A group of people skiing down a snow covered slope

A person skiing down a snowy slope with mountains in the background

A snowboarder stands on a snowy slope with mountains in the background

Chamonix Snow Report: 20th December 2005

featured in Snow report Author Ellie Mahoney, Chamonix Editor Updated 26 May 2016

After last week's snowy weather, we now seem to be in for a spell of high pressure bringing with it clear skies and temperature inversions. It's been very cold here in the mornings with the temperature down to -14ºC in the valley, so to combat that we headed up to Flegere and Brevent today. These areas, because of their mainly southerly aspect, catch the sun for most of the day and so offer some relief from the cold. I found myself overdressed and had to remove a layer it was so warm up there today.

Even though it's getting busier as Christmas approaches it's still nowhere near as busy as it can be. We took the cable car up from Les Praz at midday and there was no queue; there was even no queue at the new Index lift, though it still seems to have problems with running continuously. I noticed that it now has its very own mechanic all decked out in Poma overalls; I expect he's earning his money, as it stopped a few times on our ride up.

The snow has transformed from the light powder of a few days ago into heavy chop. Most of the off piste is tracked and even developing moguls on busier sections, so we tried to stick to the pistes where possible. Combe Lachenal is open now although if you enter it right at the top from the new Index lift it's pretty bare and rocky, so join it from the slightly lower cat track. Further down it's starting to grow some moguls, and there are a few rock hazards on the piste to look out for. Pylones is in good condition and lacking in moguls. In general it seems that the snow at higher altitude isn't any better than that lower down; it is deeper but many of the larger rocks that would normally be covered are still visible. Lower down things are better than normal for this time of year, for example we were able to finish the day by riding down to Chamonix on the Nants black piste from Brevent; there were a few stones on it but nothing too serious. Watch out for the bulletproof artificial snow at the bottom of the run though as we had another casualty on it today. The snow of Col Cornu was good, with the Cornu piste now in better shape than it was for most of last season. The blue run under the Parsa chair is also in great shape, with a firm base and cold fast, snow making it a blast to carve down.

Useful Information
Cross-country skiing is Closed
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