Chamonix Snow Report: 21st February 2007

Yesterday afternoon we were at Brevent. It started a little unpromisingly as the Brevent–Planpraz gondola broke down for 15 minutes just as we were about to get on it. Luckily we made it to the top without another breakdown. Apparently this lift is due for replacement next season, and not a moment to soon in my opinion. Up on the hill it was a little too busy for my liking but then it is the holiday season and it won't last for much longer. The Altitude 2000 chairlift had a longish queue so we sidestepped it by walking up to the Bergeries restaurant and followed the cat track to the Vioz piste. The snow on the pistes at Brevent is very good now just so long as you wait for it to soften a little from its early morning frozen state. Our tactic of waiting until midday worked perfectly as it was soft enough to hold an edge on by then but still firm enough not to be completely slushy. Later in the afternoon some of the sunnier slopes were a bit slushy: so head down early if you don't like the slush, that way you'll avoid the queue for the gondola down too – more on that in a minute.

In the afternoon the Charlanon bowl was very cruddy and icy on its shady side to the skier's right, but softer and much more pleasant to the skier's left, making the off piste just about rideable without too much difficulty. The Charlanon piste itself was very hard, and bare with loose scrapings of snow piled up all around: the soft stuff was good and the hard stuff was bad. The Col Cornu piste below the Cornu chair was my favourite run of the day. The sun had softened the piste nicely and the abundance of banks and little jumps to play on at the sides of the piste kept things interesting: when it's busy watch out for others on the jumps as I saw quite a few near misses that afternoon. We kept doing runs off the Cornu, until the Trappe lift queue had shrunk a little. Eventually the shadows grew longer across the pistes and the snow began to refreeze, signalling that it was time to head home no matter how long the queue was and more importantly before I lost an edge and broke something on the snow that was rapidly being transformed back into bombproof ice. Staying up so long was a bad judgement call as when we got down to the Brevent Gondola the queue was snaking all the way back up the piste. Even after killing time with a beer at the restaurant the queue had barely shrunk. I was getting very cold so rather than have another beer we decided to join the line. The Compagnie du Mont Blanc staff did their best to cheer people up by handing out free vin chaud and I have to say it did the trick but I really can't wait for the replacement lift to be built: it should have happened years ago. We eventually made it to Chamonix for 6pm

Today we went back to Vallorcine to the spanking new gondola: this is what we should have to Brevent! There was no queue and just the two of us in the cabin. Up on the hill it was fairly busy but not too bad; there were lots of families and children on the slopes and not very many gnarly dudes (I guess they're all off in the back country right now). The piste down to Vallorcine has finally closed, which is a bit of shame as I really enjoyed it last week. On the way down the Vallorcine gondola at the end of the day we noticed two snowboarders walking down the lift line carrying their boards: it must have been a bit of a navigational error as there's barely any snow there right now; it really didn't look like much fun. Back on the pistes the snow was very good at Le Tour; there was excellent cover everywhere we rode apart from the steep sides of the rollers on Esserts, but I think that was more to do with everyone turning in the same place and scraping it thin. The pistes on the front side were superb: smooth and easy to turn on with the sun softened top layer of snow easy to hold an edge on.

It looks like there won't be any new snow in the next couple of days but there is the possibility of some unsettled weather and snow on its way for the weekend. A top up on the excellent base we have now would go down a treat. Let's hope we get some.

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