Coming round the mountain: a single parent summer mountains adventure in Méribel

Lisa McGarry may not be one of life’s planners, but a trip to Méribel in summer gave her and her 14-year-old son Dylan one of their most rewarding holidays

Méribel e-bike tour

Bonding in the French Alps on a summer mountains adventure

As a single parent it’s often hard to holiday well, and my son and I have spent many supposedly blissful beach breaks in the throes of frustration with our little dynamic. So a summer mountains trip to Méribel in the French Alps – part of Les Trois Vallées, the world’s largest ski area and including the resorts of Courchevel and Les Menuires – was a game-changer for us. We’re not usually sporty folk when we travel, so I wasn’t sure how we’d both react to the challenges in store – but as it turned out, the rewards were great.

Luxe Alpine loveliness at Residence Falcon

Shiny and new at Residence Falcon Méribel

After our transfer from Geneva via beautiful Lake Annecy on Bastille Day, we arrived at the brand-new Residence Falcon in Les Allues which opened in December 2023. It’s a collection of 2-6-bedroom rental chalets from Alpine Residences, decorated in a luxe alpine style. Our chalet had five ensuite bedrooms – four doubles, including a master, and an adorable kids’ room with bunks – plus a living area with huge, divinely comfy couches, dining table seating ten, terraces with surround views, and a giant hot tub, which was where we started and ended each day. This was the perfect antidote to soothe well-used muscles, and to that end we even had our own sauna, although we also used the sauna, hammam and pool in the onsite spa a floor below.

The chalets are in two buildings across several floors, with a ski room and easy access to the slopes, but it being summer we strolled the few minutes walk into town for our daily activities, enjoying the mountain views along the way.

Mountain man finds his spiritual home

Day 1: Getting to know summer Méribel

The French Alps in summertime are a stunning place to be, and whilst I’d skied in the area, this was a first summer mountains experience. After lunching on the lightest calamari, stacked burger and frites (for Dylan), and the perfect example of what a Caesar salad should be at Jack’s, we took the gondola up to the Tourgnete Summit to get our first proper taste of Méribel’s mountains from the lookout point, admiring the views of Méribel Mottaret, Méribel centre and the awe-inspiring summits of Dent de Burnin, Saulire and the Aiguille du Fruit, still sporting caps of snow. Then off we ambled for a leisurely hike down to the Parcobranche treetops adventure course, through serene forested countryside.

Seeing how much Dylan loved the environment made me wonder why I insist on raising him in a city when he’s so clearly a countryside man. He lay on his back by a stream, gazing at the sky and the forest and listening to the peaceful chatter of birds, then went off in search of a very big stick, stopping to take pictures of every lovely view on our descent.

Parcobranche treetops course

Ziplines, treetops courses, and going full orangutan

The Méribel treetops course is one of the oldest in the Alps, and looked the parkour part, with tiny kids taking on some seriously high-up courses. My six-foot son decided hefting his 80-plus kilos up in the air just wasn’t for him, so I tried the zipline solo. I had a safety briefing in French, which I may not have fully understood, but jumped off anyway.

It was a proper ‘whee’ moment, with Dylan filming from below as I disappeared into the forest and over the river. Reaching the end I felt triumph – but instead of depositing myself at the other end, I missed and ended up a third of the way back down the line, hanging in quiet panic thinking they were going to have to call a rescue team. But with the help of the patient guide at the other end, whose expression had been a bit ‘zut alors’ when I slithered in the wrong direction, I assumed an orangutan-style method of pulling myself along the line backwards until I was finally back on safe tree, then ground. Win! Or at least, sort of.

Channelling Mad Max on the downward scooter trails

Day 2: Downward scooter, and back in the saddle

Our first proper activity was the downward scooter, for which we were kitted out in protective gear looking very Mad Max. Scooters are brilliant fun, exhilarating and once you get the hang of it, easy to handle. As newbies, we couldn’t let them go full pelt, keeping on the brakes to proceed downwards cautiously, but on the less steep sections, we let rip and felt the fun of the whoosh. We may have taken a rather circuitous route (I can’t map too well, and followed the wrong signs at one point) but with the help of GPS, we were only mildly late for lunch, and the epic views and beautiful surrounds made us feel like warriors anyway.

We went to the stylish mountain hut Blanchot for lunch, on the edge of the Altiport forest with stunning views and great daily specials, and even has a shop inside for browsing jewellery and clothing.

