Mottaret, France

Tom Mayes from GERMANY writes:

Mottaret is a fairly well thought out "purpose-built" resort. It has more ski-in/ski-out accommodations than any other resort I've visited. It's also less crowded than its lower sister, Meribel--except at lunch, and at 3:30 pm when all the skiers start cueing up at the Pas Du Lac and Plattiers bubbles to return to the other valleys.

I truly enjoyed the location, and the wonderful skiing in Meribel. We stayed the Christmas week, and the early season snow was patchy, but they did a pretty good job of keeping the runs covered with snowmaking and grooming--it was fortunate this year that the temperatures were cold enough every night to make snow. We had easy access and were able to link over to Courchevel, Val Thorens, and Les Menuires--there was plenty of diverse terrain to cover. The man-made snow was only icy in the shade.

Eskiador/Sport2000 in Le Hameau took very good care of us, and even let us swap out our skis/boards for "mini-skis" the last day. AMS Rentals were very helpful, and we had a wonderful apartment for the week.

There are some oversights, though. There is very limited ‘beginner’ ski instruction in this area. If you have a beginner skier in your group, you'll spend a lot of time getting them sent on a bus down to Meribel for lessons. (If the skier wanting lessons is a bit above ‘beginner’ they can likely navigate the long green run down to Meribel—just allow plenty of time before the lesson in Meribel starts!) The buses are also typical city buses--no ski racks on the outside of the vehicle--so each hairpin turn is an exciting exercise in shoulder-to-shoulder balancing, while holding a heavy board, or skis & poles. They don’t stop at every stop, either. Twice, we had quite a hike from the center of Meribel back to the Castors Restaurant bus stop (near the ski school meeting point), because the bus driver ignored our request to stop before the tunnel.

Restaurants are limited in the Mottaret resort, as well. They all play an orchestrated game each evening where all the sandwich shops close at 5PM and all the menus switch to an assortment of overpriced omelets and local dishes that only the most adventuresome would otherwise try--the food is ok, but none of it's worth $25 a plate. It's impossible to find a burger anywhere for dinner. If you want to eat on the cheap, plan to cook a lot in your apartment. There are a few carry-out pizza places that are more reasonable, and the local grocery store has whole roasted chicken if you get there early.

You should try to stay high on either side of the valley. The ski-in/ski-out feature doesn't work well if you stay halfway up in the entrance of Mottaret (1), or at the back of the valley (2). See the www.meribel.net/welcome-h.htm and go to the resort map of Meribel-Mottaret--areas (1) are D2 & E2, and area (2) is A1. I saw many skiers hiking a fair distance, skis on shoulder, to the nearest lift from these areas

Also, snowboarders should avoid the long run "Ours" at all costs--If you pass the "Plan Des Mains" chairlift, you've gone too far, and you're in for a painfully long "scoot" back to Mottaret--probably easier to pick up your board and walk.

All told, it was a very enjoyable week. Pricier than most, but if you want to ski-in/ski-out from the central most point of Les 3 Vallees during the holidays, a premium should be expected.

2006-01-18

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