Chamonix Activity Report: 6th October 2005
I may be stating the obvious here, as it is the beginning of October after all, but autumn has arrived here in Chamonix. Crisp blue skies, a chill in the air and people suddenly wearing coats & scarves rather than shorts & flip-flops. Most noticeable of all is the changing colour of the leaves. Being tucked down in a winding valley, Chamonix is surrounded every way you look by tree-covered mountains and right now they look amazing. Dotted in amongst the various green shades of pines & firs are the shocking bursts of orange, red and yellow of the deciduous trees as they turn
Throughout its history, Chamonix has attracted artists, photographers, writers & poets and it is clear why many would come back time and again as the mountains look spectacular during each of the four seasons. Lord Byron and his gothic friends the Shelleys were apparently frequent visitors and it is alleged (so I read) that Mary Shelley's ‘Frankenstein' was inspired by a visit to the Mer de Glace (must've been those dodgy mannequins!)
This is traditionally a fairly quiet time for tourism – all the lift systems, bar the Aiguille du Midi, have closed until the winter season and many of the shops in town close for a period, to either take a well earned break or to re-stock with all the new stuff for the oncoming season. Locals are ordering up wood for their fires and rushing to finish any repair work on their homes before the real cold sets in. This weekend we had a fair bit of rain and as a taster for what's to come, the snow limit dropped to around 1600m leaving a distinct blanket of snow. All in all, it's a time of anticipation and the excitement is building for the arrival of winter – bring it on!
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