Horse-riding with Ranch Nordique

Méribel summer mountains horseback adventures

I had a pony until I was 12, but hadn’t ridden since, whereas Dylan had only ridden once, aged three. So we were keen to join a beginner’s ride in Méribel at Ranch Nordique, with its shiny well-kept steeds and cute little Shetlands. Dylan was intimidated by his sweet-but-huge horse, but once he was up (with the aid of some foam blocks) and I was seated on my pony, we tried to battle the nerves and enjoy the experience, rather than squeezing our eyes shut every time it seemed we were getting close to the mountain’s edge. In the end we were both pictures of relaxation, and Dylan is still nursing hopes of becoming a gaucho someday.

We had dinner at Abreuvoir, where we ate so well (dessert being the pièce de résistance) and enjoyed such lovely hospitality that we didn’t get home until late. Even so, we still managed to hop in the hot tub and gaze out at our epic mountain views, feeling incredibly lucky.

Refuge de la Traye

Day 3: Hiking in search of Refuge de la Traye

We’d decided to do a three-hour hike leading up to the restaurant Refuge de la Traye, where we’d sit, surrounded by fondue, looking smugly out on the mountain peaks before relaxing on a lounger and ambling back down when we felt like it. The hike up was steep but stunning, through canopied peaceful forest and fields, with babbling streams accompanying our journey, as well as friendly butterflies.

Having found the coordinates for the hike start and end points, I’d accidentally only saved the start point into my phone (not great at maps, or planning), and relied on the signs which were easy to follow until 30 minutes from La Traye. So when the path forked and we chose the wrong one, and I couldn’t get a GPS signal, we ended up on some steep paths and edges, going around in circles before admitting defeat and heading slowly back down to Les Allues, thirsty, hungry, and wishing I’d purchased boots and sticks. Slight fail: but we still hiked up a mountain; and it means we’ll just need to return to experience that beautiful refuge.

Parc Olympique for waterslides and ice skaters

We’d planned to visit to the Olympic Park, and so after the morning’s sweaty exertions, it was the perfect time. We didn’t skate, but spent some happy minutes watching the proper skaters jump and spin on the ice, then headed to the pool for a few lengths and lots of turns on the waterslide (we may have been the oldest!). It’s a refreshing change of pace from the other activities in Méribel, and I’d recommend a visit, especially with little kids.

E-biking in the French Alps

Day 4: Méribel in summer means e-bikes, unless you’re amazingly fit

Over freshly made lasagne and giant sourdough pizzas at Barometer the previous night, much of Dylan’s conversation centred around the fact that he wasn’t planning another trip up the mountain, so could we please ride around in stately low-altitude circles on the e-bikes. But once our instructor Victor showed us the ropes and got us in the zone, we were ready to go. The bikes were different from ‘velos normale’ – mainly, a further set of gears set on modes like eco, trail, and turbo, and once we’d mastered them we were off, cycling through the town then up towards another peak. The ascent was slow and gradually became steeper as the path narrowed and we passed the summits of various cable car routes.

Victor was in front, Dylan in the middle, with me at the back – and while Victor had made it clear that you shouldn’t look at the mountain drop, but rather keep your eyes trained on the path in front, I couldn’t help peripheral side-eye at the extremely sheer mountainside, which made my stomach drop even as my rational self knew the path was several metres wide and only a crazy stunt would see me plummet downwards.

Conquering the mountain on an e-bike tour

Keep calm, carry on, and put it in Turbo

The last part felt hairy to my heights-challenged self, as the drop got more sheer and the ascent more strenuous – seriously, how do the classic bikers do it? – but soon enough we reached the summit of our endeavour and enjoyed a glorious view of Mont Blanc along with some ice-cold drinks. I felt a bit like Ranulph Fiennes minus the frostbite, and the happy adrenaline of achievement sustained us on the long trip back down.

“That wasn’t so bad, huh?” I said to Dylan as we looked up to the peak we’d unaccountably cycled up to the top of and back down again, and he told me he felt like a video game character who’d just reached the next level and been rewarded with a big strength boost – a perfect accolade.

Lunching at Blanchot

So long, farewell, au revoir

Then it was onto our final, sublime lunch, at the Savoy Grill, where Dylan had duck and an OJ, and I had cod and a glass of wine: the rosés here really are perfection. One last hot tub before we left our beautiful chalet, and then it was back in the air-conditioned taxi to Geneva, passing Annecy again en route. We had an evening flight with plenty of time to discuss the trip, which got a big thumbs-up from Dylan, who couldn’t believe all he’d achieved in a few days on his Méribel summer break.

Having scheduled activities and stretching ourselves was an empowering and bonding experience, bringing us closer together with each little win and personal first – as did our gorgeous accommodation and the delicious meals we enjoyed at some of Méribel’s finest restaurants. It’s clear that for families, summer mountains is the new beach, going by all the groups of family bikers and hikers we saw each day, all living their best lives on the summer slopes. We want to go back next year, and not just because we need to find Refuge de la Traye.