Chamonix Snow Report: 3rd March 2008

The car park was not too bad but the queue for the cable car was to the front door which equates to half an hour wait. The alternative, the chair to Plan Joran now starts at the back of the cable car station and although there was a queue here as well it only took a few minutes before we were on our way.

The on piste conditions were hard and fast. The surface had a layer of sugary snow while the base was not too hard and reminded me of cake icing and just soft enough to take a sharp edge. The only slight problem was the number of riders and skiers about. Monday is normally not too busy at Grands Montets as most visitors go to Le Tour or Brevent on the first day of their holidays, but not this week it seems.

As the queue for the top section of the cable car was very long, and we had not taken advantage of the pre-booking system, we decided to check out the off piste served by the Herse chair which we were able to get straight on without waiting, unlike the Bochard gondola which looked to have about 10 minutes worth of waiting.

Traversing skiers right off the chair we lapped the off piste Italian bowl where the fresh snow while not completely burying the huge moguls that had been here on my last visit, had certainly flattened them a lot and also softened them, making them great fun. The area had certainly been well tracked the day before but the soft packed powder was still great to ski on.

Skiers left off the Herse chair, past the red Combes piste a traverse round the front of the small hill following the black and yellow poles leads to a shaded section of hillside where the snow conditions were superb today, steep, with small moguls and a thick layer of loose packed powder. Interestingly even a slight change of aspect to one that caught more sunshine resulted in a dramatic deterioration of the snow, and the appearance of icy lumps.

The home run the Pierre a Ric has improved substantially since Saturday, with better cover and although still a little slushy low down, the snow was not as grabby. Care is still needed on this run late in the afternoon due to the high number of riders and skiers, some slaloming at speed through moving gates!

The avalanche threat has been lowered to 2, moderate and the forecast is for more snow and much lower temperatures over the next two days, so it might be worth wearing a thicker layer, if you have been spoiled by all the mild weather.

Check out what to do around town once the lifts have closed with our latest 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