Chamonix Snow Report: 30th December 2006

In the meantime we've been finding other things to do apart from rock hopping on the pistes. Yesterday we used our free day's lift ticket for Courmayeur, which is a short drive through the Mont-Blanc tunnel. There's also a bus service there from Chamonix if you don't have a car. Courmayeur has the advantage over Chamonix of having nearly all its pistes covered with artificial snow making, so even early in the season you can be sure of good snow. Whilst it's not the off piste and backcountry mecca that Chamonix is, it's a very good family resort with plenty of wide and not too steep runs ideal for intermediates.

Chamonix has been busy over the holiday season and likewise Courmayeur hasn't escaped the crowds: when we arrived at the Val Veny lift station car park it was almost full. However, once we were up on the ski area the crowds seemed to disperse and there were very few long queues for the lifts. Courmayeur seems to have been investing in new lifts since last season: good on them as it made getting back up the runs quick and efficient. The snow itself was very good there – mostly artificial but with near complete coverage. The Val Veny side was shady and hard packed with some icy patches to focus your attention, but in the main it was a relief not to have to be on the constant look out for rocks. My favourite area of the day was Plan de la Gabba – not just for its name but also because the snow was great there. I even had a powder turn or two off the side of the piste; there were bumps and jumps around to keep things fun, and not much queuing to get back up on the fast chairlift. The Checrouit side was sunny and warm in comparison, with the restaurants at Plan Checrouit basking in the winter sun. We couldn't resist stopping there for a coffee. The snow line seemed to stop just below us, and Courmayeur itself looked snow-less and brown. The very top cable car to the Cresta d'Arp wasn't open: here as in Chamonix there isn't enough snow for any serious off piste yet. However, in the distance I did notice some people skiing down the Toula glacier to the Helbronner cable car, although the glacier did not look very well covered and had plenty of ice and crevasses visible from across the valley. We all had a great day out in Courmayeur, and it was probably the first full day of snowboarding all season.

Today we tried snow shoeing again, this time at Flegere, which is only open to hikers and ski tourers: only the cable car up from Les Praz is currently running. For most of the way up in the cable car we were looking at rock and grass below us, and it was only when we arrived at top that we hit the snow line. We strapped on our snow shoes and started our hike upwards, following the Index chairlift. A piste basher was busily working away, pushing snow around onto what will be the Index piste when it opens, but while the cat track had snow on it, the sections between were completely bare. There's little the pisteurs can do until some more snow comes, hopefully that will be soon. A little higher up things started to improve and the snow cover looked better. We only went about halfway up below the Index chair before tracking across towards the top of the Chavanne chair lift where we found mixed conditions: some wind crust that would be a bit tricky to ski but also some temping powder, and sugary snow. There were some ski trails in the powder: if only we'd brought our snowboards with us! Heading back down towards the Trappe area, things started to look less promising again: the area that the Chavanne piste normally occupies currently has a rocky river bed still visible – usually it is filled in with snow. We carried on down to below the Trappe chair, to the snow-depth-measuring area. There was a lot of pole sticking out, and it wasn't fenced off properly either so I wonder if it's being used yet. Anyway, I reckoned from their pole that there's around 20–25 cm of snow at Flegere. It doesn't sound like much but there's 30–40 cm forecast on Monday for this altitude so things could improve very quickly.

There were a few people around up at Flegere: families walking dogs and tobogganing, and some hikers going off in the direction of Lac Blanc. If you're looking for an interesting place to hike and get away from it all, I'd recommend taking the cable car up and having a wander around. We walked back down to Flegere, but are suffering now with blisters: if you don't fancy the same there's always the cable car to take you back down again.

Here's to a Happy New Year and hopefully a snowy one at that.

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 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

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