Chamonix Snow Report: 24th December 2007

I chose Brevent/Flegere for a warm up day. It's perfect for that with plenty of easy runs and bathed in sunshine, oh yes, and the best views in the world. At 10 am the car park was pretty full, but there was only a short wait to get on the Les Praz/Flegere cable car. A quick run down the Trappe immediately confirmed just how superb the conditions were on piste. The one surprise was how quiet everything was; the pistes were empty, and no queue for the Trappe chair which can be a bottleneck on busy days.

A run down the blue, Chavanne, also in superb condition, mainly soft with a bit of hard pack, and I was ready for one of my favourite runs, the Combe Lachenal. For those who have not visited Chamonix in the past couple of years, the massively upgraded Index lift will be a pleasant surprise; the cranky two man chair has gone and been replaced with a state of the art 6 man chair able to transport 2600 persons an hour to the top on thickly padded seats. The Combe Lachenal did not disappoint - over the ridge and away from lifts, and it feels like you have the mountain to yourself, on a quiet day like this. Again the snow was grippy and in good condition with only a few lumps at the top to encourage concentration.

At the liaison with Brevent I spotted one of the new information boards, as you will see from the picture it's full of useful stuff. As well as the Avalanche level (2), there is today's and tomorrow's weather forecast, the temperature, wind, the grade of runs served by the lift, the closing time, and some helpful comments from the lifties in English, and last but not least the phone number of the piste rescue, which is +33(0) 450 54 04 73, nice to have programmed in your mobile.

The conditions on piste at Brevent were equally good. A couple of rides on the upgraded Col Cornu chair brought the delights of the Combe de la Charlanon, and Col Cornu red pistes. An excursion onto the off piste here was not so delightful, with the full sun these south facing slopes receive, the off piste has turned from the powder that was being enjoyed a week ago to something, heaver and wetter. Above the Col Cornu piste a small ground avalanche had occurred. We downloaded to Les Praz (again no queue), rather than take the Black home run, well it was our first day.

The forecast for the next few days is sunny and not too cold, so pack the sun block.

Merry Christmas

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