Chamonix Snow Report: 14th December 2012

Up top we were greeted by the welcome sight of the Bochard being open (I take back my comment in the last report about it not opening for another week or so – although there continues to be a disappointing lack of motion on the Herse.... ;O)  Once the Bochard is open though it only takes a matter of moments for the entirety of the main face to get tracked as eager powder hounds make the looooong traverse, skiers right from the top of the gondola.  With strong thighs, it’s possible to traverse all the way across the area to the Herse and beyond as the big sweeping tracks in the powder proved.

Now unfortunately just being a snow reporter does not enable me to live in the manner to which I have become accustomed, so I do have this rather irritating “proper job” that can on occasion impede my ability to get on the first lift.  This was the case on Wednesday and I had to make do riding other people’s chop, but even so, the snow was still super light and fluffy and around mid-shin to knee deep in the untouched sections.  I was trying out a new board this week, which combined with new boots AND early season legs, required a few blasts down the Bochard red to get into the swing of things before venturing into the softer stuff.  The pistes are really well covered for so early in the season and with the exception of the usual hard packed sections (mainly halfway down the Bochard just past the orange netting) everything was in tip top condition.  As was that case in Les Houches the other day, the Pierre a Ric home run was lovely for the first half but lower down it became really hard and scratchy where there are huge piles of artificial snow awaiting distribution and some massive ice cookies thrown in for good measure.  It wasn’t great fun on a board to be honest and I reckon Chamonet’s Ellie had much more fun on it last night on her Paret evening with Evolution 2.

The wind has picked up massively in the last couple of days and has been busy stripping snow from the more exposed areas creating a few more icy sections across the area. Today is warmer though and the rain/snow limit has risen to around 1500m.  We should be getting between 25-40cms of neige tonight at 2000m, but with gale force winds also being forecast, I doubt that much of it will still be there come morning.  Weather is looking a bit grim for this weekend with the high winds hanging around for a few more days and the visibility is probably not going to be great.  Not to worry though because there are some great parties taking place this weekend including the eagerly awaited opening of the brand new MOÖ Bar on Saturday and first après with No limits in Chambre 9 on Sunday.  Think I will mainly be wearing my salopettes to party in this weekend.