Chamonix Snow Report: 19th April 2006

Yesterday we headed up to Flegere and Brevent as their days are numbered now, both areas are due to close this coming Sunday. We arrived with seasonnaire tardiness at around 11:00 but Chamonix is so quiet at the moment there was no queue for the Les Praz cable car up to Flegere. Once up there we found that the snow is still in great shape and few people were taking advantage of it. Lachenal was excellent: the whole run had been groomed and was corduroy from top to bottom: not too icy but a little bit soft. Elsewhere in Flegere it was a little more soft and slushy but then it is April. The red run Crochues was groomed well in the middle section although the top and lower sections were a little bumpy. The Chavannes chair wasn't running; I'm not sure of the reason why but it seems to be closed today too, perhaps for the season now. There is a risk that some of the pistes at Flegere will close through the day as it heats up today. I imagine that the situation will be the same tomorrow as it's forecast to be warmer than today. In general the pistes at Flegere are covered well and definitely better than I can remember them being at this end of the season for the last few years. Usually you would expect to see stones and bare patches, but fortunately they are few and far between except for the usual patches on the rollovers above the bottom of the Index lift.

Brevent was in fantastic shape too yesterday, snow cover is excellent and the quality of the snow wasn't too slushy and was actually very good on all but the lower sections of the Charles Bozon and Cornu pistes. The Charlanon piste was closed yesterday; I guess it had something to do with the avalanche risk there. I saw evidence of some very large wet-snow avalanches in the Charlanon bowl all the way down to the pistes by the Liaison cable car. Vioz below the Parsa chair was in better condition yesterday than it was for most of last season. The thing that struck me most about the snow in general was how good it was; the snow depth area at Flegere under the Trappe chair was measuring 250cm. It does seem crazy that the lifts are due to close on these areas on Sunday. Last season Brevent stayed open until the end of April and it didn't have snow anywhere near this good. If only Compagnie du Mont Blanc could be a little more flexible with the closing dates.

This morning we had sun and clear blue skies, perfect for a ride down the Vallee Blanche. We had to get a number for a cable car up but in the end only waited 15 minutes longer than if we'd walked straight on. It gave us time for a wake-up coffee. It was fairly busy on the arête from the Midi station, with plenty of people slip-sliding their way clinging onto the rope for dear life. I had packed some crampons and used them but it wasn't at all necessary, boots were fine for the friends I was with. The sun was strong up there, plenty of sunscreen recommended. I had to remove a layer too as it was so warm, and first layer and a shell jacket was more than enough. We took the normal Vallee Blanche route down, a well-worn trail today closely resembling a piste. Those looking for powder had better take a different route. The Geant icefalls were, as usual, astounding: seracs and crevasses tumbling and cutting through the valley. We took the route to the skier's left, at which point the snow was starting to get wet and slushy. There appeared to have been some serac falls here, below the icefalls is probably not the safest place to have a picnic. The flat runout to Montenvers was thankfully quick even on a board and there was no need to unstrap and push at any point. By the afternoon cumulus cloud had started to bubble up on the slopes but not enough to block out the sun very much. We took the train down, as there isn't enough snow lower in the valley to ride back to Chamonix. The whole trip is a real bargain as all the lifts are included on the Chamski pass, fantastic. If you haven't done the Vallee Blanche before, we recommend you hire a guide as the whole route is on a glacier with the risk of falling in a crevasse.

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