Chamonix Snow Report: 7th February 2012

But what about the slopes? Well, Siberian temperatures are a snowflake's friend and even though we haven’t had any fresh snow in the last few days, there hasn’t been much change in the conditions on the hill. Well that’s perhaps not entirely true, the Brevent ski out (Les Nants) is now pretty hard packed in many places, especially on the bends; and is far less enjoyable than it was last week. However, there are still some very nice, dare I say - powder stashed descents than drop down onto it if you know where you’re going (or are with someone who does!). Higher up, the Chamois red off the top of the Cornu chair is still running smooth and fast but the off piste just to the side is now pretty crusty and/or formed into scratchy moguls. Off to the right, the Charlanon red was a different story; the edge of the piste was covered in fabulously grippy windblown powder but my goodness the wind gave you a good beating on the way down and this was not an area of the hill to have any exposed flesh!

I must apologise for the lack of photos of Brevent this week but it was just too cold to remove my gloves! I feared that it would put my fingers in peril and that I wouldn’t be able to type up this report. And whilst I know “a picture paints a thousand words .... blah blah”, sometimes it’s nice to have a bit of chat alongside.

I did, however, take photos when I ventured a little further afield at the weekend to St Gervais. If you’ve got a season pass or one of the annual residents' passes, then you’ll also have a little book of tickets that entitles you to 3 free day passes in a selection of Haute Savoie resorts (Morzine/Avoriaz, Flaine, Les Contamines among others). Alternatively if you’re visiting with a car and fancy a change of scene for the day, then St Gervais/Megeve is well worth a visit. It’s only 25 minutes drive to the Bettex lift on the far side of St Gervais from Chamonix, and from there you can ski across to Megeve or down to St Nicolas de Veroce (although there is a particularly nasty drag lift on that side called Vanay – beware!) The snow was really lovely over there; soft and squeaky on piste and still some fresh lines to be had on the shaded face under the Mont Joly and the Epaule chairs. Dropping down the St Nicolas side you’re more in the sun and we had a lot of fun riding waves of fresh snow until we dropped back into the cloud as we neared the village. There is also a nice looking snow park under the Mont Joux chair that was only partly open at the weekend but looks like a lot of fun if that’s your sort of thing.

Even though there wasn’t a breath of wind that day, the air temperature was absolutely bitter and conversation on the lift was a little difficult with a face so frozen it felt like it would crack! However many layers you normally wear on the hill, you probably want to double it at the moment and add another for good measure before heading up. The good news is the temperature is warming up from “bitter cold” to just “very cold” in the next couple of days and whilst we may get another dusting of snow tonight, it’s not due to be anything significant. Enjoy the sun while it’s here this week, the cloud is coming in again towards the weekend and another exceptionally cold front with it. Make sure you take some tissues out skiing with you because when you see the person next to you on the lift with a rather attractive drip on the end of their nose – the chances are that you have one too! Wrap up and bon ski!