Chamonix Snow Report: 10th December 2012

Back to the weekend though and it was the lifts in Grands Montets and Les Houches that partially opened on Saturday, so as you can imagine there was great excitement in town on Friday and it was early nights all round in anticipation of an amazing powder day to kick the season off.  We weren’t disappointed.  On Saturday morning, after yet another very snowy night, every bus stop I passed had a little huddle of brightly coloured, Gore-Tex clad seasonnaires, bursting with excitement for those first turns. 

There has been soooo much snow falling in the last week that, as expected, Grands Montets was a bit delayed opening up as they secured the area first.  When it did get going there were 5 lifts open; Lognan and Plan Joran from the car park and Plan Roujon, Tabé and Marmottons up top.  Frustratingly, as is often the case at the start of the season, Bochard and the Herse remained closed and I think we’ll be waiting another week or so before these lifts get going for the winter (avalanche risk aside). There was also an incident with the Plan Joran chair that has meant it will remain closed for the foreseeable future, and it was rather disappointing to see that this chair hasn’t been replaced as was promised at the end of last season.....  Anyway, enough with the grumbles, we are being completely deluged with snow at the moment and are having an AMAZING start to the season.

Les Houches got my vote for the first turns of the season but on arrival at the Prarion car park I thought that I was going to spend much of my day waiting in queues – it was absolutely choc-a-bloc and people were parked a good distance along the road as well.  However, I don’t know where they all went, but up top I didn’t wait for a single lift all day and I certainly didn’t feel that I was dodging bodies at every turn.  Only the lifts and runs down the front of the Prarion side were open; the backside down to Plancerts and Les Crozats and the whole of the Bellevue area remained closed but there was still plenty of terrain to get to grips with on early season legs.  The temptation of getting fresh lines down an ungroomed Schuss des Dames on the Bellevue side proved too hard to resist for many and there was a steady stream of hikers plodding their way up to get those oh so tasty looking freshies.  But this weekend it was freshies all round – whether you could be bothered to hike for them or not.  On piste, the snow was well prepared and chalky with only the occasional rogue stone here and there which is pretty impressive for early December.  If I’m being really picky, things got a bit crunchier on the home run below the Maison Neuve chair where the snow cannons were working overtime, but when there was thigh deep powder everywhere else you looked, these patches don’t even warrant a mention.

The official snow depth figures have yet to get going for the winter and so you will have to make to with my unofficial measurements for the moment.  Depth at 1800m: knee to thigh high; Quality overall:  Awesome pow!  Down in town there is well over 50cms of snow everywhere – roads are white, snow tyres/chains are essential, parking is “interesting” to say the least.  With so much snow down on the valley floor the cross country skiing is also off to a booming start as could be seen at the annual Ravanel & Co Nordic ski test on Saturday.  This free event attracted the lycra clad in their hoards, all keen to try out the very latest cross country kit.  There is already a large chunk of trails open in and around the Bois du Bouchet and they are really in top notch condition.  Tickets can be bought at the Foyer du Fond (opposite the MBC) and remember that your Guest Card from your accommodation provider will give you a discounted rate.

For the next few days it looks like the snow is going to keep on falling, albeit a bit more lightly than the recent dumps.  Wednesday looks like it’ll be the day to get out on the hill – should be a bluebird so clear your diary and make sure you don’t miss out.  Welcome to the valley Winter 2012-13; I think we are going to become great friends! ;O)