Newsflash

It’s snowing in Méribel, hooray. It started just after 3pm, and fingers crossed will continue for a while. The other good news is that the temperatures are dropping. I’m pretty sure it will be possible to switch on the snow cannons soon, especially towards the end of the week when it’s due to get much colder.

I was hoping to tell you about the launch of the new mh2ski website, but sadly the finishing tweaks are taking a little longer than anticipated, it will be worth it though. I’ll keep you posted. During the last week I’ve been really busy with social media. I’ve posted loads of really cool skiing videos on the mh2ski facebook page, see http://www.facebook.com/pages/mh2-Ski/251350448310422. There are plenty of videos clips on there for you, for example a short one about the new mountain restaurant for this winter La Folie Douce, there’s a funny video from the alpine ski stars from Head including Bode Miller and others, there’s an amazing short film all about Méribel. I think you get the gist, do go and have a look, and please feel free to ‘like’ us as well. Likewise I’ve been tweeting loads as well, feel free to follow @mh2ski.

Tomorrow I’ll be going across to Tignes with my mate Slippers. It will be our first time back on skis for this winter. So myself, Slippers and Canon will be heading across together, I’ll do my best to post something in a few days time.

Martin

Méribel Building Site

I arrived back in Méribel only yesterday evening and to say I’m excited would be an understatement. Quite often I’d post about where I stayed overnight half way down through France, before reaching the Alps. I won’t this time, however for the record it was Nuits St. Georges again in Burgundy. The coffee in France is as strong as ever. The wine is very fine. And the smell of diesel all over your hands when refilling your car is also as you would expect, rather repulsive! It’s great being back in France !?! So what have I been up to since reaching Méribel 24 hours ago? Seeing what has changed since I left in the spring.

This afternoon I’d thought I’d get some fresh air, and go for a stroll, a great way of flushing 850 miles of driving out from the system. A quick sprint down to Chaudanne to see how the new Saulire Express bubble is looking. Hhmmm, still a bit of a building site.

The top of the old bubble station has been sliced off, with the replacement looking rather swish. Granted, it’s far from being finished, but looks good all the same. It appears that the access ramp will start from the side of the information hut. After seeing that, I decided to walk up various pistes to see how it looked further up. The bubbles were moving on the cables, which was a good sign. After a couple of hours of huffing and puffing I made it up to the mid station.

Another reason for going this far up was because I was rather intrigued to see what was going on at the site of the tranquil old Choucas mountain restaurant. Yep, all confirmed. It had disappeared into thin mountain air, and replaced by another massive building site. For those who know Méribel, the big news for this winter was for a ‘Folie Douce’ to reach our valley.

If you are not aware of the phenomenon of a ‘Folie Douce’, see  http://www.lafoliedouce.com/meribel/fr  . Or for a slightly more in your face loud experience,  there is a youtube clip to have a look at http://youtu.be/k_RIxqDKTrA. Controversial and will no doubt be popular. However, still a building site at the moment.

Earlier this morning I needed to go back to Mottaret, a long story and happy to talk about it in person over a Mutzig beer. But hey, guess what, it’s a huge building site up there as well. The final landscaping of the new World Cup bumps (moguls) pitch is being finished off. It’s positioned just to the side of the Combes chairlift, to help you visualise.

Another building site up there is right next to the Bumps stade, the new Plattieres bubble.This next photo shows the Combes chairlift on the right, with the Bumps stade in the middle, and the bottom station of the Plattieres bubble on the left.

I was speaking to a local resident yesterday down in the supermarket, who said that there is no mid station now close to the Sitelle. I haven’t yet been up there so can’t confirm that, however that would explain the super fast uplift for this new bubble.

Apologies if you are new to Méribel and this blog, and you haven’t got an utter clue what this post is about. In summary, the valley of Méribel keeps improving with huge and expensive upgrades each year. As the youtube Folie Douce video clip announces, ‘ARE YOU READY?’

Martin 

Bring. It. On.

It’s amazing to think that this time next week I’ll be back on French soil again and on my way to starting European ski season number fifteen. For a start how did it suddenly become season number fifteen? In fact how has the start of winter fifteen suddenly whizzed up so fast since the end of last season? Well it just has, so let’s just leave it at that !?! I could rattle on again about moving house, building up my wedding photography business and other time consuming activities. But basically, the days are getting shorter, the temperatures are dropping, and the high mountain peaks are getting snowed on. You can’t hold back the seasons. 

I hope you’ve all had a fabulous summer and autumn, just like Harriet and I have. It will be great fun catching up on all of your stories over the past few months with you in person, whether it’s on a chairlift, having a hot chocolate in a mountain restaurant, or even a cheeky drink in a Méribel bar. Normally at this stage of the autumn I’ve posted a few articles in the build up to the next winter. Apologies for not this year, so how about I display a bumper number of my favourite photos that Canon and I took from last winter to get you in the mood. What an amazing winter it was last year, and let us look forward to the next few months of fun in the mountains.

Live with passion everyone.

Martin

P.S. I know I’ve promised some exciting news recently, I haven’t forgotten and promise to tell you as soon as I get the official nod. I’ll keep you posted.

Owl fest

I recently treated myself and Canon to a day of shooting Owls. It took place just a few days after my final wedding of the summer/autumn. Some regular readers may remember that I dibble and dabble a little bit shooting alpine wildlife at the end of each ski season before heading back to British shores.

I’ve always had fun with this, but had wanted to raise my skill level much higher. I’m a firm believer that if people are coached and empowered enough then we can all succeed further. With that in mind, I sourced a workshop that really would do just that. Meet the one and only, multi award winning Wildlife Photographer, West Ham supporter, all round entertainer and Canon shooter Mr Andy Rouse.

I’ve been following Andy Rouse now for many years, bought some of his books, followed his fantastic blog (see http://www.andyrouse.co.uk/?link=blog ), and attended one of his talks about five years ago. So to be able to meet him, talk to him and be coached by him was a fantastic experience.

We all met up at the British Wildlife Centre in Surrey to attend his one day workshop, all about photographing Owls in portrait and flight. Tawny and Barn Owls were used for both portrait and flight shots, with Long and Short Eared Owls for portrait only.

It was fascinating to hear Andy talk about his previous adventures, his latest projects and various technical and equipment related topics. It was also fun being in the company with like minded photographers. Andy’s style of teaching was very informative, relaxed and understanding and he kept the technical side of shooting away from being rocket science.

The staff at the British Wildlife Centre were all helpful and passionate. For the record, all of these Owls that we photographed were captive birds. Plus none of them were harmed or stressed in any way. By the way,I wouldn’t want any of my muesli-eating, hairy-armpitted, folk dancing, tree- and animal-hugging readers to get all righteous and flustered.

I had a great time and learnt loads, even though I officially suck at shooting Owls in flight. They fly so fast and quietly, it’s very difficult. Here are a few more images I took during that day.

It’s funny to think that in two weeks time I’ll be back in Méribel for the start of another winter. I’ll post again soon, this time I might even talk about skiing. Plus, very soon I’ve got some very exciting news to announce. Live with passion everyone.

Martin