Chamonix Snow Report: 27th December 2007

The Compagnie du Montblanc has said this year that they are making trail grooming a priority and it seems to be working. All the pistes including the home run down to Le Tour have been very well prepared, not a mogul in sight. The snow was mainly soft and grippy with the occasional bit of harder packed stuff. The pistes were very quiet, and perfect for some high speed carving. We had blue skies and full sunshine all day, although it could be bitter in the shade.

A point worth noting is that adjacent to pistes and drags the pisteurs will often harvest snow for use on the piste or drag, and also stash snow in mounds for later use, which if you are skiing off the sides of the piste can be a hazard.

Our excursions into the off piste were more challenging; the snow was choppy and a bit heavy, although there were some lighter sections in the shade. At the end of the day as we skied back down the pretty Foret Vert, we came upon some unusual, surface ice crystals, known as faceted snow. It's very beautiful and soft as powder to ski on.

Boxing Day dawned grey and overcast. We headed up to Grands Montets, at 10am (well it is Christmas) the car park was barely a third full. We were met at the deserted lift station by a delightful, smiling “Ambassador”. She handed us some piste maps and wished us good day, all very pleasant. The Ambassadors, a new innovation this year, are local volunteers providing information and advice to visitors. The scene that met us at the Lognan was less pleasant, it was cold and foggy, the light was flat, and no one was venturing on to the top section of the cable car.

The ride up the Bochard, and the run back down were surprisingly enjoyable, due to the flat and well groomed piste, and empty slopes, compensating for the poor visibility. A trip over into the Lavancher bowl to check out the off piste followed, but the conditions whilst doable weren't that much fun, the snow was mixed some hard and wind blown, some softer but chopped .

Off the Herse chair, hard left looking up was much better, after traversing far to the skiers right, a large field of softer snow was great fun if a little variable. The visibility improved a little later in the afternoon but not enough to tempt us to the very top, but it did help as we descended the chopped Variante Hotel. If you haven't done this line before, it is not marked or pisted, be sure to turn skiers left and follow the line of pylons back to the home run at the bottom.

Thursday saw us back at Le Tour. The skiing again was excellent on piste, but there was a distinct feeling of the calm before the storm. Not a weather storm the forecast is still for a few more sunny days, but the storm of visitors expected over the New Year holiday. One of the main drag lifts is out of action the Plan des Rennes.

In the valley all of the Nordic skiing trails are open and in good condition, except the Chamonix-Argentiere link.

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