Chamonix Snow Report: 17th December 2008
Just as we think it's over, Mother Nature serves up another dose of deep, dry, fluffy white stuff. The snow started falling in the early hours of this morning, and hasn't let up since. The snowflakes are tiny and light, pinpricks of cold that pepper your face as you walk around, and there was a good four inches on my car when I dug it out this morning.
And this is at valley level. Up the mountain it's going to be colder, drier and deeper - perfect for snowsports. I've been riding a Dupraz powder board practically all winter so far, the shorter 165cm version, and I'm thinking of stepping up to the 178 because of all this snow. Clients at the sports shop I work in in town are all about the powder gear right now; the stuff for carving and jibbing is getting left behind.
I was in Courmayeur yesterday, which escaped the vicious foehn wind that de-snowed Chamonix over the weekend - there were vast piles of snow in the car park and we found some of the deepest snow we'd ever ridden at 2000m. Now Chamonix is getting back that way. I'll leave you with some shots from today around town and yesterday in Courmayeur. Apologies for the blur, the rocket-fuel coffee left us all with shaky hands!
Tom
PS One last thing. If you are bringing a car to Chamonix this year, either fit some snowtyres (I run two on my front drive wheels and have no problems, but four is ideal) or buy snowchains. All-weather tyres are not going to cut it this year.
Stats
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Level 3
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0
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Total Pistes: 75
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Alt. Resort: 1972
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Alt. Summit: 2700
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Alt. Last Snow: 1050
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High Temp.: 3
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Alt. High Temp.: 1050
