I just got back yesterday from quite possibly the best snowboarding holiday I’ve ever had! You know when you’re looking forward to a holiday and then you get there and everything is just perfect and the way you wanted it to be? Well, that’s what it was like!

We flew out last Sunday to Basel (on the border between Switzerland and France) and drove 4 hours to Meribel which is a well known resort in the 3Valleys of the French Alps. As we arrived it was dumping down snow everywhere, to quote Damien Rice, “cold water surrounds me”. According to the weather reports it had been laying down the snow on the mountain for a full four days before we arrived and it was due to stop on the Monday (our first full day on the slopes). I couldn’t have asked for better conditions.

As soon as we stepped out of the door to go to the lifts that beautiful sound was all over the moutain. Silence. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but when snow falls it makes everything quiet, from crunching footprints in the snow to a board hitting a slope. I love that sound, and it was sheer heaven. The snow was like icing sugar just sitting on the sides of the valleys and stretching right the way all to the top of the peak.

I really can’t describe how good the conditions were. Going up the lift was a sight to behold, fresh, untampered snow stretching for as far as the eye can see, I looked down at the slope below me and I lost all conception of movement, the snow was just like looking at a blank sheet of perfect paper close up. You couldn’t make out any lumps, bumps or contours of any kind. Heavenly!

Anyway, you get the idea that the snow was unbeatable! Then comes the chalet. In itself it was fantastic, from the warmth of the living room to the unbelievable taste and variety of the cuisine, flawless. And added to this was a “magic fridge” full of beer, Orangina, Coca Cola, Evian, Orange juice and a whole load else. It was a magic fridge because viurtually every time you opened it, it was always full and it was free! Now how good is that?!

All in all it truely was a fantastic holiday!

I’ll go into more detail about other aspects of the holiday at a later date…

Here are the people we went with: www.purpleski.com