Chamonix Snow Report: 7th March 2012

I also lucked out by finding a parking space at Le Tour this week – haven’t seen one of those for some time now. And not just one but several all grouped together! I grabbed one immediately and headed to the lift where I was a bit surprised to find a little cluster of people. It took me a moment to realise that this was in fact a queue! In March? At Le Tour?? The gondola was on a bit of a run slow because it was quite windy up there yesterday, so boards were put inside and the very pro-active lifties (not something you say in the same breath very often) were filling up each cabin so it took less than 10 minutes in all to be on my way. This was a definite improvement on Monday when access to the area was only possible via the Vallorcine gondola, as least for part of the day, due to wind or technical problems.

Le Tour has been the coldest part of the valley this week; -9 at Charamillon and -12 at the Tete de Balme yesterday and with a north wind blowing in the area, the ride up the Autannes chair was a bit fresh! I headed straight over the back and was surprised about how many people were on the cat track going in the same direction. There still appears to be quite a few Parisians around (or at least there are still many racing snow ploughers and people skiing in blinkers) making the long traverse over to the back side a little like running the gauntlet. The Esserts piste through the trees was pretty hard packed in places although there were still some grippier stashes down the edges making it possible to zip past some of the more kamikaze riders. Getting onto the Tete de Balme chairlift, I was all braced for the icy blast that always accompanies a ride on this chair but there wasn’t a breath of wind on it yesterday – it was the front side that was getting whipped instead. Underneath the chair though – it looked more appealing than it actually was – not much more than dust on crust really that had been a little windblown particularly at the top.

Despite the wind that was blowing on the Autannes lift the pistes down the front side were in pretty good nick. The Bechet-Esserts was gorgeous, slightly softened by the sun and deliciously chalky down the edge – I was up for a few laps of it but the Plan des Reines drag lift that it runs alongside was closed (still is today) and as a result, there was a pretty big queue forming at the Aiguillettes drag so I carried on down to Charamillon instead. The slopes off to the right of the Autannes chair were again looking quite tempting but watching anyone that ventured onto them from the chairlift, it soon became apparent why there weren’t any tracks on it. Crusty, crusty, crusty. But still, whilst pretty hard packed in places, the pistes were running fast and smooth and the cold north wind kept them that way all day.

Last night was one of the most stunning evenings we’ve had in a while – spectacularly clear and with an almost full moon lighting up the entire range – it was absolutely beautiful. Tonight though, we’re pretty overcast and with a bit of luck we should have a bit more snow coming in again by morning – probably about the same as we had on Monday but accompanied by strong winds at altitude so not likely to soften up the pistes too much.

Whatever the weather throws at us we’ve got four days of fun and partying ahead as the Black Crows' Black Weekend comes back to Chamonix for its 5th year. With mogul comps, ski tests and DJs up on Grands Montets from Friday through Sunday; the party will be carrying on long, long into the night in Choucas and Amnesia so if you’re up for it this weekend – it’s gonna be there for the taking! Enjoy :O)