Mum and daughter bond on the piste in the French Alps

MOST mums with grown up daughters might think city break or spa retreat when considering a winter holiday together. But I have just returned from a week skiing with my 22-year-old and can recommend it as an excellent way to bond and to see your now adult offspring in a new light.

Francesca and I have previously sampled together the life of shows and shopping in New York, the back lanes of Barcelona and the views from the Eiffel Tower but a holiday with a sporting theme was a different challenge.

I am of an age when a few a years ago I would have been considered a pensioner and Francesca is not long out of university but luckily our skiing ability is similar.

After trying skiing as a very young girl Francesca decided it was not for her but as a teenager she wanted to catch up with the rest of the family. Two weeks of private lessons means she now has excellent style that carries her down most runs with panache.

My own technique is not so pretty but years of experience means I also get down the slopes – even if I do tumble now and again.

We decided on a chalet holiday to Méribel in the French Alps with winter sports specialist Crystal, as we thought this would be the best way for us to have people to mix with socially in the evening and, hopefully, have company on the slopes.

It is obviously a big gamble as ski chalets tend to be compact and you have no idea who you will be sharing a dinner table with each night for a week.

From previous experience, I also knew that chalet holidays could be made or spoilt by the staff who run them.

Some I have encountered with smaller ski companies are spoilt girls straight out of public school who see serving guests as beneath them, while others are party animals who roll in after a night on the tiles with barely enough energy to boil an egg.

But thankfully, luck was on our side. Our chalet girls Maddie and Jody were not only great cooks but they were cheerful and obliging at all times.

Even when one of our fellow guests turned out to be a woman training for a bikini-style body building contest in America and revealed a diet that even Gwyneth Paltrow would find limiting, they just smiled and made a list of her requirements.

The 12 of us in Chalet Clearmount were an eclectic bunch, including four semi-retired men who had Welsh as their first language, the body builder and her army sergeant partner, a guy and a woman in their late 20s who turned out just to be friends and two women who had met at university in Norwich ten years ago.

But incredibly we all got on and the four Welshmen, who knew the extensive slopes of the Trois Vallees well, became our guides. I thought Francesca might find skiing with us oldies a bit dull but she found their old-school charm beguiling and they loved the way she could quickly sort out the apps and internet connection for them on their mobile phones.

They were also excellent skiers who made getting around the world’s biggest ski area that takes in Val Thorens and Courchevel, as well as Méribel, an adventure rather than a bit of an ordeal.

Most evenings the 12 of us lingered over our five-course meal served with a plentiful supply of free wine, played cards or watched a downloaded movie in the cosy sitting area.

Méribel lies in the Les Allues Valley at the centre of the les Trois Vallees, giving access to over 600km of piste and unlimited off-piste. As well as the two main resorts, Méribel and Méribel-Mottaret, the valley also includes a number of traditional villages.

The resort was founded by a British colonel, Peter Lindsay, in 1938 and still remains a big attraction for Brits but the many signs now in Russian, as well as French and English, indicate it is also a draw for those rich with rubles. Unlike many of France’s purpose-built ski resorts, Méribel has retained its Alpine charm and consists entirely of chalet-style wood and stone buildings.

The après ski is also more similar to the fun-filled homeward journey after a day on the slopes traditionally linked with Austria than France. One of the most popular watering holes from about 4pm is La Folie Douce near the mid station of the Saulire lift. The sensible folks take the lift down after a few beers but many risk the ski.

Méribel’s lift system is modern and has 15 gondola lifts and 19 chairlifts. The neighbouring resorts of Courchevel, la Tania, Val Thorens and Les Menuires can all be reached quickly. The many different ways up the mountain from the centre of Méribel means that even at busy times queues can be avoided.

During our week in January we did not queue at all and on numerous occasions had pistes to ourselves. The extensive nature of the les Trois Vallees means that if you didn’t want to, you would hardly have to ski the same run twice in the course of a week.

The mountain restaurants are not cheap but, once again, the chalet option comes into its own as after a hearty breakfast and knowing a fresh sponge cake, home-made biscuits and bread and jam await in the afternoon as a stop gap before dinner, it is not necessary to buy more than a bowl of soup on the mountain.

On the chalet girls’ night off we had an excellent meal in the Igloo restaurant which, despite its name, offered a warm welcome and crispy pizzas that did not break the bank.

The week turned out to be a perfect holiday full of laughter and memory-making moments.

<li> Jo and Francesca Moore travelled with Crystal Ski Holidays.

For more information go to www.crystalski.co.uk