Chamonix Snow Report: 14th January 2009

The snow in Chamonix right now is still in shape. It's a miracle really; over two weeks since it last snowed and the place is still perfectly skiable. OK; off piste (on all aspects now) is brittle and bony, and we're reliant on the sun to melt the snow so it becomes soft.

Groomers are a different story. Pistes are soft where the snow grooming machines have churned up the top layers of the snowpack. There's sheet ice a few inches underneath, which reveals itself toward the end of the day on the busiest runs, but the rest of it is really OK. If you're an intermediate rider heading to Chamonix to shred the pistes, you'll have a great time.

Had some great cruisy runs at La Flégère today. Flégère is a brilliant little mountain, over on the south-facing side of the valley next to Brevent. It's often overlooked, as the base station is out of town at Les Praz, and most people who travel up valley to ski tend to end up amongst the glacial gnar of Le Tour or the sunny gentle slopes of Le Tour. Which means that if you get off the bus at La Flégère (or take the Brevent liaison), you'll have the place to yourself more often than not. True, the green cable car up is not the fastest lift in the world, but once you're up the lift network is well though out and reliable. From the midstation restaurant we rode the Index chairlift to the top, then traversed over to the Floria poma. Snowboarders - it's a really easy one-foot scoot, no need to strap in. We rode the Floria, which is quite merciful for a draglift, and accessed the Crochues red from the top. We hit it after the sun had been on it a while, softening the snow as the valley lit up beneath us.

There are a couple of awesome off-piste trails down under the Floria too, which I'll go into detail on over the next few weeks once they are back in condition. Stay tuned.

Chamonix town is good right now too. It's sale season, and a bunch of the shops have got big promotions on. The new Nikita shop, next to Le Pub, has 30% off everything and Helly Hansen have 30% off streetwear. The best deals, as always, are to be found in the independent boutiques like Excess and Zero G, both of which have up to 50% off stuff already. Happy days - especially in these days where the pound goes less far in Euroland.

Furthermore, all the Christmas decorations are still up, which gives the place a festive feel even though Twelfth Night is long gone. We're not arguing though; those lights hanging over the Rue Docteur Paccard, along with the snowy pavements (still!) make Chamonix a real winter wonderland.

See you up here soon!

Tom

Check out what to do around town once the lifts have closed with our Apres Ski Report - a weekly round up of what's hot and where to party in Chamonix!