A group of people are skiing down a snow covered slope in the mountains

Chamonix Snow Report: 27th December 2004

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

Boxing day was a whiteout. Not quite what I meant when I asked for a white Christmas; nevertheless there was 20cm or so of powder to be had off piste up in Brevent off the Charlanon chairlift. The fresh snow has also had the positive effect of covering most of the stones and twigs that were poking through. Because of the whiteout we avoided most of the slopes above the tree line as the lower runs provided better visibility. From the Trappe chairlift we could see that the snow-measuring plot read 90cm of snow. It snowed for most of the day, but only lightly.

Today, we waited until lunchtime for the cloud and fog to clear but it never happened so, foolishly, we decided to brave Les Grands Montets. This was a predictably bad choice, and when we arrived at Tabe chairlift visibility was extremely poor. To top it off the Marmottons run had some seriously hard ice patches. My kneecaps can testify to that! The snow cannons were running, boosting the base. We abandoned plans to go up the Bochard lift and decided to go down straight away. The Pierre a Ric was hard and icy with a covering of loose snow to get an edge in, and the stones had finally been covered by the light but constant snow of the last few days; the visibility also improved dramatically about halfway down.

We decided to adjourn to the security of Les Chosalets. Here the hardest thing to deal with was the hordes of five-year-old skiers snaking the lift queue and straightlining the slope. Les Chosalets also had the major advantage of visibility and the snow cover here was excellent, the piste soft and well groomed - ideal for learners.

This week will probably be busier if the influx of cars into town the last few days is anything to go by. Over the last week we have had the treat of being able to walk straight onto the lifts but the town's streets are buzzing now so I think the days of absolutely no lift queues are coming to an end, at least until after New Year.

Cross-country skiing is Open
Current status for opening of Pistes & Lifts
Webcams Index

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