Chamonix Snow Report: 7th January 2007

The weather has been up and down over the past few days: Saturday was sunny and pleasant whilst today started off rainy and overcast, although there have been a few bright spells this afternoon. It's generally been warming up too, with nightime temperatures only just touching freezing and the afternoons feeling very mild, which hasn't exactly been great for the snow at lower levels. On Friday we went out on the ski de fond trails in Chamonix, which have only just opened and sadly aren't in very good shape: they were a mixture of wet and icy frozen slush. The best section was the short loop close to Chamonix. We haven't tried them but we hear that the Argentiere trails are in better shape.

As far as the snow higher up the mountain goes, things are still very good. The top cable car at Grands Montets is open and we've heard good things about the snow at Grands Montets: “I'd be happy if that was the only run I did all season” was what our neighbour said. Almost all the lifts at Brevent and Flegere were open on Saturday with the exception of the Floria lift at the very top of Flegere. Finally the Liaison cable car between Brevent and Flegere is open too. Although on Saturday, Combe Lachenal was still closed, although this didn't seem to deter a large number of skiers who, when we looked into the bowl, had almost tracked it out. The Index piste was in very good condition at the top but at the bottom, just above the lift station, it looked thin and rocky between the cat tracks so it will take another snowfall before i'll be taking the direct route down. The Liaison piste, which often suffers in warmer weather, was a little thin in places too. The Trappe beginners' area was in superb condition and in the shade of the trees directly under the chair the snow was refreshingly light – who'd expect to find powder just off a green run? The home run back down to Les Praz was closed and needs some more snow to open so you have to take the cable car down; luckily it's so quiet now you don't have to wait long to download.

The same goes for Brevent where the black run Nants down to Chamonix is also not yet open. We had a ride or two on the brand-new Cornu chairlift, which was very impressive. It's a fast 6-person lift and we barely had to queue to get on it: a massive improvement on last season's old 3-person lift. The lift is also in a better location than the previous one, being a little lower and right next to the Parsa lift, thus avoiding much walking if you or your friends go to the wrong lift by mistake. The snow at Brevent was good too, but as the day wore on it did become a little heavy and wet in the afternoon sun. Generally though, snow cover was good enough and off piste good if you could find an area that hadn't been too tracked out.

This afternoon we went up to Le Tour as the Tete de Balme chair opened this weekend, and we hoped that the morning's cloud would clear to leave a few sunny spells. Unfortunately at Le Tour the cloud just seemed to cling on at mid mountain making it hard work riding in a whiteout for 50 percent of the time. The snow on the Vallorcine side of Le Tour was a little disappointing and I had been expecting it to be a little deeper over there. The Esserts piste was quite patchy and brown from the Vallorcine gondola onwards, and the mild temperatures made the snow slushy and spring-like even on these shady slopes. The rain that fell on Saturday night had left some snow higher up but even at the top of the Autannes chairlift it looked to be only 1 or 2 cm, and it felt very wet to ride on even at the top. At the bottom of Caisets it really did feel like slush, which was quite good fun to ride but the last steep section really was looking worse for wear with a few muddy patches coming through.

Looks like we're in for a mild but cloudy week, with some snow forecast, so fingers crossed that more snow is on its way.

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