People skiing down a snowy slope with a ski lift in the background

A group of people skiing down a snow covered staircase

A ski lift is going up a snow covered mountain

Chamonix Snow Report: 27th April 2005

featured in Snow report Author Ellie Mahoney, Chamonix Editor Updated 26 May 2016

Yesterday's blue sky and sunny weather brought out the crowds at Grands Montets and it was one of the busiest days we've seen in the last few weeks. Monday's snowfall meant some fresh snow for the early birds but by 11am the queues for the top cable car had built up to a 45-minute wait; undeterred, we waited. It was worth it, as the Face of the Grands Montets still had some fresh powder left. The snow was light and reasonably deep at the top and it became more tracked as we headed onto the Pylones run below. It was a beautiful day up there and the sun made it warm without being too hot.

Today by comparison was much quieter. The overcast sky and grey cloud hiding the tops of the mountains deterred yesterday's crowds. The wind has picked up since yesterday making the Bochard gondola a wobbly ride up and the top Grands Montets cable car was reduced to carrying less than its normal full load. Still, there was no waiting for the top cable car; the white out up there was probably dissuading most people from repeating the experience of going up at all. It was very windy and cold up there too, but quite exhilarating. There was some light snow falling, or, rather, being blown horizontally, but it hadn't put down much fresh on top of the old snow. The little that had fallen made things feel a bit smoother under foot. We cut across to Pylones then down below the cliff on the right. Since yesterday the snow there has become more tracked and has developed a slight crust that got thicker the closer we got to the Herse chair.

Lower down Grands Montets things became even crustier as yesterday's soft, slushy snow had frozen up overnight. The section of Pylones just past the top of the Herse was pretty nasty as the slushy moguls had frozen into solid spiky lumps of snow that paid more than a passing resemblance to broken pieces of concrete; we quickly headed back on to something better groomed. On the piste, which was definitely the place to be, the snow was hard in the morning but improved by midday as it softened up. The smoothly groomed runs like Bochard, Combes and Marmottons were the best pistes, as the cover was perfect; in fact they are in the best condition they've been in all season. Overall the snow is in superb shape; the firm base with its slightly soft surface makes for good conditions to get an edge. After having had so many powder days in the last few weeks we've become a little spoilt, and with the off piste now tracked out, we'll have to get used to riding the pistes again.

Useful Links
Cross-country skiing is Closed
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

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