Chamonix Snow Report: 16th December 2013

Up on the Brevent Lorne skied some firm, icy pistes in the shade and some softer stuff in the sun  There was even some rideable off-piste action to be had in the shade...
"Only the Parsa and Cornu chairlifts were running and the snow cover was very thin, but it was still a fun afternoon.  The Parsa piste had nice soft snow with plenty of rolls to play on, while the Cornu piste was much firmer and littered with hazzard poles marking exposed rocks.  A few shaded off-piste sections had nice powdery snow to play in, but with the thin cover we had to take things cautiously."

Back up at Les Grands Montets, Jo & Mikey enjoyed a sunny day on the pistes...
"After a few weeks of no fresh snow we were intrigued to see what would the conditions would be like up top. After whizzing down the Bochard we were nicely surprised. Although a little busy, the pistes were not too bad, a little icy in patches but overall a soft covering of sugary snow made of a combination of fake & real snow groomed around to give a soft layer on top of the icy base. Only a few pistes were open and with hardly any of the lifts in action this weekend we were done after a few laps of the Bochard. A beer in the sunshine with views over the valley was not a bad way to finish a surprisingly pleasant ski. "

Meanwhile Robin made the most of the lack of fresh powder to get the legs ready for some touring with a hike up to Les Houches.
"The Les Houches ski touring route isn't yet open as most of the route is lacking snow, but the ascent can be done simply by sticking to the side of the pistes which have enough snow. The ckimb up was done with a cool start in the shade and hot finish under the sunshine.
The Prarion gondola is the only lift currently open in Les Houches but the pistes down from the top are in good condition, nicely groomed and only had a few icy patches down the bottom."

The Chamonix forecast is promising snow towards the end of the week with the rain/snow limit dropping down to 800 metres, so for those arriving for next week it should be a white Christmas in Chamonix.

Current conditions at the Col de Voza, Les Houches: