Chamonix Snow Report: 3rd January 2011

Great sunny days here in Chamonix and good times being fabricated on the hill, by all who venture up. After a very busy New Year's week we find ourselves enjoying a slightly more relaxed vibe this week, but there seems to be more people around than normal for the week after New Year.

For myself and a lot of other people New Year's Day was spent in bed after a heavy night of partying. Seeing such sunny weather out did make me feel slightly guilty, but with no new snow recently I could at least justify the will to stay in bed!

There were so many parties all over the valley for New Year's Eve and with so many options it was hard to come to an appropriate decision. However after hanging out in the village of Argentiere for a while and seeing a cool vibe spreading through all the bars in the town, combined with the knowledge of how crazy things can be in Chamonix, we decided to hang up the hill for a very pleasurable evening. As the night fell on the last weekend of the year, a lot of people had to catch their planes home the next morning, so some very strange journeys were experienced by holiday makers.

Even though there hasn't been any fresh snow lately there is always some fun to be had. With the colder temperatures and sunny days it has been a good idea to hit some of the south facing slopes, where it will at least feel psychologically warmer. Today over in Le Tour it was actually possible to find some softish freshish snow around! So we made the most of that and found a few little jib spots, wind lips, and drops to play around on; get in the air and get our spinning hats on! The park in the Grand Montets is now partially open with a couple of small jumps, however with the colder temperatures and slightly harder snow pack, it's not that appealing just yet. So my top tip is to practise on whatever natural stuff you can find for the moment and then it should all come back once you hit the park.

There can be a big fear factor with the park and sometimes you can find yourself going backwards in your progress when starting a new season, especially if (like me) injury has been a plague on your snowboarding or skiing life! I like to try and get to the standard I found myself in at the end of the previous season as quick as possible, as the act of not doing so can bring in some negative psychological factors which can take more time to get over. I find that understanding that your mind and body both have a set of good and bad habits is crucial to getting over any psychological barrier to do with your riding - whether it's making a turn for the 1st time or getting upside down for the 100th time! Learning how to recognise when your mind and body switch these habits on will help you to control them and switch off the bad, and switch on the good. So right now I'm trying to get my head round all the different types of rotation and tricks I was doing last year and remembering when to go for it or when to leave it because I can see the bad habits coming!

If you're out this week try getting around some of the sunnier slopes which will offer softer snow conditions, warmer temperatures and generally happy good times! Brevent, Flegere, and Le Tour are all good options for that, so make sure if you are in the valley that you give these hills a visit!

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!