Chamonix Mountain Report: 20th December 2012

What a start to the winter! We already have a fantastic base and it just keeps snowing. The ski areas have been slow to get to grips with the snow (don’t ask me why it seems to come as a surprise to them that every winter that it snows and we want to ski) but more and more are now opening.

In Chamonix, the Grands Montets and Les Houches have been open every day with both offering great snow cover and skiing. Les Houches has been particularly good as the trees offer great visibility when there's loads of snow coming down. Everywhere else is opening up this Saturday for the duration of the season.

Last week has seen some great skiing especially for those prepared to put their skins on. The local ski areas of Megeve and St Gervais have been great places to skin with a heap of great tree skiing on the descents. I was also down in Tignes for a few days and can confirm that the great conditions extend across the Alps.

If you are wondering about where to ski this week the freezing level is bouncing about all over the place and the forecast suggests that it is going to be pretty mild at the weekend. The best snow is going be found in Les Houches in the trees and in the trees at the Grands Montets.You'll definitely need to get high on Saturday and Sunday as the freezing level is set to go up to 2,500m +.  Courmayeur is looking at pretty similar conditions and with a big dump of snow forecast there for Monday it could be the scene for a Christmas powder bonanza.

The warm conditions aren’t set to last however and the freezing level is predicted to be back at 1,000m by Monday night. While these fluctuations are a bit of disaster for all the current powder, they are great for the stability of the snow pack and consolidation of the base so it is a case of a bit of short-term pain for long term benefit.

With all of the lifts set to open this weekend, we all need to remember that much of our snow pack in Chamonix is stabilized by skier traffic. The snow gets skied as soon as it hits the ground so generally it is far more stable than on similar aspects and gradients in the true back country. As of yet, we haven’t had a lot of this skier stabilization of the snowpack yet so many areas will still be dangerous. Please remember to keep your avalanche antenna switched on if you are hoping to use the lifts to access powder snow in the coming days and weeks.

There have been a few tragic accidents in the Alps in the past weeks with a number of people being killed in avalanches. While this is incredibly sad, the real tragedy is that almost all of these people were skiing off piste and not wearing avalanche transceivers. 90% of avalanche fatalities happen as a result of human error so get yourself a transceiver, shovel and probe and get some avalanche education.

If you're looking for a last minute Christmas gift, I'd highly recommend getting a three antenna transceiver, a metal shovel and a probe (at least 240cm) on your letter to Santa asap..

Bruce Goodlad
The Mountain Adventure Company

Bruce is sponsored by Haglofs and Dynafit

NB: 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.