chamonix oh dear it that time again.

Well once again i have booked as a group of 4 for a 4 day pre christmas break the week before christmas. however i noticed they have changed the lift opening dates this year.

last year partial throughout the resort was i believe the 8th and full was 17th ( the weekend we went )

this year there is only a partial opening of the grand montets on the 8th and weekend of the les houches the weekend of the 15th ( the weekend we go this year )

im wondering if that means there will be no attempt to open any earlier if there is snow cover or are these just projected dates and if the snow is there they will go ahead and prep the slopes. last year was kinda strange as they had too much snow in a short time to be able to handle it and only les houches and 3 runs on grand montet were open due to avalanche risk.

last year really was so stressful not knowing whther it was going to snow and i said i wasnt going to get dragged into it again this year yet already i find myself looking.

im wondering as i probably did if there is anyone local to chamonix out there who can remember the history of opening weekend over the years and whether skiing at some point has always been possible. anyway here we go again. difference is this year i couldnt resist and have booked to go back in the first week of feb to to the aguillie du midi :-)

Matt I would be surprised if they open early as no real demand.

Good news is that temperatures are well below seasonal average now and Monday will see first snow below 1600m.If remains like this much better chance of settling snow from late November as ground will have cooled nicely. Grand Montets will open on time and have snow.

Last year whilst you were stressing everyone was in St Gervais skiing powder, or off the midi in thigh deep powder (see picture). Truly epic December/January, not sure of your level but consider a guide. The good ones will find you skiing in the valley no matter what the snow or avalanche risk.

Matt,

At the start of the year we booked 15-22Dec. Why did they suddently change the opening?
Im startign to get nervous. You can go to Verbier on Thursdays, but what to do for the rest of the time?
I too got caught out with the late snow last year. Lets hope it dumps down early and they decide to open...or even just for us!

Well after a solid early season start with plenty of cold nights and the odd snow fall it seems to have dried up again. and have to say im starting to twitch as its only 4 weeks until the proposed opening of the season .....

come on people lets get the snow dance going...........

anyone local who can offer any encouraging comments would be great otherwise there will be 5 of us all sat around a hotel for 4 days with nothing to do but drink. man that will be expensive....

I've always fancied the idea of a pre Christmas ski. But the concerns you have I share and this has always stopped me from going in December. Shame as some of the deals for mid December are superb in places like st anton

Not sure why the resorts all seem to be opening later than expected. It's not snow cover for sure, particularly in Chamonix. I agree that it seems to be pot luck on dates.

Zinal is open to the public this weekend, race teams have been training there for weeks now. Weekday opening is not scheduled until 15th December.
Grimentz (might) open weekends of 8th and 15th Dec, but won't open daily until 22nd Dec, all of which makes for a short season, given that they tie the closing dates to whenever Easter happens.

Have skins will go ski :D

The reason for the later opening and earlier closing dates is probably financial. After a period of strong growth the skiing industry has entered a period of decline, so some of the lift companies are trying to cut costs. Some places have been affected worse than others. Saas Fee Bergbahn's major share holder had to lend it 600,000 Francs during the summer as it didn't have enough cash to pay the bills. The Monterosa lift company lost 2 million Euros last season, in the previous season it lost 3 million.

If the lift co.s keep the lifts closed, then they will get less customers for sure. Hotels will get less stays, restaurants will see less turnover ...and on and on.

Skiers, won't stop skiing, they will just go someplace that welcomes their biz.
If it's Zermatt though, they might take Sandwiches -)