Last week I skied with The Joneses, and then later I spent time with The Tilsons and their various other group members. All week the weather was sunny (except a rainy Monday!), just like in the UK at the moment. But the temperatures have been more roasting hot than ever. Because they were all good skiers it was possible to get to the best snow over in Val Thorens. 
Even though it was hot and sunny in Méribel, because Val Thorens is so high, you can still come across challenging weather, especially wind. That wasn't going to stop everyone from having fun though. 
One of the Tilsons, Gilly, is a keen photographer, so we were all happy to pose, practise and experiment with each others cameras. This next shot was fun, taken by my very own Canon, of Gilly wearing her goggles with a reflection of La Folie Douce mountain restaurant.
Another fun shot was when I took Gilly's camera and squeezed her friends and family together in a tight semicircle in front of her goggles again. So instead of a mountain restaurant reflection, you could see everyone hugging each other.
I've heard a rumour that the Folie Douce franchise may well spread into the Méribel valley soon, located at the Choucas restaurant close to the mid-station of the Burgin Saulire bubble. One of the many things I love about my job is being with people on their precious holiday. The relaxed, playful, happy and many other emotions are all very infectious. However, I also occasionally come across another mental state, competitiveness. This appeared on our final ski back down to Méribel, when the two Nicks wanted to go into the 'Fun Park' to do some jumps. There were two jumps close to each other, which were later discussed and judged down in Méribel during apres ski over a beer. So here goes with Nick T's first jump.
Even though it was hot and sunny in Méribel, because Val Thorens is so high, you can still come across challenging weather, especially wind. That wasn't going to stop everyone from having fun though. One of the Tilsons, Gilly, is a keen photographer, so we were all happy to pose, practise and experiment with each others cameras. This next shot was fun, taken by my very own Canon, of Gilly wearing her goggles with a reflection of La Folie Douce mountain restaurant. Another fun shot was when I took Gilly's camera and squeezed her friends and family together in a tight semicircle in front of her goggles again. So instead of a mountain restaurant reflection, you could see everyone hugging each other. On our last day together, again we went over to Val Thorens, and I tried to show them areas of the valley and pistes that they had never visited before. I continued in trying to find pistes that faced away from the direction of the sun, in order to avoid the sun damaged snow. We had a very civilised lunch at the excellent La Fruitiere, just before the DJ kicked off the afternoon session on the outdoors decks, at the adjacent La Folie Douce.
I've heard a rumour that the Folie Douce franchise may well spread into the Méribel valley soon, located at the Choucas restaurant close to the mid-station of the Burgin Saulire bubble. One of the many things I love about my job is being with people on their precious holiday. The relaxed, playful, happy and many other emotions are all very infectious. However, I also occasionally come across another mental state, competitiveness. This appeared on our final ski back down to Méribel, when the two Nicks wanted to go into the 'Fun Park' to do some jumps. There were two jumps close to each other, which were later discussed and judged down in Méribel during apres ski over a beer. So here goes with Nick T's first jump. That's actually pretty high isn't it? So what can he pull out of the bag on the smaller second jump?
A bit old school, but still pretty impressive. Watch out, here comes the other Nick, looking a bit more physical on his approach.
Ohh, that's just as high, it's neck and neck in this competition at the moment. It's all down to the second jump. What can you produce big fella......
Oh dear, that's what we call a 'Yardsale'. He didn't quite make it to the second jump. Never mind. Looks like Nick Tilson is celebrating already.
I had yet another brilliant week last week with everybody, but the ski season is soon to end. I've one more week of work left, my first kids group lesson of this season is going to be my grand finale with the British tour operator Ski Esprit. I started with them this morning, snowploughing around, just as the Altiport piste was officially closed due to lack of snow. So my April Fools joke photo of the melting Altiport piste just eleven days ago posted here on this blog, has actually happened. That will teach me trying to be funny!?! I'm unlikely to photograph the kids group lesson this week, but they are loads of fun to be with already. We just need to find a replacement green piste with snow somewhere. Read all about it on my next post, coming from the tropical ski resort of Méribel.
Martin
P.S. I haven't really mentioned The Joneses much this time, so here is a photo of the gorgeous Olivia in the Caribou restaurant, how stunning is her hair?
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