What are the snow conditions in Chamonix Mont Blanc?

What is the latest? I am off there on Saturday. I know there has been a bit of a spell of warm weather recently. How has this affected the snow? Is there a snowfall predicted?

Iceman

This unseasonably warm weather has persisted so the amount of snow at bottom of the valley (which about 1050m elevation) continues to be much much lower than usual. When it does snow in the valley, then it soon turns to rain and the snow disappears. Generally its been wet and rainy, particularly over the last week or so ... in fact from thursday til saturday last week it was pretty much non stop for 4 days solid.

Sounds nasty? But actually that's good news! Above 1500m its been dumping like crazy!! Which is great news for skiing (which mostly starts at 1800m and goes up). Snow levels are good and quite typical for this time of year .... so that's a big POOH POOH to all the panic press reports of "no snow in the alps"!!!

The tourist office is currently reporting snow depths as 245cm at on the lower slopes (2000 m) and 390 cm on higher slopes (2800m).

At the moment, temperatures are dropping, and the local forecast is saying we can probably expect some snow on the valley floor later this week. Although there's not that much fresh snow forecast, the colder tems should keep the snow on the ski slopes in decent condition.

Bottom line is that people coming to ski in the coming weeks are probably going to get the best conditions of the season.

So, Iceman, i hope that puts a smile on your face!!! Have a good trip.

Brilliant thanks for that. Looking forward to it, this will be my first trip to Chamonix. Are there any places we should head for at night (about 8 mid 30 year olds - there are some older but they can be young for this trip!?) :mrgreen:

Iceman

There's tons of night life in Cham, here's a little selection ......

MBC ? Micro Brassierie de Chamonix
Micro brewery pub, Canadian style. Always a great atmosphere, usually has live music - good Canadian bar style food
www.mbchx.com

The Jekyll
an Irish Pub with a reputation for good food. Live bands and dj?s and comedy nights

Munchies
Modern style food beautifully prepared by the Swedish chefs ? hold the muppet show jokes!!
Munchies is a personal favourite. Its on Rue des Moulins

Chambre Neuf
Scandanavian run bar ? friendly staff and a good band every night make for great apres ski?not unusual to see Swedish grils dancing on the tables ? nice!!
http://www.hotel-gustavia.com/fr/ch9.html

La Cabane
Posh nosh ? traditional food with a modern twist
http://www.lacabane.fr/

Le Delice (in Les Houches, 5 mins drive from Chamonix)
International Cuisine ? great reputation amongst locals ?another personal favouite
http://www.ledelice-leshouches.com/

La Caleche
Super traditional mountain chalet style restaurant. So over the top kitsch, its actually quite good ? and the food isn?t bad either ! Good choice if you want a fondue/raclette fix!
http://www.restaurant-caleche.com

Plus any where on the Rue des Moulins, which is a small cobbled pedestrian street in the old part of town, with lots of bars/restaurants, ranging from Le Privelege (chic, live music, nice decoration with a mixture of local wood and African furnishings) to Bar?d Up (an Aussie theme bar with sport on the telly and definitely not the place for a quiet beer.)