They are getting ready to welcome you

Behind the lifts are men and women who are passionate about their work, by the mountain and by the preparation of a playground for skiers.
Cédric, maintenance agent at Méribel, reveals the backstage of the preparation of the season.

What is your job, your mission and how long have you been in Meribel ?

I'm the young elder: despite my young age I've been in Méribel Alpina for 17 years! After attending the ski lift school, I joined the resort in 2003 at the top of Saulire. Today, I am a maintenance agent, both in the workshop and in the field. Outside of the season, when I am mainly on the ski area, my job consists of maintaining the equipment: checking the bearings, cables, balancers, seats... During the winter, I go back down to the workshop for repairs. I also replace chairlift drivers throughout the resort.

What interests you in your job?

Its versatility and the evolution that I could have within the company. I have as much the technical and manual side as the human contact with the skiers, that's what makes this job so rich. My job also has a superb facet: the exceptional setting offered by the Alps with the chance to admire the whole domain. I am a child of Meribel and I will never get tired of our summits!

How are you preparing the opening of the Méribel ski area ?

The annual controls having been completed recently, we are doing everything possible to anticipate and be ready on D-day. In concrete terms, we are preparing the stations and making them safe by installing nets and mats and then fine-tuning the last maintenance details on the chairlifts.

Do you have a story or an anecdote to share with us?

Some of our clients wonder about what surrounds them in the resort. On this particular day, one of them asked me "what are those big tubes for?" and I told him "to suck up the marmots! He believed me for a while but I finally explained to him that it was a Gazex to trigger avalanches. Today, we still laugh about it because he comes to see me every winter to have a good time. So don't hesitate to ask us questions!

Apart from your job, what are your hobbies?

Skiing of course, since I was a child! I have done some freeride, but I prefer above all downhill skiing. Recently, I discovered another passion in the mountains: downhill mountain biking to enjoy the area in summer.