Chamonix Snow Report: 6th February 2013

If I were going to grade the last few days on the hill based on the tried and tested Eurovision Song Contest scoring, then visibility would get a big fat “nul points” from me! It has been pretty dire truth be told – ranging from a reduced visibility of 50-100m to all out white out – the stuff that motion sickness is made of. However, if I were to vote on the quality of the new snow that has fallen (and there has been quite a bit) then it would have to be “dix points” (saving the ultimate 12 points for powder AND blue sky and sunshine). You might not be able to see much, but there is some really lovely snow on the hill at the moment.

When visibility is as poor as it has been, I find I automatically point the car towards Les Houches as it is pretty much always guaranteed to be up and running before many of the other areas and, with its tree lines pistes, you get better (or at least some!) definition on a bad weather day. The other aspect that has been blighting the valley for the last few days is the wind and there have been 80-100km/h winds registered at the top of Grands Montets so needless to say the top cabin hasn’t been open. The gondolas from Le Tour and Vallorcine have also been operating at a reduced speed due to the wind, and the Tete de Balme chairlift has had frequent closures. To be honest, that lift is bad enough when there is just a light breeze blowing, anything stronger than that and I think you would be at risk of perishing!

However, Les Houches is also generally a bit more protected from the wind and the lifts have all been up and running early doors whilst the key lifts in the rest of the valley have been delayed in getting going. All things considered, it was pretty nice up there on Monday – pistes were a bit lumpy bumpy from the snowfall the previous night but there was a good 20cms of fresh snow just off the edges of the pistes and when ducking down through the trees. The light was pretty flat though so we also factored in a leisurely lunch in La Ferme, just below the top of the Maison Neuve chair. This is a great cosy little spot, with a limited but tasty menu and a woodburning stove to dry off your gloves and heat you up.

On Tuesday, with another stinker of a forecast on the cards we were back in Les Houches. Breaking with tradition, we went up the Bellevue cable car instead of the Prarion gondola for a change and could not believe our eyes at the top when there were large expanses of blue sky and parts of the area were even bathed in sunshine! Score! The rest of the valley looked awful! Zipping down to the Grand Bois drag lift we found some lovely powder stashes in the trees that warranted 2-3 laps. The drag lift itself is another one of the Les Houches lifts marked “teleski difficile”, but it’s not as tricky as the Plancerts one over the back of the Prarion side, which can project you skywards at the beginning, the Grand Bois just has quite a steep gradient at the top. The local ski club had been doing slalom training down the Stade red run so it was groomed to perfection and once the training was over, Joe Public could take advantage of the powdery corduroy. There is also a nice little boarder cross course in this sector that you can access off the Schuss des Dames chair, the one that that crosses over the snowpark.

The wind had really picked up while we’d been messing around in the trees and the sun had also shifted over towards the Prarion side so we promptly followed. I immediately remembered why I don’t come up the Bellevue side very often - as a boarder, the traverse across is thigh burningly long, on the same edge the whole time and usually with a bit of scooch. We had a headwind to contend with as well so much scooching was done! Once there though, we continued to be bathed in and out of sunshine for the next hour or so until the clouds won out overall but not before we’d had a few glorious runs in shin deep powder and sunshine.

Being parked at the other lift also meant that we took the Mur des Epines and then the bottom section of the Khandahar back to the car park – a route that I do very rarely. That will change; it’s in fabulous condition at the moment with no icy patches on it and then turning slightly sugary as you drop below the base of the Maison Neuve chair for the last leg back to the village. Another little treat on the Bellevue side is the Kitsch Inn, right at the bottom of the home run and another great spot for lunch. More snacky options available here, sandwiches and soup and generally a less ham and cheese based menu. They also have Curly Wurlies and Fudge for sale which is probably more exciting if you don’t get back to the UK very often......

What’s to come? Well it’s been snowing steadily pretty much all day today and the temperature is due to remain pretty cold, bit more snow fall on the way and minimal sunshine. Definitely goggle weather until the weekend but you might be able to get the sunnies out come Saturday/Sunday. As a parting note, just back from a few hours on Grands Montets today – I refer you back to the title of this report “Rubbish viz but FABULOUS snow!” :O)