Snow in Chamonix town by Monday, but why no cannnons?

Woke up this morning to much excitement about the white stuff that had arrived last night. Currently the rain-snow limit is towards 1400 m, rising up towards 1800 m, but by Monday it should be down to 900m with temperatures barly above freezing. Excellent, snow at last.  Was starting to worry!

You can check out the ever changing webcams here.

Those in Chamonix are currently taking the 112km trip to Breuil-Cervinia in the Aosta valley in Italy.  However, things are now looking promising, particularly as Les Grand-Montets first open day was yesterday.  The rest of the resort is due to open on the 17th December.

Roll on more ‘natural snow’, not only as its far better for the environment, but also due to the difficulty of creating snow in the warm temperatures created by temperature inversion, resulting in the town actually being cooler than the slopes.  Once temperatures are down to 3.5 on the sloped though the cannons can begin.  So we should be ok soon

Barbecuing after our first day skiing…?!?

Well it was forecast to be rather warm, but we hadn’t expected to be barbecuing on our first day in resort…

 

Our first day skiing.....

 

Best of both worlds hey

And another bonus, that I didn’t quite manage to capture on camera was a number of pretty ladies standing on the slopes in bikini tops and salopetts, or perhaps not even the salopettes, just jacket and bathers.  Strange things happen when it’s warm!!

Given its our first day we’ve still yet to do some of the other things on the offing.

Seb Montazs’ new Snow Reports season for Winter 2011 coming soon

With summer well over, it’s definitely time to look forward to something.  Thankfully Seb is going to be running his weekly weather up dates with great filming, as soon as the slopes are open for business.  Not only are they a great watch, but they will also give you tips on the best places to ski within the Chamonix Unlimited ski pass area based on the forthcoming weather conditions

And here is a little reminder of what he got up to last year.

Things to do in Chamonix when its raining

Well let’s face it, this summer wasn’t the sunniest in much of Western Europe.  And if there wasn’t rain the scenery wouldn’t be a lovely lush green would it?

Having become comfortably used to temperatures regularly hitting the 30s in previous summers, I must admit I’d become a bit complacent in my packing and not paid too much attention to filling cases with jumpers and trousers.  A bit daft really when one of the highlights of going to the Alps is to see snow-capped mountains. Nevermind, a good excuse to go shopping

So with Chamonix being principally an outdoor holiday, we had to discover some alternative activities if we were to stay dry.   So, here are some of the things we found to do to keep the kids entertained and damp free.

• Bowling. A place we have walked past so many times in Cham Sud, but never visited.  The kids were delighted. During wet weather it opens at 2pm, (as opposed to 5pm on dry days) and stays open until 10pm.  Although each game isn’t cheap (9 Euros per adult, 7 Euros per child I think), they offer a bowl and drink package where for an extra euro you can get a drink (soft or alcoholic).  A drink, bowl and pizza package is also available for 14euros.

• Indoor mini golf. Located above the bowling alley, it’s nice and dry, if not a little quick 9 holes. 5 Euros per person, a round which you can string out at quiet times.

• The Crystal Musem at the Espace Tairraz. Although Daddy is almost allergic to museums we managed to pass an hour and half without too much stress. It comprises two exhibitions:  “Les Hommes and Les Glaciers” and a crystal display.  The main exhibitions was of course very appropriate to the location with many pictures, exhibits and films relating to the geology of key glaciers around the world, the history of Mont Blanc’s conquering, environmental aspects etc.  It also had a rather interesting chunk of the Indian airplane that crashed into the mountain during the 60′s. The crystal exhibition had a little history on the crystal hunters, but most importantly lots of lovely sparkly stones of various hues. Bling with labels, the kids loved it!

• Alpine museum. You get entry to both museums for the price of one.  We didn’t actually get to visit this museum as it was felt by the male member of the family that one museum a holiday was enough.  But we had tickets for it, so I thought I’d include it in my list

• Geocaching.  Not as daft as it might first appear as there are many just on the edge of car parks that only take a few minutes to get to.  For example Montee Divine opposite Les Houches at the foot of the Jesus statue, Vue sur les Grandes on a river bank near at Les Tignes and Toute vapeur near Montenvers station in the middle of town.  Well if you are going to go for a drive you need a reason to stretch you legs don’t you.

Although we had a good few days in the wet we didn’t get a chance to try some of the other things like the indoor climbing wall in Les Houches, the cinema or ice skating.  So every cloud has a silver lining I suppose, leaving us something to look forward to the next time it rains.

Seb says that skiing conditions could be good until the end of May!

Well, for those of us that sometimes feel the ski season is too short, it seems you are in luck this year.  Seb Montaz’s latest Chamonix snow report (22nd April 2010) says that the snow “for this time of year is incredible.“  He reckons that we should be able to ski up until the end of May this year, wow!

Seb then goes on to show us what all the fuss is about with some fantastic shots of his friends descending vertical drops on the back of Brevent, having gone up La Floria. There are even some fresh tracks shots. – Snow conditions are still safe on the Valley Blanche and Grand Montets areas.

Seb of course is well placed  to offer advice, given that he is a highly experienced summer and winter mountain guide. His snow reports have been fantastic all season, but this is probably one of his last snow videos this year.  Shame, but roll on warm weather for the cycling etc.

We even get some insight into his favourite music.  The track to accompany his possibly penultimate snow report is Brad Sucks – dropping out of school.

And if you like Seb’s video’s don’t forget to come back again in June to check out our own personal video filmed by the man himself.  Don’t worry it’ll be on the boy’s Mont Blanc assent rather than cleaning the flat or something dull like that.

The best skiing this week will be on the Italian side of the Mont-Blanc Tunnel

Well it certainly looks as though its cold in the Alps at the moment.  Seb’s advice is to go above 2,500m if skiing on the Chamonix side of the area, or get on a bus and go through to Courmayeur for lower level skiing and fresh tracks.

A super weather forecast for the coming week, beautifully filmed by Seb Montaz-Rosset. A nice little twist on the end:-)

Its been snowing for a week now, yipee!

Grand Montets is open and the seasonal low temperature has returned.  How often do we get excited to see the temperature bearly above freezing, hey?