A person skiing down a snowy slope with a red pole in the foreground

A person is skiing down a snow covered slope

A skier is doing a trick in the air near a red sign that says 1

A black and white photo of a snowy mountain range

A group of people are sitting around a picnic table in the snow

Chamonix Snow Report: 20th January 2008

featured in Snow report Author Jim Brady, Updated 26 May 2016

After Wednesday's great powder day at Le Tour, Thursday saw us heading to Grands Montets in full sunshine for a bit more off piste action. We lapped the Herse; to the far left, under the chair and over on the far right. Although riders and skiers had been hard at work, there were still plenty fresh lines to be had in the now slightly heavier powder, but still great fun. Likewise in the Le Lavancher bowl, both the on and off piste snow conditions were superb.

For those who want to save a few shekels, Grands Montets has excellent opportunities for a picnic. In addition to the numerous places you can find amongst the rocks, the Plan Joran has a room below the main restaurant where you are welcome to eat your own food. Also at the foot of the Herst chair the Compagnie de Mont Blanc have provided a couple of tables for the use of picnickers.

Friday was quite overcast and saw us returning to Flegere after a break of over a week. One of my housemates is doing a mountain safety course this week and wanted to practice some steep skinning and kick turns. We rode up the Index chair and Floria drag and skinned up toward the Col des Aig Crochues. It was quickly obvious that, most likely due to the full sun these slopes get, that the snow was much heavier than we had been enjoying recently. Eventually we skied back down to the top of the Floria drag but I have to say the traces we left in the heavy snow weren't much to be proud of.

We skied down the steep black Floria run, it was chopped up and hard work. One section looked like a pincushion, with all the yellow and black poles warning of rocks. The red Crochus piste was in much better condition and a lot more fun. We then headed over to one of my favourite runs, the Combe Lachenal. This run is named after a French mountaineering hero Louis Lachenal, a native of Annecy. In 1952 he became the first man to set foot on the summit an 8000m peak namely Annapurna. In 1955 tragically he died after falling into a crevasse, while skiing the Vallee Blanche. The red Combe Lachenal is consistently steep, has a remote atmosphere and was in excellent condition.

Saturday was forecast to be warm and clear, and so it was. My car thermometer was showing plus 4 degrees as we set off to Grands Montets. The off piste especially lower down is now tracked out and a little heavy. On piste most of the runs are in good condition with a thinning layer of powder over a firm base. There were some harder patches where the powder has been sweep away, on the steep lower section of the blue Coqs piste, which is already high in its grade.

One very welcome addition to the facilities at Grands Montets is the construction of a large snow park. There are three graded runs through the park, a Blue, Red and Black. There are plenty of tumbles in the park so trying the blue one first is a good idea.

The avalanche threat has been level 3, considerable, for the past few days. If you are interested there is a detailed avalanche report from Meteo France at http://www.meteofrance.com/accueilbulNeige.jsp?LIEUID=DEPT74
In French.
The forecast for the next few days is more mild weather with a change in prospect for Tuesday.

Check out what to do around town once the lifts have closed with our latest 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