Carrie and Betony from the Ski Club of Great Britain are in Meribel at the Alps’ biggest comedy festival, the Altitude Festival.

Day 1
The Altitude Festival in Meribel, France was already in full swing when we arrived on Monday. There was no getting away from the fact that Meribel was the place to be for laughs with Altitude banners, flyers and a big yeti everywhere you looked. After bumping into Scouse comedian John Bishop on our way up to resort we couldn’t wait to see him in action that evening. Despite not being Irish, Bishop was starring in the Best of Irish Show at the auditorium in the centre of Meribel alongside the Irish comic Andrew Maxwell. It was a sell out crowd who were loving the jokes – especially the ones relating to antics of the piste! We thought we may get a mention during Bishop’s appearance but alas we can’t have made a big enough impression! Later in the evening there was a Franglais session followed by late night evening comedy in the busy Jacks Bar which went down well with everyone whether they had lots of apres ski beers or not! Evolution and Jacks Bar also hosted live music during the evening, including live beat box music and some great acoustic guitar sessions. We managed to leave in time for some sleep so we could head up to the slopes of the huge Three Valleys ski area for some riding the next day…a fantastic day and a half so far and another 4 nights to survive!

Day 2
Well after a whole evening of comedy the night before and a hectic day on the slopes we decided that Altitude Festival music would be on the menu last night. Headlining the festival this year was singer KT Tunstall and that’s who we went along to watch in the Meribel ice rink which had been covered over to provide a huge venue for the gig. After a couple of warm up acts which provided the perfect time for some beers, KT took to the stage and entertained the crowd with the biggest cheer coming when she started belting out her big hit ‘Suddenly I See’. After two encore songs, the party atmosphere was still very much there. We ended up in the Loft, a typical French nightclub (!), and danced the night away next to KT and her band, not a bad night at all! Unbelievably we are back on the slopes for another day of spring skiing in the sun and ready for more comedy action tonight in Meribel.