Chamonix Snow Report: 23rd December 2013

Up at Brevent the higher pistses have good snow cover, although lower down there are quite a few areas where you have to dodge rocks (see the photo from under the Parsa lift). All the pistes top of the Cornu are open, so if you fancy a challenging black and some pretty steep reds then these will definitely test you at the moment. Conditions on the pistes themselves are pretty hard packed, so it's well worth getting your edges sharpened up to deal with these at the moment, and the sides of the pistes are pretty lumpy and strewn with ninja rocks too.. the powder runs are going to have to wait a little longer..

There's not enough snow lower down yet to take on the home run (it still looks like you can mountain bike down it at the moment!) so down-loading on the gondola was the only way to go.. after an obligatory demi on the terrace at the Bergerie de Planpraz to soak up a bit of sun :-)

Grands Montets was also sunny and it was great to have some fresh powder on the slopes. Now that the Grands Montets cable car is open all the way to the top you can get a decent long ski back down to the mid station.

By midday on the pistes, most of the fresh powder had been pushed aside to create fun mogul fields but exposing the rocks underneath again. It's much less icy than a couple of weeks ago and you can easily pick up some decent speed on the home run without fear of hitting any rough spots. Top tip, get your skis serviced at Sanglard, it makes such a difference when conditions are a little hit and miss!

We're all looking forward to the next dump on Christmas day.. there's around 10cm forecast during the day, so visibility might not be 100% but who cares when there's fresh snow to play in!

Happy Christmas everyone.. We look forward to seeing your pictures and videos from this week... details on how to share them here.