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Chamonix Activity Report: 19th May 2010

featured in Activity reviews Author Kieran Sharp, Updated

Previous weeks have seen mostly bad weather with not much of the sun popping its head out, but the past few days the weather seems to be changing slightly bringing sunnier weather through but still fairly cold so the shorts might come out the draw for a bit of the day with the inevitable change in trousers coming later in the afternoon! We have been trying out the BBQ's for the season but it has often ended in retreating inside as its not quit warm enough to hang around late in to the evening just yet.

With the cooler temperatures lower down this has meant that temperatures high up on the Aguille du Midi has been below freezing keeping the snow fairly good and with a surprisingly low snowline for this time of year after a good dump of snow last week, it has meant that the Valle Blanche and many tours of this area have still been possible and many are enjoying this reality. A lot of the steeper routes have come in to good condition which has meant for those that enjoy the more extreme skiing and snowboarding have been having a very good time indeed, I would recommend that if you are also in to this type of riding that you come out now before the summer really kicks in up high.

This is a great time to be out in the valley here in Chamonix, although alto of people wont book a holiday out here as its technically not summer or winter so seasonal activities seem to not be possible, but for those who like to tour or extreme ski/board can have a good time and at the same time its warm enough to climb on the lower crags around the whole valley, along with a lot of trails now open and in very good condition for hiking/biking. No real downhill tracks are accessible at the moment but the lower trails have a lot of potential, you can get the train up to Argentiere and ride down the Balcon Nord/Sud with some epic views along the way and some challenging sections in them.

If you like to chill out a bit like I have done mostly this past week then it's a good idea to head down to one of the lakes just a short way out of the valley, and very much to my surprise they are just about warm enough to swim in! although we didn't actually swim the other day we decided to head down to the lake just to chill out have a BBQ drink a little wine and enjoy the wonderful views in the area. Lac De Passy can be accessed from any number of ways in the summer, if your feeling energetic you could bike down from Chamonix all the way down to the lake, but maybe get the train back up hill! You can also take the train down to Le Fayet and walk about a mile to the lake or you can drive there which takes around 20 mins from Chamonix centre. We took the option of driving down nicely and lazily and spent the afternoon simply relaxing watching the world go by and enjoying a nice BBQ while those who didn't partake in the cooking played a bit of volley ball and tested the water with a bit of paddling where we were all surprised to find the temperature quit bearable, so next time we come down the road we are definitely bringing the swimmers!

So with plenty still to do in the valley, loads of restaurants, and bars open along with some lifts and lots of vacancies in chalets and hotels with great deals during the inter-season why not have a cheap holiday out in lovely Chamonix!

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!