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 !!