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Snow report 4 April 2024
Yet another week of changeable and unsettled weather here in the Northern Alps. It was cooler during the last week and we’ve had rain, sleet and snow at varying depths. The natural snow depths over 2200m remain good but below that, with the milder temperatures and virtually no overnight freezing, the snow is now very sparse. The quality of the snow has deteriorated too with the amount of water and wind over the last week.
After a cooler few days and surprising amounts of snow, we’ve enjoyed some good skiing in Chamonix as the freezing level dropped briefly down to 1000 metres. This helped keep some of the lower slopes going, although the amount of rain and wind has not helped the quality of snow.
The next few days
However temperatures over the next few days are very mild for this time of year and at around 2000 metres we can expect the temperature to get up to around 13 - 15 degrees from now until Monday.
On Tuesday the forecast is currently predicting light snowfall, up to 10 cm over around 1800 metres and freezing at around 1400 metres on Tuesday night.
Avalanche risk
After quite high winds and rain and snow over the last few days there has been avalanche instability through the Northern Alps, caused mainly by glide cracks and cold, dry slab avalanches usually triggered by the skiers. The current avalanche risk through most of the northern Alps is 3 out of 5 and there is a danger of wet snow avalanches. Take heed of the avalanche warnings in Chamonix before even considering venturing off piste.
This weeks chosen photo to accompany our snow report for the Northern Alps region is from Val d'Isere Ski Instructors and the video below from Verbier.
Watch this
Top tips if you are skiing this week
We have spring ski conditions now and the pistes will likely be a little busier as it’s still Easter holidays. There are plenty of events planned over the Easter break in Chamonix, check out our events calendar.
- The temperature is changeable in the mountains, we’re properly spring skiing now, but it may be a little chilly out of the sun. So thinner layers, a shell jacket rather than a thick winter coat, more lightweight gloves are a good idea, and open those vents as the day warms up!
- Don't forget the sunscreen! Even when the windchill is high, the sun in the mountains is still intense.
- You’ll need your goggle lenses for sun this week
- Early morning the pistes are harder packed and maybe a bit icy and then a bit slushy in the afternoon. So coordinate your ski time to whichever conditions you prefer.
- Get your skis and boards waxed as the wetter snow can slow you down a bit!
- Book the sunny restaurant terrace for lunch
Still time to enjoy some late season skiing, check out - Why come spring skiing in Chamonix.
Updates
Scroll down to see live forecasts, lift status, links to webcams and above for real time photos from Chamonix. We will be updating this snow report page every Thursday, so check back in with us next week to see how the pistes are doing and what you can expect from the snow forecast for the next seven days.
We need you!
If you're in Chamonix this week, we'd love to see your images, especially videos, of what you've been up to. So when you post to Facebook or Instagram, please tag us SeeChamonix. Every week, we'll be posting our favourite videos and images here and sharing on our social media, along with our weekly resort snow report.
Have a great week out on the pistes!
