Skiing is Believing
December 7th, 2008 - Posted by: Powder Monkey
The Grands Montets sector of the Chamonix ski area opened a week ago for weekend skiing. Chamonix is the latest French ski resort to open ahead of schedule thanks to heavy and frequent snowfalls across the Alps in November. It began snowing again in Cham on Thursday and it dumped in earnest on Friday, so the snow up at Grands Montets was sure to be deep come the weekend. However, people-in-the-know know that the GM is not necessarily the best place to be on a powder day because the steep terrain attracts swarms of snow-hungry, powder-pillaging skiers and boarders. What’s more, Saturday’s forecast announced 0% visibility so, since there aren’t too many trees at GM to help you judge the lay of the land in a white-out, we decided to head further a field.
Tags: Chamonix, Courmayeur
Posted in News from the Alps, Weather & Snow Conditions | 1 Comment »
Ski Resorts Open Early across the French Alps!
November 28th, 2008 - Posted by: Powder Monkey
The French ski season is gathering momentum with more and more resorts announcing that they will open earlier than planned thanks to last weekend’s mega dump of snow. And it seems the snow wealth was evenly distributed right across the Alps.
It’s been a sub-zero week in Chamonix and the early snow is hanging around, even at resort level, so I will be skiing locally this weekend. The Compagnie du Mont Blanc, who manages the lifts in the valley, has announced a partial opening of the Grands Montets, and Chamonix’s Italian resort partner, Courmayeur has followed suit. Chamonix’s former French partner, Les Houches, is also due to open tomorrow.
Tags: Alpe d'Huez, Chamonix, Courmayeur, Deux Alpes, Les Houches, Meribel, Tignes, Val d'Isere, Val Thorens
Posted in Weather & Snow Conditions | 1 Comment »