Blue sky, empty pistes and more powder

Here in Chamonix the snow conditions continue to be very good. We had some more snow middle of last week which was still fresh at some of the resorts as they opened for the first time at the weekend.

This weekend saw the opening of Brevent and Flegere. The new access lift at Brevent now more than doubles the upload capacity hopefully meaning the queues for getting up to this part of the valley are a thing of the past.
The conditions at Brevent are very good with perfect pistes and on Saturday there was also plenty of good riding off piste.

Over in Flegere there is great conditions at the moment and again with this area opening for the first time this season on Saturday there was some great riding to be had.

Flegere is known in the Chamonix valley as the natural snowpark with windlips, cat tracks and loads of natural features to test the freestyle skills. The Flegere area was very quiet with most of the pistes virtually deserted but those who were riding there were riding mostly off piste.

I took my first visit this season to the top end of the Chamonix valley to the resort of Le Tour where the wind had done its best to ruin the snow. The pistes were in great condition and there was also some great powder to be found just a little of the beaten track. There was a few more people out on the mountain today but by no means busy.

The Tete de Balme chairlift from the back side of the resort only opened yesterday so this was were our little crew headed first thing this morning. There was some really good snow to be found over on this side and also from the Posettes poma which is a great big open face that gets sunshine all day.

Here is a few video clips of the crew riding at Le Tour today.

Snorkels required !!

That's right if you are coming to the alps anytime soon bring your snorkel because the snow is unbelievable right now. I've just spent the weekend riding some of the best snow conditions I can remember for a long time.

With over 50cm of fresh snow during Thursday and Friday the conditions for the weekend were amazing.




The snow continued to fall all through Saturday which meant the tracks being laid were getting filled in again straight after.
There is whispers in the valley that the remaining lifts will be opening this weekend which will mean the whole valley is up and running.

The forecast is for another 30cm during Wednesday and some more for late in the week so it just keeps getting better.
The heli freeride week in early April looks like its about to fill up with only one place remaining on that week, for anyone wishing to come out to do some technique and learn some off piste safety then check out the website here

Best start to winter in over 5 years !!

That's right here in Chamonix the winter is off to one of the best starts in over 5 years with a base of over 100cm on the mountain and another dump on the way.

The forecast over the coming weekend is for another 30-60cm of snow and that's at only 1500m altitude so could be even more slightly higher up the mountain.

Trying not to get over excited but things filling in this early could mean a big winter in Chamonix with off piste descents being ready to ride much sooner. Here at Alpinelines our freeride sessions are booking up so anyone wanting to take advantage of amazing winter conditions should get in touch.......right I'm off to get the board waxed up !!

Chamonix lifts are open !!

The Grands Montets area in Chamonix opened for the new season this weekend and the conditions were fantastic for this early in the season. The Bochard lift was running taking you to an altitude of 2765m where the snow base is already 100cm and at the Lognan restaurant level of 1965m the snow base is 75cm.




The locals were out and everyone was enjoying the great conditions. The snow over last weekend and earlier this week has remained very good due to the below freezing temperatures all week. There was over 1500m of verticle descent to be ridden which my legs are feeling after a few of those runs. The Pierre a Ric piste from the mid station to village level in Argentiere has complete cover and is one of the local favourites to end the day, with plenty of banks bumps and rollers this uses up those last ounces of energy.

The complete area of the Grands Montets will be available from next weekend when all the lifts will be running and with some more snow forecast over tonight and tomorrow the great early seaon conditions here in Chamonix look set to continue.

A little hike before the lifts open

After the great snow early in the week I received a few reports of amazing conditions on the mountain from people who had put in the effort and hiked to get in some turns. So today I decided to go and check it out before the lifts open at the weekend with a hike up the Grands Montets resort.

With a few friends we set off to ascend the home run or Pierre a ric with the hope of finding some good snow at mid mountain level. After an hour and a bit we reached the mid station 1972m where the Pisteurs were busy preparing for opening on Saturday 29th November. The groomers were hard at work preparing powder soft corduroy which was the case on every piste.

There was nobody else on the mountain except for the lift company staff so we kept hiking a little further up the mountain to a spot where we could access the dream forest. Here in the shelter of the trees the snow condition was fantastic with soft powder everywhere, it didn't take long for the whooping and hollering to start as our group descended further toward the valley.

The remainder of the run down was in one of the
couliors that run from mid mountain to the village level in Argentiere and this is where some of the best turns of the day were had. Everyone was charging the lines with only the odd touch of rock or branches.

After reaching the bottom we looked back into the couloir to see the lines we had just layed and how amazed we all were with the great conditions for this early in the year. Tomorrow its off back to the Grands Montets but this time the lifts will be open so there will be no need to hike for the lines.

The lifts are opening

The latest news from the Chamonix valley is that the first lifts to open will be the Grands Montets next weekend. This is great news and is even early than last year.

This is on the back of some very good early snow and this past weekend has seen another substantial fall of over 60cm at mid mountain level. The forecast is for the snow to keep going right through to late on Monday.

Other news from the valley is that the new Le Brevent telecabins have arrived and are being tested for the anticipated opening of this new 11 million euro access lift. The telecabine is opening on the 20th December and will mean that queues for access and download at Le Brevent will be a thing of the past due to this new high speed lift. We will be there on the 20th so check back for some photos/video of that.

A short promotional video of the Chamonix resort showing why so many people regard this resort as one of the best in the world.

Big dump alert !!

Here in Chamonix the forecast for the coming weekend has been revised and its a whopper !! The forecast is now predicting 40-65cm's at just 1500m which will see over a meter of fresh snow put down on mid mountain.

There is already a buzz building with friends calling to plan on getting in some hiking early next week to score some powder. The word on the grapevine here in the valley is that the lifts will open this weekend so that's great news.

Check back here middle of next week to see some photos of the conditions in the Chamonix valley.

Winter is here !!

Here in Chamonix winter has arrived with the high mountains now having a good covering of snow. The forecast for the coming weekend is for a substantial snowfall which will hopefully see the resorts being able to begin uplift.

This puts the Chamonix valley on course for another early opening and with that in mind here at Alpinelines we are taking bookings for this winters snowboarding sessions. Whether its Piste, Park or Powder we have a session to suit all abilities of snowboarder, so if you would like some lessons from Britain's top snowboard teachers then get in touch.