Fish & Pips Blog

It has been a busy week here in Meribel over the New Year holiday but we are pleased to report the slopes are back to normal with suprisingly good snow cover considering the masses that skied the 3 valleys last week.

We are sad to say we lost one of our Fish and Pips chefs over Christmas to a broken ankle.  After an operation and 4 days in Moutiers hospital (where she was served tongue for lunch!), we waved farewell to Jenny on New Years Day as we she headed back to Surrey, with an ankle pinned together to be pampered and look after by her parents.  We hope Jenny will be back with us in February to chef in Chalet L’Ours.  Get well soon Jen from all of the team.

As sad as we were to lose Jenny, we were equally thrilled to gain Vinnie - our new chef in Chalet Braye.  Vinnie comes to us with bags of experience and bundles of enthusiasm for the winter ahead, so welcome to Vinnie from all at F&P!

Holly and I have managed to sneak in a couple of hours on the pistes this morning and can report on excellent conditions.  There is still very good snow cover, and although it is absolutely FREEZING we found miles of beautifully groomed and deserted pistes in the Meribel Valley alone.

Do have a look at the website for our remaining January availability and take advantage of these quiet slopes!

Snow cover:

40cm on lower slops

88cm on upper slopes

75 or 77 runs open in the Meribel Valley

Happy Christmas from everyone at Fish and Pips!

We have had an excellent Christmas here - the conditions are fantastic with sunshine most of the week and great snow coverage all over the valley thanks to all that fell in late November and early December.

Christmas day started with a festive breakfast in the chalets - the guests in Chalet Aurigny were all dressed up as Santa, his elves and reindeer!  While all the guests were off skiing, the elves at Fish and Pips were busy preparing for supper - turkeys being cooked, puddings being steamed, vegetables pealed and crackers put on tables.

The Fish and Pips team celebrated Christmas with some champagne and Secret Santa presents in the Lodge in the afternoon.  Some of the best presents were Vic’s dinosaur egg - put it in water and within 24hr out hatches your own little Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Nick’s fireworks also went down of a storm and we had a great display after supper.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all at Fish and Pips.

Saturday saw the first day of the season and what a first weekend it was!  We had decided that as the forecast for Saturday was dull and snowy, Fish and Pips would work on Saturday so that when Sunday dawned with the most beautiful blue sky, we were all able to take the day off and hit the slopes!

The team met at 9am at the Chaudanne and split into different levels for refresher lessons courtesy of Parallel Lines.  When we reconvened at lunchtime you couldn’t wipe the smiles off everyone’s faces.  We spent the morning skiing fresh tracks just by the piste, the snow cover is amazing.  There is a better base than last year as the snow came a few weeks earlier, so we are set for an excellent season. 

The snow is falling again today and has been all night.   The latest snow depths do not take into account the foot we have had over night.

Upper slopes: 130cm - Lower slopes: 70cm

It has been a busy week here in Meribel.  Last Monday Holly and I headed off to Geneva to collect our new team, who were full of excitement for the winter ahead of them.

For Kevin and Fiona, the team in Chalet Aurigny and both Australians, it was the first time they had ever seen snow in such vast quantities.  We started our ‘training’ gently on Tuesday morning with a tour of the resort and a play in the snow.  From then on in we have all been beavering away, stacking logs, loading wine, training on our new hot tubs, menu planning, sorting, sorting out ski hire and lots lots more.

We have now had a couple of days of beautiful blue sky which is great for the snow pack as it allows the snow we have had already to settle and form a good base for the season.

We have been roaming the Alps the last fews days on various errands and have had a spectacular drive across the Col de Montets from Chamonix through to Martigny.  It really is the most beautiful route, winding up and down through the mountains and across the boarder to Switzerland.  It is not a route for the faint hearted though - the road was covered in snow and we crawled along at a snails pace to make sure we didn’t skid.

More snow is forecast for the weekend, so fingers and toes are crossed here in Les Allues!

Fish and Pips have arrived in Meribel - and so has the winter.  Since our arrival on Friday it has snowed on and off and now as I type sitting in Chalet Aurigny getting the heating working as quickly as we can before our fingers drop off, still it falls!

There is over a foot on the picnic tables outside Chalet Aurigny and the new hot tub, still covered in it’s protective wrapping is slowly disappearing!  With reports of nearly a metre of snow at the top, touring up the Saulire is getting more appealing. 

