People skiing down a snow covered slope with a ski lift in the background

A snowy hill with a pole in the middle of it

A snowy slope with a pole in the middle of it

A snowy slope with a blue sky in the background

A person is skiing down a snow covered slope

Chamonix Snow Report: 23rd April 2008

featured in Snow report Author Helen McGrory, Chamonix Reporter Updated 24 October 2014

The bumper season continues with another foot of snow at 2000m arriving on Monday. Tuesday dawned fairly gloomy, but with the promise of fresh snow at the top, we took ourselves up to the soon-to-close Le Tour & Domaine de Balme ski area. There were a few small flakes of snow still falling, and the cloud was low and thick, reducing visibility considerably. However, your intrepid snow reporter valiantly persevered, and we headed over towards the Vallorcine side of Le Tour, hoping that the trees would provide some definition. The track over from the top of the Autannes chairlift was just about invisible and some care was needed to ensure we didn't fall off the edge! This meant going slower than usual, and this combined with the soft snow made the traverse over pretty painful. When we joined the Esserts piste, sure enough, the visibility improved, and there was indeed plenty of untouched snow to play in. Sadly, the lower we got, the softer and the stickier the snow became, to the extent that I ground to an unexpected halt on one occasion. We decided not to repeat the experience and returned down the Solonges piste to Charamillon. The snow on the higher pistes was typical of spring skiing – soft and sugary – and would have been pleasurable had we been able to see beyond our boards! The home run is struggling with snow cover now, but at least it wasn't as sticky as the snow around the Tete de Balme.

Wednesday on the other hand, dawned bright and sunny. After the previous day's disappointment at Le Tour, there was only really one place to head and that was Les Grands Montets. We headed up early, hoping to find some fresh snow from the previous couple of days. The Herse was shut again, so it was up the gondola for a couple of warm up laps down the Bochard piste. Still in excellent condition, the piste is nicely packed, fresh and fun. We then headed for the off-piste down the front face of the Grand Montets by taking a sharp right at the top of the Bochard gondola. There was certainly plenty of powder at the very top which was light enough to get some floating turns in, but about two thirds of the way down, it became much heavier and turning required a bit more of an effort! Over on the over side, the Lavancher bowl was in similar condition, with heaps of fresh light snow on the top section. Spring conditions prevailed from around half way down, and it was good to rejoin the Arolles piste to get some less strenuous turns in. The Pierre a Ric home run remains in good condition for the time of year.

The weather is set to be sunny and mild for the next few days. Le Tour and Brevent both shut this weekend (27 April), so if these are your favourite spots, make the most of these last few days! Otherwise, the smart money is on heading as high as possible – that means getting yourselves on to the top cable car at Grands Montets. You can book in advance if you already have a lift pass, or simply join the queue when you get there – the waiting time seems to be around 20 minutes during the week.

Check out what to do around town once the lifts have closed with our latest Apres Ski Report - a weekly round up of what's hot and where to party in Chamonix!