Coeur Blanc Challenge

How many lifts would the average skier use in a single day?


I guess it depends on the standard of skier, what time they start and finish, how many drinks stops and how long a lunch was had. Maybe the count would be between ten and fifteen lifts.


How about taking part in the Coeur Blanc Challenge in March, where the task is to use all FIFTY THREE of the lifts in the Méribel valley on the same day? It's the equivalent of skiing a descent of 15,000 metres, just short of two Mount Everests! Is it possible, yes if the weather and conditions are favourable, but only just if attempted non-stop. Would you like to take part in this exhausting charity event?


The Coeur Blanc Challenge was dreamt up and organised by Méribel regulars Rory and Pierre. The previous challenge two years ago raised £180,000 for a Leukaemia charity. The 2010 Coeur Blanc will raise funds to create a National Melanoma Information System.


Two years ago I was invited to guide a team of four overseas visitors who travelled specifically for the event. Brett and Guy came over from Australia, with Paul and Jack coming from America. It wasn't until after I'd happily accepted the invitation from Rory, that I was told Jack had for several years competed. 'Competed at what?' I asked. He was a member of the American World Cup team, touring the world on the FIS circuit, and had competed in a Winter Olympics. Rory continued to tell me with a smile, that Jack was the last American to beat the Italian skiing legend Alberto Tomba. Enough of the name dropping, sorry. We all had an amazing day, especially me listening to Australian and American accents and banter. I loved sharing the chairlifts with Jack, asking him about his experiences years ago and hearing about his continued passion for skiing. And yes, he could still ski rather well and very fast!?!

This year's event takes part on Saturday March 13th and is being fully supported by the Tourist Office and the Piste authorities. Please have a quick look at http://www.coeurblanc.eu/ for further details. This week I've taught several different sets of people, including Gerda and Natalia from Moscow who were in resort celebrating the Russian Orthodox Christmas.


During my first lesson with them we skied across to Courchevel and looked at the basics of skiing. They were both able to ski down blues and some reds, but didn't quite realise how they were able to do this, and more importantly what they should be doing. I soon noticed that metaphors worked well, so I got them to start thinking about spiders, South African wine and winning Russian lotto tickets !?!

I don't have much work at the moment for this week. So it's a great opportunity to start plotting and testing the route for this years Coeur Blanc Challenge, but not all in the same day. Enjoy the snow in the UK.

Martin

P.S. Competition time again. Can any of you regular visitors to Méribel name the lifts photographed. Be careful though, there's a couple of curve balls. One of the lifts is on the Courchevel/Méribel border, visible from the Creux piste!