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Chamonix Snow Report: 1st February 2007

featured in Snow report Author Ellie Mahoney, Chamonix Editor Updated

Since the last report two days ago conditions have basically remained the same without much change to report. It feels slightly milder in the afternoons but only by a few degrees, but at night it's still cold and well below freezing with a definite temperature inversion. We feel like we're treading water a little, although thankfully not literally as it's not that warm, and we're waiting for the next snowfall to spice things up a little. Unfortunately, for the time being it's looking unlikely that we'll be receiving any new snow soon. The cold weather at night has allowed the snow cannons to work, which is something in these dry times, and they've even been making artificial snow for the ski de fond trails, which are very thin in places.

Rather than our usual afternoon jaunt up Brevent-Flegere today we headed up Grands Montets: we'd started to tire a little of the soft slushy afternoon snow there and longed for something a little more wintry. It was by strange coincidence that today I received a letter and a truly amazing collector's poster back from CdMB apologising for the broken down lift that I was stuck on a few days ago; I hope they don't expect their customers to start collecting these posters! Today the same lift stopped again when we were at the same point, but luckily today it was only for a few seconds before we continued on our way up Plan Joran.

On piste the snow was good today at Grands Montets; it's hard and a little icy but not bad at all. Off piste you'd have trouble saying it was good as it's all hard pack and moguls, in fact mostly the same as the piste except lumpier and rockier. You'll have to hire a guide and hike for a while to find any powder I suspect, even then you'll be lucky if you do. Riding the pistes started off well, probably as we didn't get up the mountain until gone 1pm; by then the Marmotton, the first run we tested, was superb fun and just softened up enough on the surface to lay down some hard carved turns. Carving really is as much fun as riding powder, but probably only when you've forgotten how good powder is, and that seems like a long time ago now!

We took a few rides off of the Bochard and Herse lifts, where the pistes were just like the Marmottons: good and hard, but not so hard that it's impossible to get an edge in for most of the time. There's plenty of loose snow around on the pistes too; mainly at the edges where it's banked up but also collecting in piles in the middle of the pistes. The loose stuff really helps when it gets a little too icy, and the lumps are also fun to ollie off. We had a ride down Chamois in the Combe de la Pendant. We didn't follow it all the way down to the Retour Pendant lift but went under the bridge back to Plan Roujon. I suspected that the snow may not be so good any lower than that, but the top part was great, if a little icy for some tastes. There's a roller near the top, which is worth doing the run for: it has a landing where the ground just falls away; a little stomach churning but fun.

The snow park was closed today. There's been a lot of work on the jumps and they've put in banked turns: apparently there is a boarder cross competition happening there this weekend so it may be worth watching if you're passing by. At the end of the day we took the Pierre a Ric down to Argentiere and although it was busy, as it always is this time of day, the snow was mostly in good shape. There were piles of loose sugary snow at the edges interspersed with icy patches, but nothing worse than that, in fact the top half was as good as the pistes higher up the mountain. I took a little shortcut through the moguls on the big lefthand bend and even they were fun in a challenging way. All in all the snow is quite good, just don't expect to find powder and you won't be disappointed.

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

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

Stats

Avalanche Risk
  • Level 2

Snow Report
  • 0

  • Total Pistes: 80

  • Alt. Resort: 2000

  • Alt. Summit: 2800

  • Alt. Last Snow: 1900

  • High Temp.: 5

  • Alt. High Temp.: 1050