Dumping in Chamonix for Christmas
View from the balcony
09.15 am 20/12/2011
After a very dry summer, the snow has arrived in spades in Chamonix.
Bring on the fluffiness!
Many ski resorts were getting pretty nervous in early December when the slopes still looked dry and autumnal after the second driest November on record in Chamonix. The snow that had arrived had all comne from the south east and, in classic föhn style had dumped on the Italian side while leaving Chamonix and the rest of the northern alps warm and dry. Great for valley rock - I was climbing in a T-shirt at 1400m on the 4th December - but not great for sliding about on planks.
However, the winds of now swung to the north and we have a stream of unstable air pouring across. We've gone from famine to feast and we've so much snow that many areas remain closed due to avalanche risk. Meanwhile, there is great tree skiing in the lower resorts like St Gervais.
Merry powdery Christmas everyone!