A snowy mountain range with a purple sky in the background

A group of people standing on top of a snow covered slope with one wearing a shirt that says 409

A person in a yellow jacket is skiing down a snowy hill

A large crowd of people are gathered on a snowy hillside

A snowy mountain with a blue sky in the background

Chamonix Snow Report: 19th March 2010

featured in Snow report Author Kieran Sharp, Updated 24 October 2014

Spring is really here now in Chamonix so that means a few things….sun cream is a must, fewer layers, waxing your ride more often, and of course enjoying parties on the hill and beers in the sun!

A lot of holiday makers believe that you cant really ski that much after mid-March and when you experience the warm weather we have been having this past couple of weeks no one will blame you for thinking that way. However for those who have lived through the seasons here for years on end have seen a different point of view to this confusion. Every season I have been here it has become warm like it is now in March but towards the end of the month, through in to April and even in to May, it has chucked it down with snow! With no one else around during the final months of the season and either riding powder or some nice forgiving slushy snow, its wicked if your in the valley! So if your one of these annual leave on the financial year guys or gals, then why not use up the last of your holiday before April and the rest of next years leave for the month of April! There are many who do and all love it, from my experience it's the best time to be out, loads of sun, snow, and parties!

We had the first of the amazing sunny parties on the hill the other day on Grand Montets at the Boss de Bosses party, which is an inter resort moguls competition which has been running for 21 years and is open for both skiers and snowboarders to compete. It was a great atmosphere on the hill with DJ's pumping out the tunes, and beer and BBQ's flowing freely for the masses that came to watch the event. It turned out to be a great result too, it was close on the points but Chamonix pulled through and won the title Boss de Bosses 2010! After the event there where many parties on throughout the valley, from Après ski at the Marmatons just at the bottom of the home run, to massive parties at La Terrasse bar and Cantina in town, so it ended up being quite a messy one for those who stayed out for the duration still attempting to carry their boards or skis at 4am!

Its been great riding around at the moment, as long as you have a mass of soft wax on the bottom of your board or skis as the snow has become fairly slushy. This process is not a bad thing though, where the off piste which was previously tracked out and became hard and un-forgiving in the cold, it has now softened up again and made it possible to enjoy some off piste again hitting features and getting something which resembles fresh lines! Although it is hard work on the legs so if your coming out on holiday get down the gym do some squat lifts and book a longer stay out here so you can really enjoy the conditions!

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!