Some more mixed weather here in Cham, it's been pretty warm when the sun is out but when it isn't, especially up here in Argentiere with cooler winds coming in off the glacier, it has been pretty chilly and the need for a jumper has become necessary! It's a great time of year to be out, over the next few weeks we will start to feel the seasons change a little with more autumnal weather higher up the mountain but still the elements of summer shall remain further down the valley and in to Passy. Even if it's feeling a wee bit too chilly to jump in some water for a swim up here in the valley, down in to Lac Passy will be lovely and warm, and the temperature of the water will remain swimmable for a good while yet.
There is loads going on at the moment in the valley, downhill and freestyle bike comps and parties to follow, test days up the hill on some of the latest downhill technology, Village fairs and live music. We also have a few good things coming up, like the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc; a massive trail running event which circles the foot of Mont Blanc covering around 150km of constant running for the participants. There are other races which will be on around the same time from the 24th August and the mammoth Petite Trotte a Lyon which is an insane 240km! If you're in the valley during the race you definitely have to cheer these guys and girls on, especially when they come in with their feet bleeding, dehydrated, and hallucinating!
Party wise we have the Fete des Guides coming up this weekend which is an amazing acrobatic display and fireworks show, with the usual parties to follow the night in to dawn!
So, on the changeable weather note we decided to get down the valley and have a wee swim in the lake and see what all the rain we have had has done to the temperature of the water. We headed off fairly early from Argentiere where it was jumper time with the cool morning air after some rain earlier on, but by the time we got in to Chamonix it was back to T-shirts!
To get to Lac De Passy it's fairly easy to follow the road all the way down, making sure not to get on to the motorway, instead heading up to Les Houches then Vaudagne, where you can follow signs to Servoz and Passy. The ride is a bit of up and down, and after the climb up to Vaudagne it's pretty much downhill all the way to the Lake. You will get some great views on the way especially around the tranquillity of Vaudagne and on the final descent in to Passy.
Once at the lake we were pretty hot from the ride so the cool liquid was screaming at us to jump in. It was definitely cooler than our last visit but still at around 24 degrees was easy to hang around for a bit. After chilling out for a while we decided to go back to Le Fayet which we passed on the way to the lake and get the less energetic and more chilling train journey back up the hill to Argentiere.
Check out our Mountain Guide Listings for contact details of local guiding and activity companies.
Check out what to do around town once the lifts have closed with our Apres Ski Report - a weekly round up of what's hot and where to party in Chamonix!
