Chamonix Snow Report: 27th February 2007

Yesterday we headed up to Grands Montets; we weren't there early but still the lift queue up to Lognan was surprisingly short. I think the heavy snow falling and the apparent whiteout conditions had deterred people from heading up, or maybe it was just quieter because many of the holidays have finished. Either way, it meant that once up there, fresh tracks weren't hard to find and the visibility was good enough. The avalanche warning was level 4 on Monday and there were announcements and notices warning not to go off piste, but you know what Chamonix is like: people were going off piste everywhere. It was windy high up, no Bochard open, but the Herse was running and we had a good run off of it; the visibility was good down to 2000m, but below that it was foggy. The snow was stunning, waist deep, powdery and light. Many of the rocks off piste around the Herse have been buried now, and only the largest boulders remain uncovered; many more routes through sections that were too rocky before have now opened up. We had one superb run down to Pierre a Ric from the Hotel Variant: it was untracked and bottomless, absolutely the best snow ever.

Later as the weather worsened we had a few runs through the Dream Forest and it was living up to its name. The terrain has filled in well; many of the rocks in there are easy to drop, with powder-bomb landings and pillow lines for everyone. The lower section was still a little tight and bushy but it's good to have something to keep you on your toes. We dug a little pit to see what the snow is like and there had been about 80–90cm of fresh in the last few days on top of the old snow, pretty amazing. It continued snowing at Grands Montets through the afternoon and was still snowing when we headed down at 4pm. Lower down the snow was heavier and had a wet, compressed feel to it on the Pierre a Ric.

Today started with a few gaps in the cloud and some blue sky but it didn't last long before a new band of cloud moved in. It was snowing a little up at Brevent today, but it was just graupel so nothing to get too excited about. More snow showers are due tonight as another weather system moves through. We'd heard that there were large queues to get up onto the mountain this morning, especially at Flegere and Grands Montets, but when I went up at 11:30 to Brevent there was no queue to be seen, lucky me. The top cable car to Brevent was closed to skiers and snowboarders today, leaving the Charlanon bowl as the obvious choice for good powder. It was officially closed but that didn't stop a huge number of people skiing there, including us. The snow in Charlanon was deeper than yesterday's at Grands Montets but perhaps not quite as light; still it was amazing stuff and we had turn after turn through our own rooster tails. We stuck to the skier's right of the bowl, preferring to avoid the long traverse out left. We found some good rocks to drop and a few untracked sections, which were some of the best runs I've had, with beautiful undulating terrain and banks to pull turns up.

The section under the Charlanon chair had a few good untracked turns in it too; the upper steeper section rolled over into a cliff drop to powder landing, superb. After all the powder riding we headed down a little early to miss the crowds. Nants (the run down to Chamonix) was still closed because of avalanche risk. We headed down anyway, and noticed one large slab avalanche that had slid down to the grass (that would have been why it was closed I guess). Nevertheless the snow was good all the way down to Chamonix, and it only became thin right at the bottom above the Savoy piste. That was the first time all season that I've come down to Chamonix on Nants, the snow must be good.

Check out what to do around town once the lifts have closed with our all new Apres Ski Report - a weekly round up of what's hot and where to party in Chamonix!

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