Chamonix Snow Report: 30th December 2007
Just had two great, but very different days out, one at Grands Montets and the other at Courmayeur. Thursday at Grands Montets was cold and bright, the slopes were still very quiet, and the piste conditions holding up well. The shady aspect of the slopes here is a double edged sword. On the plus side, the snow holds up well, not being subject to the full sun for most of the day. The downside is that compared to the other valley areas it can be distinctly chilly, I always pop on an extra layer here. The first part of the mountain to see a bit of sunshine is the NW facing Le Lavancher bowl. The piste conditions here are still good, but the off piste is slowly starting to see the emergence of a few moguls.
The top section of the cable car, this year has a booking system, which you can either do on line (you need a printer) or at the office at the Lognan. It's a lot like the cheese counter at Tesco's; you get a number, and then simply present yourself when your number is displayed on the board, so no waiting in line. You can just queue, without a number when it's quiet which is what we did, and waited about 15 mins. Two marked but unpisted runs start from here, plus a couple of more sporting descents! The run down the black Pylon piste was fantastic. The entry from the little plateaux at the top was a little icy (starting skiers left is best), but for the main was flat and soft and great fun.
The home run at Grands Montets while still flat as an aircraft carrier is getting a little icy. The home runs at both Flegere and Brevent are now officially closed, however a friend wishing to avoid the queue for downloading at Flegere rode his new board down the home run and declared it OK, except for a few rocks! At Le Tour the home runs into both Le Tour and Vallorcine are open and in good condition.
We hit Courmayeur on one of the busiest Saturdays of the year and even at 10 o'clock all the legit parking at Val Veny was full and we started a renegade line on the road – which also filled up in seconds. Lots of people out for the New Year weekend in the legendary sunshine on flattering slopes surrounded by forests. We had received reports that the snow here was in good condition, and so it was and we skied all day in fine sunshine. Some of the steeper pistes on the Val Veny side of the mountain such as the black, Direct can often be icy, but although a bit of hardpack was evident it was mostly fine. The off piste in the trees was still quite light and doesn't get such a hammering as in the Chamonix valley. One major discovery of the day, courtesy of a friendly Italian man from Milan called Joe, was a “Bombardino” 1/3 Advocat, 1/3 Brandy, and 1/3 black coffee, plus cream, it's served hot and is delicious.
The valley is filling up fast for New Year, and I suspect the days of empty slopes are over for a while. Over night, as forecast, it snowed in Chamonix. My newly recruited, assistant snow reporter estimates that at least 10cm has fallen, on his hat.
Useful Information
Useful Links
Additional snow and weather information provided, with thanks, by meteo.chamonix.com and the Tourist Office
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
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.
Stats
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Level 2
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0
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Total Pistes: 75
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Alt. Resort: 2000
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Alt. Summit: 2700
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Alt. Last Snow: 2700
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0
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Alt. High Temp.: 1050
