A snowy mountain with a purple sky in the background

A large crowd of people are gathered on a snowy hillside

A snowy mountain with a statue on top of it

Chamonix Snow Report: 30th April 2010

featured in Snow report Author Kieran Sharp, Updated 24 October 2014

More sunny weather lovely soft snow and great parties here in Chamonix this week, with a massive party this weekend on the hill Free ride days! with music, big jumps and rails, wing suit riders performing tricks just above the slopes, along with paragliders, zip lines, and a large water slide for those who dare to send their boards or skis or whatever equipment they ride over a pool of water at high speed, and loads more to keep the crowds entertained!

With the snow conditions being fairly slushy and feeling the need for some adventure we decided on taking a trip down the Valle Blanche, to check out snow and crevasse conditions, try to find a bit of powder but mostly for a bit of sightseeing and getting in to the high mountain. The Valle Blanche is a great day out, and accessible from the highest lift in Europe the Aguille Du Midi. The route should not be taken lightly the whole descent is on a glacier and if you find yourself at the top of the Aguille looking for a piste then go back down catch the bus to Grand Montets and get on one up there. There are many guides that operate in the valley that can take you down a safe route up here depending on your ability and level of experience, so I would recommend highly using the services of one of the many highly trained guides that operate in the valley.

We decided on the direction of the Petit Envers which is a more vertical descent than the classic route but has more crevasses to pick your way through. We had a little look in to the Grande Envers but with the massive crevasses which you have to traverse above we decided it would be a bad idea, however there was some fresh powder in to this route! On the way down we headed to the refuge Requin which is just before the long flat section of the glacier which leads to either the train station or the narrow ski trail back to Planards, for a nice cup of coffee. After filling ourselves with caffeine and feeling more motivated we headed down the last section where we managed to score a wee bit of slushy pow just before hitting the long flat section toward the train station where it was necessary for the boarders amongst us to get our extendable poles out and start scooting along!

At the bottom of the glacier by the train station, it is now necessary to get the ladders down toward the many steps back up to the gondola which takes you to the train station! The Glacier has receded a lot over the years so even when a lift is put in place it soon becomes difficult to get to so steps need to be put in! it is now looking necessary for the next lift/stairs to be put in to get people off the Valle Blanche!

After our great day out we headed to Bar'd Up for a few cheap Après ski beers which lasted long in to the early evening!

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