A snowy mountain range with a blue sky in the background

A person skiing down a snowy slope with a mountain in the background

People skiing down a snow covered slope with trees in the background

Chamonix Snow Report: 10th December 2005

featured in Snow report Author Ellie Mahoney, Chamonix Editor Updated 26 May 2016

After this week's bumper snowfall, this morning there was a low mist sitting in the bottom of the valley but higher up there were clear blue skies. As I headed up to the boulangerie for bread and croissants this morning I noticed plenty of cars going into the Grands Montets car park so I was expecting it to be a little busier up on the slopes. However, by the afternoon when I was up there it wasn't as busy as I expected it to be given that it is a weekend.

Grands Montets is still the only area open here in Chamonix, but a few more lifts are now running to cope with the increasing number of skiers. You can now take the chairlift up to Lognan as well as the cable car. I opted for the Plan Joran chair as there was no queue at all; I don't think anyone realised it was open as people were skiing right past it. Up on the mountain the Marmottons and Tabe chairs were running (the Marmottons had a short queue). I noticed some pisteurs on the Herse lift so maybe it'll be opening soon too.

It's cold up there and the sun made it onto the slopes only briefly during the afternoon so it remained shady for most of the day. The snow itself is good: not the soft powdery stuff anymore, instead it's the firmer kind of snow that lends itself to carving. The Pierre a Ric run back down to Argentiere had a harder surface with the artificial base almost icy: conditions that seemed perfect for the numerous skiers I saw travelling down it at mach 10. On a board it was just about possible to hold an edge if you kept your wits about you and used the piles of soft snow dotted around. The off piste was looking pretty tracked, with plenty of rocks rearing their ugly heads. However, with a few more snowfalls things will be looking pretty good as we now have a halfway decent base down.

As evening draws in the mist in the valley has returned and we're set for another very cold night. As I write this report in Argentiere it's 5pm and on our balcony the thermometer reads -5ºc.

Useful Information
Cross-country skiing is Closed
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

We will be keeping this Chamonix snow report updated often during the season, but if you want even more up-to-date news on the ski conditions, why not sign up for our Dump Alert? We'll email you each time it snows enough to significantly change the skiing conditions. It's great to know that the snow is falling in the run-up to your holiday, and it might even allow you to book a last-minute weekend when the snow is particularly good. The service is free, and you can unsubscribe whenever you like.

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