Season 2018/19 begins in Chamonix
Winter 2018/19 is almost upon us, who's excited?
You weren't getting worried, were you? Winter 2018/19 certainly kept us waiting. The early possible lift opening date of November 17th came and went. As did the next weekend. And the next... But the season starting storm finally arrived early in December and, on Saturday 15th, Les Grands Montets, Brévent, Flégère and Les Houches all opened for skiing.
Conditions could hardly have been better for an opening day. Clear blue skies, cold temperatures and plenty of barely touched snow. True, you can always ask for deeper snowpack but, as Chamonix's peak snow depth is historically in March, we shouldn't really be complaining about 80 to 100cm of snow already at 2000m altitude on opening day.
Brévent was bitterly cold first thing on Saturday and there were a few stutterings from the lift infrastructure (a theme across the valley as early season teething problems were ironed out). However, everyone seemed pretty happy with the relatively quietness, a fair amount of open pistes and slopes ready for the first tracks of the winter to be put on them outside the piste markers. The snow cover's still not deep or solid enough for carefree riding off-piste as plenty of rocks lurk just below the surface ready to ruin a ski base or knee but, with a bit of caution, you could enjoy some great snow without wrecking anything.
On a forecast for 20 to 30cm of fresh snow above 1800m overnight, Sunday looked like being a great second day of the season. Alas, whereas Saturday was better than expected, Sunday was a bit worse. The freezing level had risen higher than forecast and the snow had humidified and started to form a bit of a surface slab. Combined with the full cloud cover and flat light it meant even the groomed pistes weren't a huge amount of fun.
At Les Grands Montets, we hoped we could get high enough to find some unaffected snow but, even above the Bochard lift, the snow had either been worked by the wind or the humidity. Or both. With an avalanche risk of 4 out of 5, it wasn't really the day to be out shredding the deep and the steep anyway, so back to the pistes it was. At the other end of the altitude scale, Pierre a Ric was riding quite nicely and, at least in the morning before too much traffic got on it, was giving the best turns of the day. As ever, when the snow gods take, they also give. Whilst the conditions might not have been ideal on the day, this warming and cooling of the snowpack helps settle it in to form a better base for the next snowfall and the rest of the season.
Sure enough, add another 20 or so centimetres of snow overnight and Les Grands Montets was skiing much better again. You still couldn't see anything, and the pistes were still quite lumpy due to the fresh snow falling after being groomed overnight but at least the snow was better! If only we could have just a little bit more visibility... Santa? Well, it is Christmas, wishes can come true and they did if you hung about until the afternoon when the clouds lifted higher on the mountains.
Fortunately for all of us who missed Monday afternoon, Tuesday was just as sunny as advertised. The slopes were a little busier than Saturday but, whether you were focusing on the crisp pistes or the velvety powder, there was little to complain about. Back to Les Grands Montets (we're nothing if not thorough in our assessment of conditions) and we found good snow and few tracks in the Lavancher bowl (remembering that the Pendant Retour chairlift has yet to open, so this area is officially closed and to be entered at your own risk) as well as when roaming around the main ski area. With the loss of the Grands Montets top lift for the next few seasons, the open slopes below the upper lift station remained mostly untouched, with only the steady stream of freeriders using the secured skin track to the Col des Rachasses to break the clean lines of the snow.
So that's how the slopes are shaping up so far. Looking forward to Christmas week, the weather reports aren't embracing the festive spirit of peace, love and cooperation. You're hard pushed to find much agreement between any forecasts. Basically, whichever prediction you prefer, it's going to alter a lot over the next few days as some complicated weather changes happen in the stratosphere making life even harder for the world's overworked supercomputers, so you'll just have to keep refreshing the forecast page.
What we do know is that Le Tour is due to open for Christmas week along with more of the lifts at the rest of the valley's ski areas. With the conditions already in resort, this means that if the weather finally goes for being sunny, we'll have plenty of good piste skiing and, once the snow stabilises a bit more, some grand early season tour conditions. If, instead, we get more snow storms then there'll be some cracking powder skiing to be had, and what could be better than heavy snow falling on Christmas day!
NB: Exploring beyond the ski resort boundaries is an amazing experience for anyone who's physically fit and has mastered the pistes well enough. There are, however, risks associated with venturing outside the safety of the marked/patrolled ski area, including awareness of your actions on those below you on the slopes. Mountain guides are professionally qualified and have extensive knowledge of the local terrain to provide you with the safest and most enjoyable possible experience in the mountains; as a visitor here we highly recommend you hiring one. Many ski schools also provide instruction in off-piste skiing, avalanche safety and mountaineering techniques. Make your time in the mountains unforgettable for the right reasons, ski safe!
Off-piste skiing and mountaineering are dangerous. The opinions expressed in these articles are very much time and condition-specific and the content is not intended in any way to be a substitute for hiring a mountain guide, undergoing professional mountaineering training and/or the individual's own backcountry decision making.
