The Saulire summit and the ridge

The Sommet de la Saulire stands at roughly 2,700 metres between Courchevel and Méribel, and it is the reason the two valleys are linked. A cable car lifts from La Croisette to the top station in a few minutes, which puts a high-alpine frame within reach of a session that started on a village street.

The top is a narrow rock ridge with snow on both flanks. Look east and Courchevel is small in its bowl below; look west and the ground falls into the Méribel valley, with Mottaret, the Mont de la Chambre and, on a clear morning, Mont Blanc on the northern horizon. There are terraces and viewing platforms at the station, and it is easy to get an uncluttered frame a short walk from them.

Morning is better than afternoon for the western view — the air is clearer and the far peaks are still separated rather than flattened into haze. Around midday the snow goes very bright and contrast becomes the problem rather than the light.

Two warnings that matter. It is a different climate up there: fifteen degrees colder than the resort is normal, wind is constant, and skin freezes faster than people expect on a bright day. And the lift is weather-dependent — it closes on high wind or poor visibility, sometimes at an hour's notice — so treat the summit as the part of a session that might not happen, and have the village as the fallback.