Chamonix Snow Report: 12th April 2007

To keep up with the snow, and there is plenty of it, you just have to chase it higher up into the mountains. One way is to go up in a helicopter and that's just what we did yesterday with the mountain guides from McNab Snowboarding. Heliboarding, as you may already know, is illegal in France but not in Italy or Switzerland, so with Chamonix being so close to both borders it doesn't require much travelling. We headed over the Swiss border, just past Vallorcine, for our helicopter pick up by the side of the road; the helicopter literally lands in a lay-by and then takes you up into the mountains.

We were dropped high up on the Trient plateau, which is also part of the famous Haute Route that goes from Chamonix to Zermatt. We could see the rocky, pointy peak of the Matterhorn in the distance. Our route was going to be very different though: almost all downhill and with some great pitches of around 40º.

First we had to hike across the plateau to start our descent; it was about an hour's snowshoe hike with us all roped together because of the danger of falling through a snowbridge into a crevasse. Then we put our snowshoes onto our packs and strapped in: this is where the fun started. Our guides had picked out a couloir and from the helicopter it looked to be untracked, so we made our way to it. Initially the snow was quite affected by the wind and so it was a little tricky to find some good soft powder but as we rolled into the couloir things started to look up. The snow was unaffected by the heat and sun of the past week and was in top shape, and combined with the steeper pitch it was more than we could have hoped for: the few truly powdery turns in that stuff made my day.

Dropping into the couloir looked good; everyone in our group put in some great turns, but when I dropped in I triggered a small slab and the slough rapidly engulfed me, taking me halfway down the couloir before I managed to ride out to the side of it. It was a bit of an eye-opener as it could easily have taken me over some rocks. The rest of the ride down to Trient was in gradually heavier snow which eventually transformed into true spring snow. At the bottom of the valley the snow was almost non-existent so it was a case of walking and then strapping in where the snow allowed, before arriving at the car park. All in all a great day out and who would have thought that you could still find powder.

Today I came back down to earth with a bit of a thump as I spent most of the day at Grands Montets in the park. It's slushy in the park most of the day unless you get there super early in the morning in which case it'll be ice, which is not worth bothering with unless you want to break something. There have been a few minor changes to the jumps, some have gone, and some have been blended together.

The snow is still very good at Grands Montets although if you get there too early in the morning be ready for some very hard conditions: it softens up by 11:00am lower down and after 1:00pm higher up on the pistes from the Bochard and the Herse. Early in the morning the Pierre a Ric was in good condition and soft, and by the afternoon it was full-on slush with patches coming through; I think its days are numbered. Grands Montets does seem to have quietened down since the Easter weekend and I expect it'll continue to become even quieter. The hot weather is set to continue so and there aren't many more days left for Brevent, Flegere and Le Tour, which close on the 22nd, so I'll be trying to make the most of those areas before we are just left with Grands Montets until closing day on the 6th May.

Useful Information
Cross-country skiing is Closed
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