Although this early snow is great for us, logistics of the next few days need to be rethought out as driving conditions are hazardous especially with the endless stream of lorries and trucks bringing supplies up to the resort.  New teams of staff can be seen wandering the town, getting the know the area and marvelling at the snow - I think concentration may start to wane during the next few weeks of inevitable set up and training as the temptation of the powder outside gets more and more!

Light your fires and put the heating on - winter is here!  It has snowed again and the forecast is cold weather.  Great news for the snow cannons which will start pumping out snow day and night to get the pistes ready for opening on the 13th December.  We are hoping that the snowfall of the last few days, and that due next week will mean the lifts can open a little earlier so we get to stretch our legs before the first guests arrive - just to brush off the cobwebs!

Meanwhile in London F&P are frantically sorting, cleaning, folding, packing and saying farewell as D day (that is departure day) 21st November fast approaches.  The marmite, marmalade, PG tips, Christmas crackers to name but a few are packed in the back of the trusty Polo ready to be loaded into a van tomorrow for their journey to France.  Posing more of a logistical problem are the two giant bean bags for Chalet Corblettes that have arrived - quite how they are going to get into the Polo to be driven to the van (it is a very well thought out plan!) we are not yet sure, but where there is a will there is a way!

One of the best things about our job is the variety and the people we meet - we may be faced with the logistical bean bag car boot dilemma but last week we were at Joseph and his Technicoloured Dream coat courtesy of Matthew - a F&P regular.  Holly is debating getting a copy for her ski jacket for this winter…

Tom Mayne worked for Fish and Pips in their debut season a couple of years ago.  Tom is now training to become a ski instructor and is looking forward to his winter in Verbier to complete his training.  Tom ’s sense of humour will be thoroughly missed by the team this year in Meribel but we hope he comes to visit! 

WOW, where do i start, what a season i had! It was my first European season, and the girls’ first season as employers. Having been hand picked from an extensive list of experienced and thoroughly professional potentials, I was honoured that I had been welcomed into this new and highly exclusive team. All I had to do now was shine!

After days of intensive manipulation under the guiding hands of Miss Eyles and Miss Fisher, we were ready for the first guests to arrive. The combination of extemely high standards, twinned with passionate staff made life so easy for me, enjoying week after week of happy guests!

The work place was one of the best I have experienced due mainly to the girls’ managerial approach, which suited me down to the ground - work hard, play hard.  Some might say I did one more than the other, but I still stand by the fact that I did play as well! 

I like to think of myself as a very punctual, well organised and professional guy, but my love of skiing took hold me! Like a highly addictive drug, flowing through my veins I had to have more and when I asked the girls whether I could have two weeks of mornings off in order to partake my ski instuctors exam, I was happily surprised that they allowed me to.  My gratitude is still to this day not properly conveyed, so thank you girls so much for that, I love you both. 

After passing that exam I was back to work with more vigour then ever before, and quickly the plans of an end of season bbq emerged.  After more and more nights out, more and more people being invited - mainly by the easily excited Holly Fisher, we soon had a bbq that would put Glastonbury to shame! Maybe it was the punch, maybe the altitude, or maybe it was because it had been such a successful, rewarding 6 months but I thought it was the best bbq I think I have ever had. ‘Fishstock Forever!’
 

I had so much fun working for them that I had to come back and do another season in Meribel, but this time I had been propelled into the position of fleet manager, which was a part time role and self-titled (!) but meant that I was in charge….or so I would like to think, of their new minibus.  I have now heard that they may be getting a chalet pet like a small dog or a hamster to keep that homely feel alive. 
 
All the best girls and good luck without me! HA!

4 inches of the stuff…. at resort level… on the 30th October!!  This must be a good sign!

October and November are busy times in Meribel.  Building is going on everywhere, though the rooves that haven’t yet been finished might be a little worse for wear now that we have this amazing early snow fall.  Our sources on the ground report of sliding cars and freezing fingers as the resort and all it’s occupants busy readying themselves for the winter ahead were caught off guard.

What does this mean for the forthcoming winter?  Long range forecasts don’t give a huge amount away, but we are all for positive thinking and hoping for a bumper snow season to put a smile on everyone’s faces.

For webcams, daily updates and lots more Meribel info do have a look at www.merinet.com

The first flakes as they fell yesterday morning on the terraces of Aurigny, Braye and Corblettes.