Meribel has announced its key improvements for the coming winter 2011-12 and the creation of a new piste (although, as with other new pistes announced and opened around the 3 Valleys over the past 35 years, it seems unlikely this will add to the static 600km total runs measure the area has claimed since the early 1970s).
The new run, a green, will be accessible from the top of the first section of the Saulire Express to the Blanchot.
In addition work has got underway on an 18 month project upgrade the Plattières gondola. The lower two sections will be merged in to one, helping to reduce the overall ascent time by more than half down from 25 minutes to nine in time for the 2012/13 ski season. The new lift will be 3,178 metres long with eight-seater cabins and an uplift capacity of 2,700 passenger per hour.
Some of the improvements currently being made to the Burgin Saulire lift will be completed this winter however so that the lift will now make its ascent to the summit in just 12 minutes. The second section of the Saulre Express will be operational from this December with a capacity of 2,000 skiers per hour, with the first section is scheduled to be completed a year later for December 2012
Finally the 'Magnestick Bar' safety system for children that has been installed on several lifts at the neighbouring resort of Courchevel for several seasons will this year be extended to all the detachable chairlifts in the Meribel Valley and indeed the entire Three Valleys.
