Chamonix Activity Report: 20th June 2007
The last week has thrown up a mixed bag of weather in Chamonix. Apart from a couple of cloudy days at the beginning of last week, we have had standard late spring weather here with some warm sunny spells, interspersed with late afternoon showers – some of which have brought some impressive thunder and lightning displays. On Sunday night the forecasted rain seemed to have missed us, unfortunately it came eventually in the early hours of the morning just as I was walking the 20 minutes to home from a night in town. This was true Chamonix rain that came down in bucket loads, luckily I had a waterproof, a friend of mine didn't, instead he managed to fashion something out of shopping bags and cling film after a quick nightcap at another friends in town. Whilst the result wasn't 100% Gore-Tex in its waterproofing, it was nonetheless 100% hilarious and kept us entertained for the journey home.
I should just say that Sunday evening at Chambre 9 was really entertaining, with a welcome return by winter favourites The Balboas. Considering that Chamonix is still relatively quiet at the moment, the band drew a sizeable crowd. Their two hour set finished off with my personal favourite “Everlong” by The Foo Fighters, was the perfect mix for the crowd on the night. Hopefully we will see The Balboas returning later in the summer but keep an eye out for more events coming up at Chambre 9.
This weekend saw the opening of many of the lifts around Chamonix, after a short break at the end of the winter. The Planpraz gondola, Flegere cable car and Charamillon gondola are now open for the summer, this combined with the Aiguille de Midi cable car, Montenvers train and Les Houches cable car provide a huge potential of activities and summer fun on the mountains in Chamonix. The Grands Montets cable car will open this Saturday (22nd June) to complete the area's lift system.
The much anticipated opening of the Charamillon gondola in Le Tour on Saturday drew in a huge number of walkers and mountain bikers all keen to venture on the many paths and tracks in the area. The La Tour bowl at the end of the valley above Argentiere is a large area of open terrain which has extensive views down the Chamonix valley, access to the Le Tour glacier and its ridge separates France from Switzerland. Not wanting to miss out on some biking fun, we headed up to the gondola. My old and trusty mountain bike cowered behind me standing next to some of the sparkling new full suspension offerings racked up by the ticket kiosk. It felt a bit like taking your shirt off on a beach full of body builders. Still I had faith in my ride and ventured up the lift.
The route we took follows the track heading straight up from the lift station towards the left hand Poma's on top of the ridge (Col de Posettes). It's got a few steep patches on that you may need to get off and push up, but the ride up should only take 10 to 15 minutes. From the top of the ridge, a long dirt track of switch backs and sweeping bends down to Vallorcine awaits - I'd love to say from my speedometer the distance it was to Vallorcine but by the bottom and after a 15 minute arm jolting and rocky descent, my Speedo had well and truly packed up. Thankfully my bike and body remained intact and the ride down certainly got the adrenaline pumping as we pushed it more and more around each hairpin. We were all riding hard-tail bikes but I'd imagine that anything with full suspension would have eaten up the track. However the advantage of the hard-tail came in on the next section up to the top of the Col de Montets.
As we entered Vallorcine we stayed on the left hand side of the railway tracks and followed the grassy path to the Col de Montets. There are a couple of steep climbs back up to the top of the col, we didn't cycle too hard and it took us around 25 minutes. From here all that's left to do is speed back into Chamonix. After racing the cars along the road and through Argentiere we took the path along the river. The path has been levelled and in places concreted so some of the fun bumps and tree roots to hop and bounce off have been covered, it is still a lot of fun though and the flat track certainly helps you get some good speed up – Though remember that there are pedestrians on the path so be cautious. The afternoon was finished off perfectly with a couple of shandies at the vagabond. All talks of a big night on the town vanished there and then as tired bodies succumbed to the combination of beer and late afternoon sun.
On Sunday I went out for an afternoon walk with the dog on the Grand Balcon Sud the conditions were sweltering but the gentle breeze that you could feel in town was a little fresher and stronger at around 1800 metres. The path that leads from the Brevent gondola snakes along the side of the mountain in between the Brevent and La Flegere cable car. The pathway is well trodden but never over crowded, and ventures over a variety of mountain terrain, from: verdant open fields that are bursting with colour to craggy cliff top ledges. There was the odd remnant of snow close to the path, putting up a valiant effort to resist the suns rays. Still the dog was happy as he could cool off with a good roll in the snow.
The walk can be completed by almost anyone as it is relatively flat and has some great views across the valley; I think you get a greater perspective of size and scale over the whole Aigulle range when you are on the Balcon. We strolled leisurely and it took us 10 minutes short of 2 hours. To extend it or make it more challenging you can either start at the bottom of La Praz and head up the trail to the cable car and complete the path in reverse (approx 3 hours), or start from the Lacs de Gaillands woods and get some shelter from the trees and follow the signed trail up to Brevent (approx 4 hours). Its well worth buying a map book from one of the book shops in town, these offer information not only on walking routes but elaborate on the fascinating history of Chamonix and the fauna and flora that can be seen around the valley.
The temperatures are soaring in Chamonix at the moment, as is the humidity so a welcome storm tonight might freshen things up, hopefully settling in time for Thursday night and the Fete de la Musique. It'll be a great evening with live bands and DJs playing until the small hours all around the town centre, there really is something for everyone here, so whether you just fancy watching the spectacle or want to dance the night away, get yourselves along there.
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
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
