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Chamonix Snow Report: 29th December 2014
Conditions at Les Houches, Brevent and Flegere
The pistes in Chamonix aren't just all about the down. With so many irritatingly fit and healthy folk crammed into one valley, and the ever increasing popularity of ski touring, you'll find plenty of folk out using the slopes to go up the hill under their own power.
In an effort to manage the potential for conflict between the uppers and the downers, Compagnie du Mont Blanc has created a couple of "ski de randonnee" trails that take you away from the hustle and bustle of the pistes and let you enjoy the tranquillity of the mountains in a secured area, or work on your VO2 max without fear of being flattened by a ski school.
The Les Houches trail was the first to be opened and whilst it suffered from some early teething problems with poor signage and no maintenance, it's now a popular trail for Chamonix's ski tourers.
Heading up on Monday, a couple days after the weekend's "snowmageddon", I was clearly not the first on the trail that day. A well defined skin track was nicely cut into the snow through the trees at the edge of the Ailloudes piste to Maison Neuve. From there a skidoo's been used to open the wider section that winds through the trees to Les Vieilles Luges restaurant. A perfect stopping point for a hot chocolate or mulled wine to ready you for the climb still to come.
The trail continues like this, either well defined skin trail or semi pisted skidoo track (where the firmer snow had been nicely cut by the tracks to give my skins more grip) all the way up the hill. Although you rarely stray far from the madding piste, the trees obscure the sight and sound of the resort making it all much more enjoyable than heading up at the edge of a blue run constantly looking out for someone who's going to crash into you.
Once the trail tops out by the Prarion gondola I guess you could get some value out of your lift pass and take the bubble down, but I prefer to ski. The upper slopes are much improved after the weekend's snow, but as you reach the middle of the mountain there are still a few wee hidden stones ready to attack your ski bases. Fortunately Les Houches has the most extensive snow making in the valley and, with night time temperatures down below -10, they're making the most of it and the stones could be buried already! As you go lower on the mountain the terrain below the snow gets more grassy, needing less and less snow to cover the ground, so conditions underski are more than acceptable, if not amazing.
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Ed: Conditions on the pistes on Monday in Les Houches were a little hard going for beginners as the pistes hadn't all been groomed after the heavy snow fall, and saw a few people getting caught out in the soft verges at the sides of the pistes! As Graham says there are plenty of snow canons in operation on the pistes in Les Houches and if you're wanting to keep a little lower out of the icy winds today, Les Houches is a good option.
Over at Flegere & Brevent there are high winds today bringing the temperatures down even more. Snow cover higher up is good and the pistes are groomed and looking good. Take a look at today's quick summary from Seven Twenty Productions. There are 10/21 pistes open on Brevent and 5/18 pistes on Flegere. We're told you can ride the Brevent home run down, although it is actually closed, but watch out for rocks and only do this if you're sure of your ability on narrow runs and if you're prepared to take some chunks out of your base (I'd wait for more snow!)
Temperatures today (Tuesday) are around -15 degrees C, but it will be getting warmer tomorrow and towards the weekend, and it looks likely we'll be getting some more snow on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Keep an eye on the current weather forecast here.
