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Report
It’s been a reasonably snowy weekend here in Chamonix, not quite heavy
enough to describe as dumping down but the snow has been falling, which
is the main thing. The temperature hasn’t been all that cold, with
precipitation alternating between sleet, rain and then snow again at
the level of the town. Higher up though it’s definitely been falling as
snow and this morning the snow line was clearly visible on the trees
just above the town. The snow has stopped falling now, and the clouds
broke up and the sun broke through this afternoon. It’s still fairly
cloudy and looks as though we could be in for some more snow soon:
we’ve been forecast more.
We headed over to Flegere this morning in the hope of getting some
fresh powder lines but we were scuppered by the wind: the whole of
Flegere had closed down because of the high wind affecting the lifts;
we’d heard that Brevent had shut down too. The alternatives were Le
Tour, but it can be miserably cold if it’s windy, and Grands Montets is
the obvious choice, albeit potentially very busy on a Sunday, but
perversely we decided to head back to Les Houches. In many ways it is
the polar opposite of Grands Montets: Les Houches is more of a family
resort with, small, rustic restaurants, pretty tree-lined pistes.
Whereas Grands Montets is all extreme glacier skiing, steeps, rocks,
and impersonal self-service restaurants. Sometimes us gnarly snow
reporters just need to take it easy for day!
We headed up the Prarion lift first; again, as when we were last here,
we walked straight on, no queues at all. In no time we were at the top
and heading down the Kandahar piste. At first it was soft but not too
slushy; however, further down the mountain the snow became unbelievable
sticky, almost like treacle. It wasn’t just me though: my friend’s skis
were sticking too. It was warm too, and I had far too many clothes on
and that combined with the sticky, heavy snow made it hard work.
The snow cover itself was good in places and bad in others. The lower
runs that had benefited from artificial snow were well covered because
they had a good base, whereas the runs without cannons were patchy in
places, which meant you had to keep your eyes open for rocks coming
through. The higher runs, served by the top draglifts Chamois and Cha,
all had very good snow. Off piste there was even some good powder, the
only problem was the very flat terrain at the top of Les Houches is
less than ideal for riding in powder. Nevertheless we found a few
rollers and rock drops near and in between the pistes that provided us
with some fun. Lower down the snow off piste could never have been
described as powder, more like soup. I’m sure with the right kind of
wax it could be fun but today it was like hitting the brakes every time
I ventured into the fresh snow.
All of the time up at Les Houches it never seemed particularly windy
and it made me wonder why some of the lifts elsewhere are so affected
by the wind. Practically all of the lifts were running with the
exception of the Crozat chair, which was only running for the very top
section.
Check out what to do around town once the lifts have closed with our all new Apres Ski Report - a weekly round up of what's hot and where to party in Chamonix!
Useful Information
Cross-country skiing is Open
Piste Maps for Chamonix (pdf format), Les Houches (jpg format), Cross-country skiing (pdf format), and Mountain-bike trails (pdf format)
Current status for opening of Pistes & Lifts
Chamonix Webcam Index
We will be keeping this Chamonix snow report
updated often during the season, but if you want even more up-to-date
news on the ski conditions, why not sign up for our Dump Alert?
We'll email you each time it snows enough to significantly change the
skiing conditions. It's great to know that the snow is falling in the
run-up to your holiday, and it might even allow you to book a
last-minute weekend when the snow is particularly good. The service is
free, and you can unsubscribe whenever you like.
Useful Links
Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research
French Avalanche Research Institute
Meteo France - Mountain weather and avalanche conditions bulletins (in French)
Henry's Avalanche Talk - popular avalanche training sessions based in French Alps as well as translation of current avalanche conditions
PisteHors.com - Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding News in English for the French Alps. Excellent coverage of avalanche safety and advice
Additional snow and weather information provided, with thanks, by meteo.chamonix.com and the Tourist Office
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