Meribel Ski Resort, France

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Introduction Skiing Snowboarding Apres Ski Meribel © Méribel is the central resort in the world's largest lift linked ski area, the 3 Vallées. One of the first in the post-war 'second wave' of ski centre development, the village and its skiing have been a success on a colossal scale. Méribel today has grown far beyond the original village with half a dozen 'neighbourhoods', extending the resort over 10km (6 miles) of the valley floor, and expansion is still continuing apace, helping to make the resort one of the most important in the world today.[more] The resort holds the world record for high capacity gondola lifts, which means it can probably transport more skiers uphill faster than any other resort. Whether such a record matters to the average skier or boarder is open to debate, but the practical off-shoot is that queues are now almost unheard of and skiers get to ski more terrain than anywhere else faster than anywhere else, which must be worth something. The Méribel valley was 'discovered' in 1938 by future British Colonel Peter Lindsay, who returned after the war to oversee its early development in partnership with French architect Christian Durupt. Although the men's plans were modest compared to what was to come, they did begin the task of building the resort in a traditional style, with gabled slate roofs and white pine and stone facades. Along with its perfect location, Méribel's decision to stick to these building requirements through its 50+ year history and through the era of the rec-tangular concrete tower block has won it ever more fans over the years. Although tempted to construct the inevitable altitude 'satellite off-shoot', Méribel Mottaret at 1800 metres in 1972, the resort ensured the giant apartment blocks still had chalet style design. The British influence in Méribel remains strong and vast numbers of Brits arrive each winter, the more well-heeled staying around Méribel Centre, the rest up at Méribel-Mottaret, whilst Courchevel in the next valley is popularly regarded as being more French, more chic (and more expensive).

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Meribel Info Country:   France Resort height: 1487m Top lift: 2952m Bottom lift: 1450m

Nearest airports to Meribel

Chambery, France 77 mins Geneva, Switzerland 121 mins Grenoble, France 121 mins Lyon, France 123 mins Turin, Italy 173 mins Sion, Switzerland 174 mins Cuneo, Italy 212 mins These driving times are approximate and will depend upon traffic and road conditions

Meribel Piste Map
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Meribel Reviews
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maluspurperia February 2007 very good conditions very good apres-ski reasonable prices very good overall

Meribel Photos
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Meribel Snow Forecasts
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Meribel snow forecast (7 days) Updated daily Meribel snow forecast (6 days) Updated daily

Meribel Websites
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Meribel Airport Transfers Geneva Meribel Transfer : Alpine cab private transfers and taxis from Geneva airport Meribel Ski Chalets Purple Ski

Meribel Transfers
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Minibus (1 - 24+ passengers) Chambery » Meribel Ski Taxi (1 - 4 passengers) Chambery » Meribel Minibus (1 - 24+ passengers) Geneva » Meribel

All of the resort information on this page about Meribel has been provided for information purposes only. We regularly update our Meribel information, facts and figures but we recommend that you check with the appropriate official Meribel websites before travelling.