Chamonix Snow Report: 23rd February 2007

Up on the mountain today the heavy cloud made the light very flat indeed. Our first run down the Bozon black piste was pretty sketchy, not because the snow was bad, in fact the snow was very good, but because seeing the surface bumps and undulations was near impossible. Whilst any decent skier or snowboarder would shrug that off, for myself, feeling a little worse for wear recovering from a bug, it was enough to deter me from doing the run again.

The cloud also had the effect of keeping the temperature down on the mountain; whilst a few days ago I was riding in just a first layer and shell jacket, today I was glad to be wearing an extra layer. The lower temperature also meant that the snow was firmer, in fact the base felt pretty icy in places, especially on the Blanchots and Charlanon pistes. Thankfully though, there wasn't much bare ice on the pistes as they were covered with the usual loose scrapings that have a sugary consistency. The snow was at its softest lower down at Brevent, at the bottom of the Charlanon and Parsa chairlifts. It looks like there's been quite a bit of piste-basher action around the bottom of the Charlanon chairlift too as snow has been pushed from the off-piste sections onto the pistes signalling that the snow pack there is getting a little thin; this weekend's snowfall should hopefully sort out that problem. Higher up on the Combe de la Charlanon piste there were a few rocks starting to poke through halfway down the piste; they weren't serious but again another indication that the recent warm weather has been taking its toll.

Off piste today was a bit of a no-no at Brevent, unless you like frozen slush and crud. I saw a few people traversing the Hotel Face; they must have been desperate for off piste as it didn't look good. I've heard that there has been some good snow in the Berard Valley, no time to do it now but with the fresh snow on its way I expect the ski touring will finally start to pick up.

We took the gondola back down to Chamonix again today as the home run still doesn't have any snow on it, and in fact we saw a guy mountain biking up it today. We made the smart move of heading down at 3pm to beat the queues but on the way down, surprise, surprise, the lift broke down for 10 minutes. Bring on the replacement lift asap.

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

Useful Information
Cross-country skiing is Open
Piste Maps for Chamonix (pdf format), Les Houches (jpg format), Cross-country skiing (pdf format), and Mountain-bike trails (pdf format)
Current status for opening of Pistes & Lifts
Chamonix Webcam Index

We will be keeping this Chamonix snow report updated often during the season, but if you want even more up-to-date news on the ski conditions, why not sign up for our Dump Alert? We'll email you each time it snows enough to significantly change the skiing conditions. It's great to know that the snow is falling in the run-up to your holiday, and it might even allow you to book a last-minute weekend when the snow is particularly good. The service is free, and you can unsubscribe whenever you like.

Useful Links
Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research
French Avalanche Research Institute
Meteo France - Mountain weather and avalanche conditions bulletins (in French)
Henry's Avalanche Talk - popular avalanche training sessions based in French Alps as well as translation of current avalanche conditions
PisteHors.com - Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding News in English for the French Alps. Excellent coverage of avalanche safety and advice

Additional snow and weather information provided, with thanks, by meteo.chamonix.com and the Tourist Office