The lifts are closed in the French Alps, but skiers are still making the most of the deserted slopes

Visiting a ski resort when lifts are closed might seem counterintuitive but in Méribel the pandemic won’t stop skiing

The Christmas tree is up in Méribel town centre, the Friday market-stall holders are selling their produce and the shop owners are busily sorting their stock and window displays. In many ways, it is just like the lead up to the busy Christmas period in any winter season – with some notable differences. The streets are quieter than usual, there is no one on the restaurant terraces and most importantly – the central Chaudanne lift area is deserted because the lifts are all closed.

“Normally for Christmas week we are at about 80 per cent capacity,” Elsa Lavanant, commercial director with the Méribel Tourism Board tells me. “This time we expect around 25 per cent of the rental beds will be occupied, plus between 30 per cent and 60 per cent of the owners’ accommodation. It won’t be a Christmas and New Year like any other, but there are still plenty of ways to enjoy the mountains even when the lifts aren’t open.”

Visiting on the day before the French school holidays start, Méribel is far from the ghost town I’d feared I might find. At Lac de Tueda above Méribel-Mottaret, people are taking advantage of the perfectly-groomed paths on this blue-sky day to snowshoe, hike or cross-country ski. And while the lifts themselves are closed, two pistes are open for ski touring and dedicated sledging areas have been prepared. 

The vast majority of pistes are officially closed but not out of bounds – meaning it’s likely no one will stop people from touring, but there is no safety patrol. Piste bashers are grooming during the day as resort staff cross their fingers that they might be allowed to fully reopen on January 7. But so far none of this has stopped a group of locals taking their skis and snowboards to play on a jump they’d built themselves by renowned (currently closed) après-ski bar Le Rond Point – at least for now.

“We are finding other ways to enjoy ourselves than skiing,” Elsa tells me. “We’re having fun sledging and I’m looking forward to trying ski touring. There is always something to do.” And while the atmosphere is certainly different without the freneticism of ski and board-carrying crowds hurtling towards the lifts and down the slopes, the relaxed ambience, more akin to the summer season, means not being able to ski isn’t quite as frustrating as I’d imagined. 

Other activities available in the Méribel over Christmas and New Year include fat biking, snowmobiling, horse riding and biathlon as well as yoga classes – the spas are also open and the free buses are running.  The resort has just learnt they can run the magic carpet in the Jardin de Neige so lessons for total beginners (in groups of fewer than six) can go ahead. There will even be Covid-safe Christmas and New Year events – Père Noel will be visiting as part of a parade so that people don’t gather in one place. Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve fireworks will be launched from the mountainside so that visitors can watch from their balconies, respecting the current 8pm French curfew. 

And while the Parc Olympique with its bowling, swimming pool, ice rink and more has to remain closed, it’s being put to good use by becoming a Covid testing centre for anyone who wants a test this season – bookable online and with results usually within 24 hours.

Another major headache for the resorts is that all restaurants and bars in France are currently forbidden to open except for takeaway. The upside to this though is that takeaway is no longer restricted to burgers, pizza and the like – even the gourmet restaurants have adapted their offering. At Le Cèpe, dishes include risotto of wild seabass with lobster tails and winter vegetables and a side of beef for two with ceps, sautéed potatoes and salad, as well as oysters and foie gras. Part of what would usually be the restaurant is now stocked with soft drinks, tangerines and snacks as well as artisanal local produce, hoping to attract passing trade too.

Because restaurants cannot open, most of the hotels in the resort are closed, except for a few two and three-star properties which will be offering meals in guest rooms only. Some of the larger residences are closed, but apartments and private chalets are available for rent.

Knowing that I wouldn’t be rushing out to get the first lift and would be spending my mountain days at a more leisurely pace than usual, I opted to stay at Refuge de la Traye just outside Méribel’s satellite village Les Allues. The property, recently acquired by super-luxe Airelles group usually operates as a boutique six-bedroom hotel, but is for now being run like a private hire chalet until restrictions are lifted in order to allow single groups to enjoy the restaurant.

Accessed by a pretty, but somewhat rough, track through the trees, ten to thirty minutes from the slopes (depending on the conditions), it offers an uber-luxurious ‘away from it all’ mountain retreat, where even the power cables are underground so there is literally nothing to spoil the spectacular view.

Refuge de la Traye is (usually) a luxury hideaway from the masses Credit: gilles trillard/refuge de la traye

Welcomed by staff bearing real flambeaux and white vin-chaud heated in a copper urn over a bonfire, I barely notice as my luggage is whisked off to my suite and my boots are replaced at the door with cosy, furry slippers. I am staying in the Edelweiss Suite, which is set over three floors and includes a living room with fireplace and dining area, a terrace with a private hot tub and a sleeping mezzanine for children. It is the kind of suite which would be extremely difficult to leave, were it not for the bright sunshine and the spectacular scenery right outside.

I join guide Patrick for a snow shoe walk through the trees to Col de la Lune, which offers a spectacular view of Mont Blanc, where we eat a picnic lunch with flasks of soup prepared by the chef. We are out for a few hours and pass no one. Back at the refuge I spend the afternoon in the spa, which includes a sauna with a snowy view and a fabulous massage from Mathilde. 

An afternoon goûter of génépi-flambéed nougat by the fire in the cosy salon is later followed by a dinner of Savoyarde tartiflette and pain perdu. I sleep brilliantly – the bed is huge and there is no light or sound to disturb me.

In the morning, I have breakfast on the terrace of my suite where the only sound is birdsong as I look out over snow, trees and mountains. It is idyllic. A mountain resort without the lifts running is certainly different, but there is still plenty to enjoy.

For winter 2020/21, rates at Refuge de la Traye, Méribel start from €850 for a Deluxe Room (Half Board Basis), based on two people sharing (refugedelatraye.com; 0033 458 240404). Exclusive-use rates at Refuge de La Traye start from €65,000 per week on an all-inclusive basis including all food and beverage, ski hire and ski pass, snowmobile transfer to and from the slopes and a shuttle to Méribel. For more information about Méribel visit www.meribel.net