Chamonix Snow Report: 22nd February 2012

With this being one of the busiest weeks of the season, I haven’t been on the hill as much as I normally would as I just can’t face the scrum. However, I did take heed of some of my queue dodging tips from last week and headed up Grands Montets for a few hours on Monday and hopped straight onto the Plan Joran chairlift at around 11am. I tried to see what the queue for the cabin was like at that time but I’d arrived just as a ski bus had emptied out. There was a huge swarm of people carrying skis and boards at peculiar angles and I figured it just wasn’t worth running the gauntlet for.

At the top of the chair though things were looking great; we had more snow fall on Sunday – not loads, but enough to soften up the off piste a bit and top up the pistes. The terrain directly underneath the Tabé chair looked really lovely and still appeared to have a few fresh lines to track through the trees so that was where I headed first. Alas, it was one of those where is looked far more enticing than it actually was. Whilst there was a good few centimetres of fresh on top, you rapidly hit the crustier layer underneath and had to keep your wits about you for lumps and bumps that were in fact cast iron underneath their fluffy surface.

Over on the Herse side, the Combes red run was pretty busy and hard packed at the top but then everyone spread out and the snow was softer and grippier for most of the descent until the final track section at the bottom where the converging crowds have packed the snow into a pretty rock solid base. My favourite moguls underneath the chairlift seem to have doubled in size since last time but they are still so tempting because the snow is just so much nicer on them than on the piste. Again the Herse did not disappoint – straight on first chair while the masses shuffled along the zig-zags in the queue for the Bochard.

One area that was getting a lot of attention on Monday was the “Espace Freestyle” that runs along the side of the Marmottons chairlift. Chamonix had always been sadly lacking in snowparks until recent years when HO5 finally brought one of their parks to the Grands Montets. If you’re into your snowparks then it doesn’t compare to the likes of La Chaux in Verbier or the freestyle areas in La Plagne, but it’s got a good range of kickers graded blue, red and black depending on difficulty, 4 rails in the lower section of the “pro” (black) part and a boarder cross track that runs the length of the park with 10 banked turns graded blue. There is also a fun section of rollers along the right hand side of the park that was full of racing snow ploughers this week so generally manageable for most. The park has also got a new video system this year so you can style it through the park and then admire yourself on the big screen at the bottom. All you need to do is scan your pass at the terminal at the top and your run will be automatically videoed by a series of high definition cameras located throughout the park. You can then enter your phone number on the tactile pad under the big screen at the bottom and Freestyle.fr that operate the video system will then send you your video by MMS so you can share your moves on Facebook or Twitter.

If you’ve always wondered what it’s like to grab some big air but you’re not quite ready to launch yourself skywards on a whim and a prayer, or perhaps you’re now of an age when a misjudged landing is less likely to result in a bounce and a bruised ego than a crunch and a trip to Sallanches hospital, then you should get yourself over to Brevent and try out their brand new air bag. It only opened a couple of weeks ago but is proving to be a big success. Situated under the top part of the 4-man Parsa chairlift, alongside the Altitude 2000 drag it’s the perfect place to get your first taste of “air” or practice nailing that new trick before trying it in the park. It’s free for all and there are also 3 or 4 beginner rails to try as well. As with all snowparks, it’s right under the lift of course so it does help make the generally slow trip on the Parsa chair a tad more interesting!

No more snow forecast for the next few days and the temperature is set to remain mild. The high winds that closed Le Tour completely on Monday have also dropped off. I’m going to brave the sunny side of the valley for the rest of the week which is where I think the bulk of the crowds are hanging out. Only lunch time skiing for me for now when there is less chance of becoming a statistic of an out of control Parisian! Bon ski a tous!