Chamonix Snow Report: 22nd December 2008
Brevent is open! Chamonix's favourite resort - the one that looms over the town, the one that's home to sunny trails and soft off-piste - opened Saturday, but it wasn't until today that we got to enjoy the quiet slopes and, above all, the brand-new gondola.
The snow was decent and holding up well in the midday sunshine. Off-groomed conditions were soft and squishy, the kind of stodgy, high-moisture-content coverage that clumps together and sprays up when you turn. The pistes were hard underneath but soft on top; great for freestyle, especially when hitting the airs all around the Col Cornu chairlift.
Aside from the snow, we were stoked to ride the new Brevent gondola that whisked us up from Chamonix to Planpraz. The new lift station is accessed from the exit ramp of the old gondola, and the new chalet housing the ticket office is very swish. There was no line as we got on for the eight-minute ride; it used to be fourteen! That's seven minutes more riding time on my lunchbreak today, thank-you Compagnie du Mont Blanc.
The new lift arrives at a large flat snowfront on the same level as the Bergerie restaurant, which is a short skate or pole away from the piste that takes you down to the Col Cornu chair. And the piste from Altitude 2000 back to Planpraz has been landscaped, turning the uphill schuss of death into a mellow piste. Happy days.
In fact, the only thing I can find to whine about the new lift is the lack of external racks for skis and boards. As it is, the clear plastic interiors will be so scratched within a month or so, it'll be impossible to see out. But that's a small price to pay for an excellent new addition to the valley's lift network.
See you up here soon!
Tom
Stats
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Level 3
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0
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Total Pistes: 75
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Alt. Resort: 1972
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Alt. Summit: 2700
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Alt. Last Snow: 1050
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High Temp.: 3
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Alt. High Temp.: 1050
