Chamonix Snow Report: 22nd April 2015

Spring snow might come a poor second to deep powder for many, but who doesn't like the idea of blasting about the mountain in soft sugary snow and topping up the goggle tan in a t-shirt?

The pistes are pretty firm 1st thing, so we've been leaving it until late morning to head up, but if you want smooth empty pistes then getting on the hill before 10 with sharp edges is the best bet. We were looking for slightly softened spring snow today though, which meant moving about the hill changing aspect and altitude for the right mix of sunshine and temperature.

The lack of crowds meant that top bin was only a short wait and, whilst the snow on the descent towards the Argentiere glacier was still quite firm, great spring snow and fun terrain was found to the left of the Point de Vue piste. Remember though that all the terrain off the top of Grand Montets is glaciated and take appropriate consideration if leaving the 2 marked pistes.

Spring at Grand Montets is also all about moguls. The slopes below the Herse chair have built up the best, and biggest, and is where to head if you want a work out. Don't like moguls? Well what better time to learn to love them! Get good at skiing bumps and nothing on the mountain will faze you again....

From Bochard the snow is getting a little scraped on piste in places, but you can still rack up a huge amount of vertical in very little time thanks to the complete lack of other people waiting for the lift.

Unfortunately Pierre a Ric has now closed for the season, though with the huge slushy bumps forming by about 13:00 it's understandable that the pisteurs wanted to stop less confident skiers having a bad end to the day on what is normally a groomed red run. There are also new lift opening hours to take note of, the main one being the Plan Joran lift closing in the afternoons, but with no Pierre a Ric, it's not such an issue.

Away from the pistes, the Vallee Blanche exit is starting to get a little thin, with a few minutes of walking required to get back to the Montenvers stairs, and higher up some of the snow bridges are getting decidedly saggy. The Flegere cable car is open in the morning for another couple of days to get ski tourers into the Aiguille Rouge and Mont Blanc has been seeing lots of traffic. Have a look at the guides page if this weather has you keen to learn how to start getting away from the resort.

Of course, just because it feels like summer today doesn't mean that you should put the powder skis away quite yet......next week should see a change in weather back to winter and the possibility of some, perhaps lots, of fresh snow at altitude.