Chamonix Snow Report: 12th March 2006

This weekend has been epic. Saturday saw the weather break a little and then it started snowing all over again right through the evening. We now have 210 cm of snow in our garden in Argentiere at 1250 m, but on the mountain there's much deeper snow higher up. Yesterday, I headed up to Grands Montets. I wasn't up there super early but still managed to find some untracked snow off piste, some in the trees of the Dream Forest and some off the Herse by the Hotel. In the tracked areas, the snow was still superb because of the cold weather, and there wasn't any wet or heavy powder up there. All the lifts were running except the top cable car, but even that opened today. The runs off that must have been fantastic. The weather yesterday wasn't great as the visibility kept coming and going on the hill. It couldn't have helped the riders competing in the French national boarder cross competition that has been happening there this weekend. Crowds weren't a problem though: most of the lift queues I was in were short or non-existent, although there were moments when some of the pistes (Marmotton and Pierre a Ric) felt a little too busy.

Le Tour opened today after being closed yesterday. It was almost all open except the Aiguillette drag lift, which must still be closed because of avalanche risk. Everyone had been waiting for the Tete de Balme chair to open on the backside because the terrain from it is so good when there's fresh snow. Again I was late up the hill and missed the initial rush to get to the powder, so it was tracked when I arrived but still there were stashes of fresh snow to be had and as expected the snow off the back chair was stunning. I bumped into a friend who had got to Le Tour earlier, and he was wearing a lot of snow on his face; I jokingly asked if he'd taken a head plant, but, no, it was all from his powder turns and the resulting face shots. I should have been up there earlier! It was cold at Le Tour today. I wasn't wearing enough layers and the wind-chill on the chairlifts was pretty extreme, so I spent most of my time trying to warm my numb fingers. The cold had its advantages though, as it kept the powder light and dry all day even on the sunnier slopes that face Le Tour itself. The snow on the pistes doesn't really get any better than it is at the moment, in fact the base is so deep that the end of the season is looking very promising indeed. The weather looks like calming down a little too, and I think we may have seen the last of the snow for a few days. I'm looking forward to some sunny spring days and starting some backcountry touring once the snow settles down.

Useful Information
Cross-country skiing is Open
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