To accompany my travel posts about our March Break trip to France (Part 1 and Part 2), I wanted to do this post to answer some questions and give you a sense of how we planned our trip and how it turned out.
Our family skis every weekend in the winter, at Mount St. Louis-Moonstone, a small hill about an hour from Toronto. E and Q do ski racing and Dave and I are quite comfortable on the slopes, even though we did not grow up skiing on a regular basis. For the past four years we have gone to Quebec for March Break. Their ski hills are quite a bit bigger in terms of number of runs and vertical height. It is easy to drive to Quebec and we have done a mix of Airbnb and hotel. This year we decided to head to Europe to ski in the Alps. I was a little apprehensive about going, I was worried about avalanches, the runs being too steep, getting lost, a bunch of things, but now I can definitely say this was one of my favourite trips and if you ski, you must go!
Why did you choose Europe instead of other ski hills in Canada?
It sort of came down to cost, as well as a chance to go to Europe. One of the biggest differences between Rocky Mountain resorts and the Alps is the cost of the lift tickets. Depending on when you book, flights to Vancouver/Calgary can be comparable to European destinations. Accommodations are also comparable, and you can find something in any price range in most places. It is also peak time in March in Canada since the schools are all on March Break, but in Europe you are sort of between school holidays, although you are still in peak season. Plus even if you are paying a slight premium on something, you're in Europe! To me, that is more exciting than just regular Canada (beautiful as the Rockies are!).
Regarding the lift tickets, for example, if four of us skied for five days in Whistler, BC, it would cost $5,515 (Canadian). In Europe we paid 1,340 Euros (about $2,140 Canadian). This was actually for six days (buy 5 get the 6th free) but we only skied for five.
Why did you choose Trois Vallees and Meribel?
Before this trip I had really only heard of Chamonix and Zermatt, I had no idea what the various ski domains in Europe were, but some internet research, mostly on Reddit to start with, directed us to this area. It was large with the option to get lift passes for the entire area, it had high altitude with guaranteed snow, and is known for being amazing for intermediate skiers. We chose Meribel as our home base by process of elimination - Courcheval is a little too high end, Val Thorens seemed more geared to young people and partiers, and that left Meribel, great for families, charming, and right in the middle of everything. There seemed to be more suitable options for accommodations in Meribel as well.
Link to map here
Why did you go to Brussels first?
We wanted to spend a couple of days getting acclimatized to the time change and just chill out before jumping right into skiing. We could have gone to any European city but chose Brussels as we had never been there. Taking the train down to Meribel was actually pretty simple.
How did you do with the skiing?
The skiing was amazing and I had no problems going down any of the groomed runs. In Europe, the scale is Green being easiest, then Blue, then Red. Black runs are not necessarily steeper than the Reds but are ungroomed. I didn't go on any of those, and since the snow was less powdery and more crunchy when we were there, the boys didn't go "off piste" (off the groomed trail) that often either. By the end of the day the snow starts getting soft and there are mounds of snow to navigate, and certainly by the time we were heading home my legs would be starting to hurt and I was being very careful to get down safely, but I wasn't sore for the entire trip and would feel fresh the next morning.
How did you pack your bags to comply with airline restrictions?
Air Canada allows you to bring a ski bag and boot bag for free, but they must weigh less than 50 lbs combined. Technically you're only supposed to have skis and poles in the ski bags, but we added all of our snowpants and a couple of jackets. We did not bring a boot bag although if it was just one person skiing, then that would make sense. Instead a pair of boots went inside each of our four suitcases (two small and two large). In the two large suitcases we could fit two helmets in each with the goggles, buffs, and gloves inside the helmets. The boys' clothes fit in the two small bags, and Dave and I had one big suitcase each, with the extra jackets as well. We had laundry facilities at our chalet so we only brought two sets of ski clothes and washed them.
What is a button lift?
I mentioned in one of my posts that we rode a "button lift" which was a new experience for us. Most of the conveyances are gondolas or chair lifts where you are in the air being carried up the mountain. Sometimes there are surface lifts where your skis stay on the ground and you are pulled up the mountain, these are less common. There are t-bars where a pole is attached to the main cable, with a bar shaped like a T. It goes behind your bum, and two people can ride up together. The button lift, instead of a T, has a disc at the bottom of the pole that goes between your legs so the pole is in front of you and you rest your bum on the disc as it pulls you up.
Here is a photo I found that shows you:
A few things that we did:
- We all brought our own boots, poles, helmets, and goggles. Dave and I brought our skis and we rented skis for the boys. This helped with the weight of the ski bag, but also then the boys could get all mountain style skis (wider) instead of their regular race skis. There are many places to rent and we found one near our Airbnb for convenience. We reserved online ahead of time. You can also rent boots, helmets, and poles but wanted everyone to feel comfortable with their own stuff.
- Dave skied with a backpack and I skied with a little shoulder bag. Although it is kind of annoying to cart bags around with us, I liked not having to jam my pockets full with my phone, wallet, sunglasses, sunscreen, and snacks. Dave had water, candy, the GoPro with extra batteries, a hat, and our extra goggle lenses.
- We ate breakfast in our chalet and got in line for the 9:00 opening of the chairlifts. It is best to get going first thing when the snow is nice. We would ski until about noon and then stop for lunch, do a few more runs after lunch and then be done by 2:30/3:00. The lifts close at 4:00 anyway and the snow starts getting too soft and the slopes are more crowded.
- There are multiple places to eat up on the mountain. Most places offer a sit-down restaurant as well as a snack bar/cafeteria. The snack bar is typically cheaper and does not require reservations. When it's a beautiful sunny day, like most of our days, it is quite pleasant to sit outside. Then you need to remember your sunscreen!!
- We went to La Folie Douce twice for Apres Ski. It's a scene, and so fun. They serve lunch too, but we just had drinks and watched the live show at 2:30 and stayed for some of the DJ before getting back on our skis and going home. There are other places to go for Apres on the mountain and in the village, but most of the time we were happy to go home and relax in our chalet.
- There is a free shuttle that can take you from village to village in case you do end up in the wrong valley at the end of the day (or if the lifts are shutting down due to high winds). The trip may take awhile but it's an option. We used the bus just to get back up to our chalet after having dinner in the village.
- Most of the time I was too hot while skiing. We spent most of our ski season this year in very cold temperatures and it took me a day or two to realize that I didn't need so many layers. I could have also used a thinner mitten. Not only is it springtime in the Alps, I just don't think they get the frigid temperatures we are used to in Canada. I still liked to have my face covering while I was going down the hill, but I didn't need my extra fleecy one.
- In case he got lost, we gave Q a slip of paper with our phone numbers on it, and E, Dave and I all have phones. He was also supposed to have an AirTag but we forgot to put it in his jacket. We also gave him a walkie talkie for the first couple of days, although then figured we didn't need it. Although the boys were usually leading the way down the runs, they kept together for the most part and always stopped at the next sign to wait for us, which was our rule. For the most part we knew which lift we wanted to end up at, so the contingency plan was to meet at the lift in case anyone did get lost.
I felt like this type of trip is akin to Disney. Amazing, sensory overload, core memories, and a lot of planning and coordination, but not something we can do all the time. We will definitely go skiing in Europe again, but it won't be every year.
This was a bit of a novel, but helps me organize it all for the future.
Ski rental (or as they say in Europe, ski hire)
Snack bar lunch. Croque Monsieur? Yes please!
Apres on the slopes.
Apres at home.
