Chamonix Snow Report: 6th March 2007

Yesterday in the poor weather I headed up to Brevent and Flegere. When I arrived at Planpraz conditions were quite nasty but the forecast was for the snow to clear later in the afternoon so we stuck with it. It wasn't snowing particularly heavily but it was falling continuously for most of the time that I was up there. It hadn't managed to put down much fresh snow, only 5–10cm is my guess, and the wind had blown it around a bit so if you were lucky you'd find a drift with some deeper snow. It could have used another 20cm and it would have been great; as it was under the thin layer of fresh snow there was a hard crust that made the off piste a lumpy experience and one that I avoided. The visibility in the whiteout made even the pistes tricky to ride well, as the inevitable lumps and bumps were almost invisible to the human eye: it was a day for using the force. Later in the day the snow softened but formed an almost glassy surface on the lower pistes, which made me feel like I was always on the verge of catching an edge. Higher up, at the top of Cornu for example, the snow was much better on the piste.

Most of the lifts managed to open with the exception of the top Brevent cable car and the Floria drag lift at Flegere. Just as I decided to head down on the Brevent-Chamonix Gondola the weather finally broke giving views across the valley, but low down the valley was still in cloud. I was tempted to stay up a little longer now that I could see where I was going but the threat of long queues to get down was enough to persuade me to head down slightly before everyone else.

Today I headed up to Le Tour but before I even got there I was turned around by the police before Montroc and told that the car park was full, so off I went to Vallorcine. As on Sunday, the car park still had spaces when I arrived and there was no queue to get up on the gondola. The snow was typically spring-like today and the blue skies and sun made it feel even more like spring. The snow was hard in the morning, crusty, and even a little icy, but by midday it was starting to soften quite nicely. Off piste at the back to the left of Belle Place I managed to find some fresh snow but it was thin; I doubt more than 10cm deep, but if you didn't edge hard it was a decent enough alternative to the piste. The off piste below the Tete de Balme chairlift wasn't bad either for the top half, with its sections of thinly drifted snow around the small pine trees making for good turns, but further down it became less fun and more of a challenge. The crusty moguls of yesterday's refrozen slush were something that I was glad to do once and no more.

It was generally busy at Le Tour today; the Autannes chairlift was the worst hit with the queue taking 10–15 minutes to get though. One possible reason is that the cable car up to Lognan in Grands Montets was closed, so maybe more people came to Le Tour than is normal. Hopefully, tomorrow when it's running again things will be back to normal. We have a little new snow in the forecast for tonight so I'm hoping it's going to be enough to bury the crusty stuff.

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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