Chamonix Snow Report: 21st January 2009

As a snow reporter, it's far more fun to write an update once it's actually snowed. For the last three weeks I've been honest and truthful about conditions up here; I've let you know about some infrequently frequented off-piste routes and suggested ways to make the most of the lack of snow. But it's difficult to write about how amazing things are when there's less and less white stuff out there. Fortunately, my job has just got a lot easier.

Conditions at all aspects, at all altitudes, are excellent.

We decided to ride at Brevent yesterday, and although there was only one run and one lift open (the 'Magic Carpet' piste down to the La Parsa four-man chair), we had a lot of fun. Light was low and the snow was extremely deep; 40cm at the side of the piste, with way more piled up in the woods. They got the resort open around 1030am and we were in the fifth gondola. The pow just off to the sides of the pistes was sensational; a little wet and zippy, and certainly wind affected, but deep and crisp and even everywhere. We hardly touched the bottom once. The pistes had been cut very well, very late on in the storm, so there was about an inch of fluff lying on top of the corduroy.

We were expecting the top cable car and the Col Cornu chair to open later in the morning, but to no avail; both lifts stayed shut all day. So we contented ourselves with riding the same line over and over again; straightlining the beginner slope, going bigger and bigger on the cat track drop, cutting right and maching the side of the piste, then swinging back left and hitting the drop next to the trees, airing the cat track next to the poma lift, then dropping into the woods before jumping back onto the chairlift and doing it all again.

With hindsight, we may have been able to get better turns in another resort yesterday. As it was, we struck gold on quality but the quantity of terrain open left us slightly wanting. That's why it's good to have a plan on powder days in Chamonix. Use our Lift Status Button or the Compagnie du Mont Blanc website when it updates around 7.30am to work out what's going to open (and when). Think about where the rest of the valley will be heading...normally Les Grands Montets. So decide if you'd prefer to ski one sensational run of steep pow, then bumps all day, or if you'd prefer to ski fresh tracks at a lower angle at Brevent or Les Houches. Bear in mind that Flégère and Le Tour are the most likely to be put on wind hold. And make sure you get there first, which means having all your gear ready before you go to bed.

As I left the house yesterday I put my transeiver on - 4/5 avalanche hazard, stupid not to - but intentionally left my pack, shovel and probe at home. I knew that conditions would be sketchy, thanks to the wind that was howling up top while the snow fell, and we were happy riding resort powder in-bounds. One look at the gigantic avalanches on the Hotel Face - the steep south-facing slope that towers above Planpraz - confirmed our suspicions. Unfortunately, another group of local skiers weren't so lucky; one English freerider was buried when a Y-shaped couloir slid out from above him while he was riding in the trees below Planpraz. Fortunately he was located and dug out...minus one ski. The previous day, a different group of British snowboarders were avalanched while hiking towards the bottom of the Hotel Face from the top of the Cornu chair. Again, they all got out OK.

Be careful out there! That run will still be there tomorrow.

Tom

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!