Conditions Report
Report from February 18, 2026
Yesterday we woke up in Les 3 Vallées, France, to no new snow for the first time in what felt like weeks.
There was a strange color in the sky—blue.
Esfand had a plan:
- Go to Courchevel
- Ski the tree lines I know over there
- Come back to Méribel
- Hit the L’Oze chair when it opened around 1 p.m.
To be honest, it sounded impossible.
We had to drop the kid off at ski school at 9 a.m., drive the 30 minutes to Courchevel, ski the fun, short, powdery tree runs I know there, drive back to Méribel, and somehow make it in time for the L’Oze opening around midday.
Impossible.
But it worked.
Esfand is a genius.
The north-facing powder tree runs in Courchevel were epic. We harvested four splendid laps before sprinting back to the car and heading to Méribel around noon.
We got lucky. The L’Oze opening was delayed until 1 p.m., and we rolled up at about 12:45.
The line was big, but most folks were looking to drop the opposite side into La Tania or cruise the piste.
We slipped into two awesomely long tree runs in sun-kissed hot pow, completely untracked.
We kept it mellow with avalanche danger still rated HIGH (4/5).
I love this place.
There is so much terrain, so much powder, and not nearly enough freeriders to ski it all.
We did explore the backside of L’Oze for one run, and the terrain back there is unreal.
From there, we took it home—which is easier said than done at the largest ski resort on Earth.
Merci, la France.
