Chamonix Snow Report: 7th March 2006

Yesterday, Grands Montets fully reopened after the closures and was busy with people desperate to get first lines in all the new snow. The day felt a little like we were chasing queues: first the cable car to get up, then Bochard when it opened later in the morning, and then the top cable car to Grands Montets in the afternoon. The ride up the Herse was initially cold until the sun came around later in the day. It was busy too at first, until Bochard opened and drew away the powder hungry. I spent most of my time contenting myself with tracked-out snow skier's right of the Herse: it was still good to ride, as the bumps and chop were soft and light enough not to be a problem. I found a few stashes of untracked snow too, and had some of my best runs of the season in it. When the top opened we headed up as soon as possible. There was a queue, and I guess we waited about half an hour but it was worth it. By the afternoon, cloud had moved in. The middle of the mountain was covered in fog and it was snowing lightly again. The top cable car lifted us up above the cloud and gave us some great views of Mont Blanc sticking out through the cloud layer. Point de Vue is now open and marked so we followed that down. The snow was fairly well tracked at the top section but again it was so light it wasn't taking much of the fun away. A little diversion left of the marked run found us some fresh tracks but the snow seemed to be a little crusty underneath, some avalanche debris I think.

This morning was much clearer, and still very cold; the cloud and snow of yesterday afternoon had gone. Rumours that the back of Le Tour would open today sent us there in the hope of more fresh powder. We rode the frontside as we waited for the Tete de Balme chair to open. The pistes were excellent, and the off piste was tracked but not tracked-out. Amazingly the gullies that run down the front side, which had given us so much fun earlier in the season, are now almost completely filled in with snow: a bit of a shame as I enjoyed the jumps in them but hey, I'm not complaining as we have so much snow here now. The back opened at midday and we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the powder there, with runs through open powder fields first and then tight trees later. The snow in the trees was the best, as they seem to hold more and the shade seems to keep it colder and lighter. Most of the smaller bushes are buried now making lines through the trees easier, and the perfect snow helps too. We saw evidence of some absolutely massive avalanches whilst we were there; the largest was in the bowl below the Croix de Fer. The whole bowl had avalanched. It's a reminder of how dangerous the back of Le Tour is. The Aiguillette des Posettes drag lift didn't open all day, possibly because the slopes down to Vallorcine and Le Buet from the Posettes are still very dangerous but hopefully it'll be opening soon. There's more snow due tonight and tomorrow so conditions are just going to get better and better.

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