What are the best routes for snowboarders to discover in Méribel?

October 25, 2021

Welcome to snowboarders

More than a sport, snowboarding is a way to be at one with the snow. Setting of from Méribel to explore the 3 Valleys on a snowboard is the promise of unforgettable adventures. So, we have a few itinerary suggestions for those who are new to snowboarding as well as for those looking for something new and challenging.

By coming to Méribel, you will be able to make your very first turns on a snowboard on ideal terrain; or if you are more experienced, discover the thrill of freestyle or taste the pleasures of snowboarding in the powder on one of our freeride areas.

Making your first turns on a snowboard

Let’s start with the good news: there is no age limit for snowboarding! Whatever your age and skiing experience, you can start. However, learning to snowboard does not happen by itself. To quickly master the basics of snowboarding, it is best to be accompanied by an instructor who can teach you the right techniques from the very start.

Our advice for your first day on a snowboard

You can’t learn to snowboard without falling. Learning to fall and accepting that you will fall from time to time, is part of the basics of snowboarding. On this point, the psychological advantage of knowing that you are protected is not insignificant: it gives you the confidence to go for it. You will feel safer and avoid injury, if you equip yourself with wrist guards and coccyx protection shorts.

Which slopes for my first snowboarding lessons in Méribel?

After meeting at Méribel-Centre you will head up to the sunny sector of the Altiport, this is accessible from the centre on the Rhodos gondola or via Morel chairlift. On to the large areas dedicated to budding skiers and snowboarders, you will be able to make your first turns in complete serenity on a gentle slope located away from the high speed skiers. Don’t worry about the end of the lesson, you can return to Méribel on green and blue runs or on the gondola!

Mini Rider : snowboarding for the very youngest

From the age of 5, children can experience the first thrill of snowboarding. In the presence of an instructor, your child will discover snowboarding in a fun and gentle way. You can also accompany your children to share this unique moment with them.

First jumps and tricks

After a few lessons with an instructor, you may feel comfortable enough to try your first jumps. You will be able to enjoy the small kickers and wide boxes of our snow-parks.

Once you have learned the basics of snowboarding, you can quickly enjoy mastering your board on more difficult slopes or free-styling at the edge of the piste.

A little advice to help you improve your freestyle skills

A practice that is already widespread in surfing and that applies equally well to snowboarding: being filmed.

By going to a snow-park with friends, you can take turns filming and being filmed. This will allow you to see yourself jumping and therefore to correct your posture more easily.

What are the best itineraries on a snowboard in Méribel ?

When skiers push on their poles, snowboarders have only one solution: take off their board and walk. To enjoy Méribel on a snowboard, it is therefore useful to know the itineraries on which snowboarders will not need to take off their snowboard.

From the summit Roc de Fer (2,294m) down to the hamlet of Raffort (1,350m). Take the “Face” piste, then the new “Daguet” piste and finally the “Raffort” piste. The new Raffort bridge will save you the trouble of having to climb the stairs and take off your board to reach the Olympe gondola.
From Tougnète (2,437m) to la Chaudanne (1,450m). Take the Dahu piste and then the “Lièvre” piste.
Finally, from Mont Vallon (2,952m), accessible from Méribel-Mottaret, you can easily find powder between the pistes and taste the pleasure of snowboarding on ungroomed snow.

The snow-parks of Méribel

Discover our freestyle areas. These fun and secure areas offer modules and terrain for all levels:

The Open Park and its ROOKIES zone offers ideal terrain for you to begin practising your freestyle skills;
The Elements Park and its boarder-cross, a red run with a succession of banks, bumps and turns

Snowpark

Daring to make your first tracks

Snowboarding is particularly fun in powder snow. Making your first tracks on a snowboard in powder snow is something you should experience at least once in your life. Indeed, “riding the powder” is a bit like the Holy Grail for the snowboarder. Sign up for our powder alert and receive an email notification. Indeed, after good snowfalls, some of the open slopes of the domain are deliberately left ungroomed for a day. This is the best time to enjoy the powder. Be careful though, this feeling of being on a cloud, and gliding smoothly through the snow, is also highly addictive!

Our advice for your first tracks in the powder

Although you can enjoy safe off-piste skiing when you come to Méribel, off-piste skiing does demand that you take some precautions. In particular, you must:

be equipped with the three essentials: avalanche victim detector, shovel and probe and learn how to use them with an instructor or guide;
verify the BERA (Avalanche Risk Assessment Bulletin) published daily by Météo-France, which indicates the state of the snow cover.

Where are the best off-piste areas accessible from Méribel?

Are you now comfortable enough with snowboarding to be looking for the best off-piste spots in Méribel? Then here are two areas that you absolutely must try out:

Back to the Wild, on the Mont de la Challe sector in Méribel-Mottaret. Discover this freeride area appreciated by connoisseurs of the domain.
Grande Rosière, in the Saulire sector, is accessible to intermediate off-piste skiers. Take advantage of the 1,000 m difference in altitude between the top of the Pas du Lac 2 gondola and the bottom of the Pas du Lac 1 gondola.

Hiking in the wilderness with a split-board

Ski touring is attracting more and more fans, and there is a version for snowboarders! This is the split-board, a snowboard that splits in two to go up with skins and that allows you to snowboard down. Contact the guides’ office to learn more about this.

Located in the heart of the 3 Valleys, Méribel offers you privileged access to the largest ski area in the world. So, whether you are a beginner or an expert, an inveterate snowboarder or a snowboarder only on powder days, a former skier or a dedicated snowboarder: you will always find an itinerary to enjoy from Méribel.

Ski passes