Chamonix Snow Report: 5th January 2015

Making it up the first top cable car at Grands Montets just after 9am we were happily surprised with some fresh wind blown powder on the upper slopes. Pockets of silky smooth snow mixed with a chalky layer made the snowboarding really fun...for the top half of the hill at least! Following the black run down from the top, back to mid station, threw up a whole host of conditions, from icy moguls and wind blown pockets to solid ice cat tracks. Not always relaxing but a fun morning never the less with spectacular views across the valley and the Argentiere Glacier.

After the queues began to form for the top bin it was time hit the Bochard gondola and see how conditions were on that part of the mountain. We managed to find a great little cat track off to the side of the main piste that was covered in a layer of wind blown snow that gave us some fun turns and access to a few gullies of deep soft snow. Half way down however, the ice was very apparent under the thin layer of snow and I spent a lot of time sliding down on my bum rather than on the edges of my snowboard! By mid morning the light was starting to get pretty flat which made some of the lower slopes hard to negotiate, especially when combined with the lethal ice patches that crept up on you.

In the end I was happy with my mornings snowboarding and decided to call it a day as the dark clouds rolled up the valley.

Up again for the first bus again on Sunday morning, with high hopes of fresh snow up high, we were sadly disappointed. The new Plan Joran gondola was not operating so the queue was already out the door for the cable car at Grands Montets and with rain coming down hard we decided not to wait it out and just to head home.

At the time I was more than happy with my decision, however, hearing the reports from later in the day from both Brevent and Grands Montets, once the sun came out the slopes were great! With some of the holes filled in and a few more rocks covered over the pistes were in great condition, although still a little slippy under your edges in some sections. With the sun on Brevent the snow became more spring-like and heavy but still lots of fun for those snowboarders and skiers who had waited out the rain and poor visibility of the morning!

So although it wasn't the powder day we were expecting there were a lot of happy faces on the mountain on Sunday afternoon. With the sunshine today and hopefully both top cable cars of grands Montets and Brevent open there should be some good skiing around the valley.

But we could still do with more snow so don't stop those snow dances just yet!