Chamonix Snow Report: 4th April 2010

April is a sweet month to be out here for down low its pretty warm and even BBQ weather some days! You can start to enjoy some summer activities during the same day you are enjoying fresh powder! A lot of the footpaths low down are still covered in snow due to the trees and the sheer amount of snow that has been falling with the freezing level changing between 1000m - 1800m but the climbing walls low down have been possible to get on during some of the warmer days when it hasn't been snowing or raining.

The other day after yet more snow and seeing that the floria lift in Flegere had been closed for a couple of days, added with perfect sunshine we thought it would be in our best interests to head to Flegere and enjoy a massive amount of Fresh while the masses headed to Grand Montets or the Aguille du Midi to get some panic fresh powder! On some of these perfect powder days it can often prove a better idea to head away from the crowds which so frequently head to the highest lift and most terrain to ride, however you will find that as there is more people on the hill it will become tracked out a lot quicker. So with this in mind we headed to Flegere for first bins with the hope of the floria lift opening for us.

When we got up on the first Index chair the floria was unfortunately still closed but there was still some fresh around and we decided to head over to the bottom of the button lift anyway to cut in to this section of the mountain and score some more fresh. On our second run toward this section they actually opened the lift, so we headed straight up there for a bit of dream living in perfect fresh down the untouched floria run! We pretty much spent the rest of the day hitting this run over and over again, jumping of the many features like wind lips, cliffs, and rocks practicing our spins and flips in to some lovely soft landings. Once we had enough of jumping around we headed on a long traverse skiers left from the top of the Floria heading for a large open face of perfect pow dipping in and out of the trees that return back to the bottom 4 man chair. The run was amazing with fresh lines everywhere so we hit this up a few times before everyone else did the same tracking the area out eventually. It can be tempting to keep heading further left along this run and you will begin to find it difficult to return to the lift the further left you go.

After complete exhaustion and a great day of powder riding we headed down the gondola as the home run is now closed, and got a few après ski beers at the Rhododendrons with its brilliant views and great terrace area for enjoying a few beverages in the spring time sun!

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!