{"id":478,"date":"2014-08-11T11:25:04","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T09:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainpassions.com\/wordpress\/?p=478"},"modified":"2021-10-05T14:59:44","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T12:59:44","slug":"ski-brides-les-bains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mountainpassions.com\/winter\/ski-resort-reviews\/alps\/ski-brides-les-bains\/","title":{"rendered":"Brides-les-Bains"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A<\/span>fter thirty-six hours of blizzard-like conditions, road access to many of the higher Savoyard ski villages is far from straightforward. Not that this need bother us unduly, since getting to Brides-les-Bains<\/strong> involves nothing more arduous than turning off a snow-free main road in Mo\u00fbtiers and following the gentle curves of a sheltered valley. A mere 6km later we\u2019ve arrived. This is too easy; can this really work as a credible ski base? That\u2019s precisely what we\u2019re here to find out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\nGetting to Brides-les-Bains involves nothing more arduous than turning off a snow-free main road in Mo\u00fbtiers and following the gentle curves of a sheltered valley. A mere 6km later we\u2019ve arrived. This is too easy; can this really work as a credible ski base?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\"Lone\n<\/div>\n
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\n\"Meribel
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M\u00e9ribel is renowned for its chalet-style ski village.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n\"Meribel
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There's a safe learner area in the heart of M\u00e9ribel and near the top of the Brides-les-Bains gondola.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Some quality time…<\/h2>\n

All around the snow is still lying deep right down to the valley floor and billowing from the rooftops of the chalets and hotels. Meanwhile the first of another week\u2019s skiers can be seen checking the village boutiques for sale bargains, hiring equipment or making their way up to the Olympe gondola office to buy their lift passes.<\/p>\n

After checking into our hotel and transferring our skis to their lockers we too spend some time looking around and enjoying an extended lunch, during which we contemplate the Trois-Vall\u00e9es piste-map. It\u2019s an impressive sight, as befits the world\u2019s largest linked ski area. Better still, if you ignore the minor detail that Brides lies some way below the other villages, we\u2019re actually located right in the centre of things. At least that\u2019s the theory; tomorrow we\u2019ll see whether it still feels that way when we head up the mountain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Familiar Territory<\/h2>\n

Next morning finds things pretty icy underfoot, but we make it up to the gondola in our ski-boots without mishap and climb aboard. Billed as a scenic journey, it\u2019s certainly that, floating hypnotically above a pristine snowscape and switching cables twice as it passes through intermediate stations at Les Allues and Le Raffort.<\/p>\n

Twenty-five minutes later we emerge in M\u00e9ribel 1450<\/strong>, snap into our skis and gaze at the dazzling array of lifts departing in all directions. So much choice. So, where do we go first? Playing safe, we head for familiar territory aboard the gondola which will haul us up to Saulire, gateway to the neighbouring Courchevel<\/strong> sector. At the exposed summit the views are incredible, and so is the snow depth, judging by the heavy moguling on the steep Combe Saulire, before things flatten out for the wide, immaculately-groomed run into Courchevel 1850. A couple of minutes later we’re at 1550, little more than thirty minutes after arriving in M\u00e9ribel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Having satisfied our curiosity on this point, we back-track to Saulire and spend the rest of the day getting to know the wealth of varied terrain in the M\u00e9ribel sector. In addition to the expected Red-graded steeps we also find some calmer cruising Blues, a combination which should suit everyone. None of this should be news to us, as we first skied in Courchevel many years ago. In those days, however, we\u2019d been timid novices, and now find ourselves wondering why it\u2019s taken us this long to finally ski the slopes in the neighbouring valley, above one of the world\u2019s best-known ski villages. It\u2019s good to be back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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