in Banff

However to bring everything full circle, if I had to choose one place to spend a season, (and last winter I did have to do exactly that), I would spend my winter season in Meribel every time. The main reason being that in my view you simply cannot beat skiing in the 3 Valleys, and as we keep banging on about,  Meribel is right at the centre! On piste the runs just go on and on, off-piste is incredible too. In Meribel we are lucky to have some of the regions most experience ski guides on the Basecamp coaching team meaning that the off-piste skiing that we do here is just incredble. Even if it is a 'classic powder day' our instructors know the mountains so well, we always find fresh snow!
 

Now you may think I am solely fixated on Meribel as the only ski season destination, however with so many other operators, as well as advertisers and an agents out there,  not to mention other option right here at Basecamp, I think it is important to wherever possible give a personal view.  

So when it comes to the questions of where I would recommend doing a ski season, whether it be a ski instructor courses, a performance off-piste course or may just seasonal accommodation, I always encourage people to take a good look at Meribel, there really is something for everyone here.

 

Over the next few months, as we make our preparations for what is already looking likely to be our biggest season on record accorss all Basecamp resorts , I will be putting down my views on why I think Meribel is the place to be this winter! I hope you find it useful.

 

I cannot wait to get back out there!
 

Will