Chamonix Snow Report: 22nd January 2007

At last we've had a little fresh snow in Chamonix. Thankfully too, temperatures have dropped to a level that you might normally expect for this time of year. We've not had any fresh snow today, but yesterday it was snowing lightly for most of the day down to around 1800 metres. Tonight we've been forecast 5–10 cm with another 10–20 tomorrow morning right down to the town, so perhaps things are starting to look up.

Yesterday we went up to Flegere from Les Praz as the Liaison cable car between Brevent and Flegere wasn't working for most of the day. As soon as we arrived at Flegere we were engulfed by thick fog and snowboarding required an intimate knowledge of the force in order to stay upright. In the fog it snowed for most of the day and the wind higher up was fairly strong: strong enough to slow the Index chairlift down to a snail's pace and even stop it a couple of times whilst I was on it. I half expected a repeat of my last rescue from a chairlift two days ago. The snow that fell was the granular kind that doesn't seem to put down much depth, but there was about 5–10 cm of fresh snow by the end of the day, which was just enough to cover the now frozen slush from the past few days. The huge slush puddle at Flegere had frozen up and was covered with new snow, making things look a little better, although there were still a few stones knocking around to watch out for. La Trappe had reopened, but was showing a few twiggy bushes parts coming through the snow where it had been worn thin on the left side. Libellules was in better condition. We took a ride up the Chavannes chairlift, which is showing its age, but is apparently due for replacement next season. The snow wasn't bad at the top, but became thinner and icier the closer we got to the Trappe piste. At the top of the Index and Floria there had been enough new snow to make a difference and we even jumped off a few fresh cornices as the clouds cleared towards the end of the day. The off piste around the Floria was a mixture of wind scoured ice, and windloaded patches that weren't quite deep enough to stop our boards going through to the hard stuff below.

Today we were at Le Tour as we haven't been up there for some time now. We arrived just after midday, which wasn't a bad thing as the icy pistes had barely started to soften by then. As the afternoon wore on, the pistes softened a little but not much, making it a fairly short day's riding. Some of the icy off piste was almost better than the piste if you chose wisely and sought out the few centimetres of windblown snow that had been deposited here and there. There were a few drifts above some of the gullies, which made for two or three powdery turns. The top of Ecuries piste has been topped up with snow pushed onto it from the surrounding off piste areas, thus indicating how hard the pisteurs are working to keep things skiable. The Aiguillettes draglift was running when we were there but that was as far round the back as you could go. The Tete de Balme chairlift is now closed and the Vallorcine gondola was open only for walkers. This wasn't a great surprise as Esserts was on its last legs the previous time we were here. But it isn't all piste closures and doom and gloom; they have managed to mark a new run at Le Tour that heads out skier's left from the top of the Autannes chairlift: it is marked but not bashed so expect it to be a little bumpy. Unlike the rest of the front side of Le Tour the home run, Caisets, is in pretty poor shape. The warm weather of the last few weeks has really taken its toll on the depth of snow, as they haven't been able to run the snow cannons. There are warning signs saying ‘manque de neige', so you know it's not going to be good. But it's not that bad until you get to the last few hundred metres where it suddenly turns into a complete nightmare of thin, brown, sugary snow mixed with stones and rocks. Miraculously I managed to get through there with my base intact. For the sake of this piste I hope we get the 20–30 cm of snow forecast for tonight and tomorrow!

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