Chamonix Snow Report: 25th January 2013

From the snippets I did hear, Tuesday was another day when the snow stats said 20cms of fresh had fallen but there appeared to be A LOT more when you actually got stuck in. Friends that went up Flegere found it to be completely deserted and to top it off – the Lachenal piste off the top of the Index was completely unpisted! I can barely bring myself to keep typing – just thinking about what I actually ended up doing on Tuesday makes me want to cry.....

However, I did manage to grab a couple of hours at Les Houches on Wednesday but upon arrival, I was beginning to think that this really wasn’t my week. The bottom of the Prarion was absolutely chocca and it was around then that I remembered that Wednesday afternoon is when all the kids are off school and head up the hill to ski.... Hurumph! However, it didn’t turn out to be like that and I don’t know where they all went but the slopes of Les Houches were deserted. I was bit caught out by the cold though – there wasn’t any wind but the air temp was decidedly chilly. Having said that, the snow quality was absolutely lovely; chalky and grippy on the pistes with the exception of some of the slopes over the back under the Crozat chair where there were some quite large patches of hard pack and ice in places. It was very overcast on Wednesday and although the cloud base was high, it did make the light rather flat and I saw a few people come a cropper on these icier patches when it wasn’t always easy to see them coming.

Thursday dawned bright and sunny again though, but REALLY cold – about -12 in town in the morning. I took myself up to Le Tour, the sunniest spot in the valley and I thought for a moment I’d been transported to Courchevel. Never have I boarded down such beautifully pisted corduroy in Chamonix, and again, the slopes were absolutely deserted. We headed up the gondola and then the Autannes chair with the intention of heading straight back down to the car park. I think people often neglect the Caisets piste under the gondola, only bothering to ski it at the end of the day on the way home. Well catch it like we did mid-morning and it was absolutely glorious; super smooth, super fast and super empty. Perfect! We did a few laps like that down the front before heading over the back to see what the Tete de Balme side was like. Naturally more shaded, it was much colder over there although the snow quality was pretty much the same. The views are always absolutely stunning over this way towards the Emmosson Dam, and yesterday there was a big cloud inversion over Switzerland. It was another very still day on the hill yesterday and we were grateful that there wasn’t any wind as both the Autannes and Tete de Balme chairlifts are notoriously cold when the wind is blowing. Lovely, lovely, lovely – yesterday more than made up for my disappointment at not being able to ski on Tuesday.

Well if you are heading out this weekend, then make sure that you catch some of the action from the Freeride World Tour. This annual freeride competition makes stops in Canada, Italy, France, USA, Austria and Switzerland and this weekend the riders arrive fresh from the Italian leg in Courmayeur to ride the Aiguilles Pourrie face above the Index chair on Flegere. The weather is looking pretty promising at the moment, remaining cold and sunny for most of tomorrow before closing in in the afternoon and more snow is due throughout Sunday. Fingers crossed the comp doesn’t get blighted by the bad weather of previous years but there is plenty going on in town to get you into the spirit. Check out our webcam in the Tourist Office square where there is a big air bag contest from 1pm-6pm Saturday and Sunday and the main village is situated in Place Balmat, beside the Post Office, where the tour stage winners will be presented with their prizes. You can test the very latest skis and boards at Plan Praz on Brevent throughout the weekend and there will be bands and live music in Place Balmat early evening. With the world’s best freeriders in town just now, Cham is definitely the place to hang this weekend ;O)