Chamonix Snow Report: 22nd January 2010

Earlier in the week, after the snow had settled, we decided to get a few runs in from the Plan de Aiguille, which is accessible from the mid station of the Aiguille du Midi cable car. Bear in mind that there are no pistes whatsoever from this cable car or the next one after that, so care, the right knowledge, and equipment are all necessary. There are two main routes from the cable car, skiers right and left of the station where you should find a few tracks heading off in these directions unless you are lucky enough to be the first! We had a couple of runs down each. The left has a very nice long wide gulley kept powdery by the shade which turns in to a tree run followed by two options - traversing back and forth down the footpath to town, or picking a safe couloir to ride as far as you can before getting back on the footpath which takes you to the Aguille lift car park. The route to the right hand side of the cable car is a longer traverse to get in to it and has some very nice open terrain with plenty of rocks to drop off. Further down it's followed by a nice wide tree run which descends further than the left hand section before it becomes necessary to get on to the narrow and frequently rocky footpaths!

Both sections were wicked and we got some fresh tracks down both sides, but as the day drew on more and more people were exploring the same routes, so, itching for some more freshies, we decided to head directly underneath the cable car which had no tracks in it at all! The main reason being is that the terrain is fairly avalanche prone and can become quite steep. We were amazed at the condition of the snow - some amazing open terrain with wonderful views of Chamonix below, combined with some great rollers to jump off and land into perfect pow! After the very long and open section we dipped into the trees and picked a nice looking coulior to ride the rest of the way to base. The top and middle sections of our chosen gulley were outstanding, a perfect gradient with perfect snow, however as we descended we entered a lot of avalanche debris which we got over, but with great difficulty and a few scratches on our equipment. Overall though, an amazing day and some pretty crazy hot lines!

After our epic day we headed for some après ski at La Terrasse bar in town for some great deals on beer followed by an amazing burger cooked to perfection!

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!