Messages posted by : chaletinthemountains
|
The official ban on smoking in bars and restaurants starts on 1 Feb, but I've noticed that here in Chamonix and Les Houches many places put up their no-smoking signs from the beginning of the season.
|
|
|
Normally early Jan is fine and even last year, when the snow came pretty late and it was uncharacteristically warm in the bottom of the valley, its was still ok on the ski slopes. I suppose you always have the altitude in Chamonix, so even in the worst case you can just ski a bit higher.
I found the 13 year average stats v v interesting (thanks to Bennyboy for posting those), cos last year was generally written up as the worst year in living memory, global warming destroying ski industry etc etc blah blah blah. And although the temps at the bottom of the valley were higher than usual, the snow depths on the ski areas were fairly typical compared to the 13yr average. I kept an occasional blog-like snow report page going last season and if you compare the snow depths to the 13yr average, it wasn't massively different, except for the end of the season when there was way way more snow than average! beginning Jan: 150cm on upper slopes compared to 160cm 13yr average end Jan: 180cm compared to 211cm 13yr ave mid feb: 250cm compared to 254cm beginning mar: 350cm compared to 293cm end mar: 383cm compared to 296cm In case anyone is interested, you can read the full snow report for last season go to http://www.chaletinthemountains.com/snowreport.htm |
|
|
Chamonix should be good. Currently there is about 2m depth at 2000m (where the ski areas start) and is almost 4m deep on the higher slopes. Look here for more details http://www.chamonix.com/page.php?page=89&r=snow_report&ling=en
We've also seen some fresh snow on the slpoes in the last few days, and there is more forcast for the coming weekend. 15-25cm of fresh snow is forecast for Friday. Nice!! |
|
|
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.) |
|
|
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. |
|
|
Bennyboy is spot on, with his comments ... the vast majority of the ski areas on Chamonix Valley are high, so you shouldn't have any problems finding snow in April. Generally there are decent levels of snow at the time of year, and the biggest issue is that the more south facing ski areas can get a bit soft as the day wears on at that time of year.
In fact, in the last few years, there has been a decent amount of fresh snowfall in April ... even down to the valley floor. And last season, the skiing wasnt bad all the way into May!! But the weather this year has been so weird, who knows what's going to happen. So wherever you decide to go, I would definitely recommend you don't take any risks and go high!! |
|
There isn't really one main area in the Chamonix Valley, there are 5 (both one of the charms and frustrations about the place!!). Each area is pretty different, some are definitely not suited for beginners and some are perfectly ok! Probably the best two areas for beginners are Les Houches and Domaine de Balme (formerly known as Le Tour). If your beginner friend gets some lessons, then there's enough decent skiing on either of these areas for the better skiers in your group to have a good time. These areas are best placed for beginners and intermediates. More expert skiers will also find some interesting skiing there, but might become frustrated if they are stuck there for the sake of beginners, whilst there are more challenging areas like Flégère and Grands Montest just down the road. There are also a few dedicated trainer/beginner slopes dotted around the valley. These tend to be lower down, nearer the valley floor, whereas the main ski areas are a cable car ride and start higher up. In case you're intersted, you can find more detailed info on the skiing in Chamonix Valley here http://chaletinthemountains.com/ski%20areas.htm Hope this helps! |
|
|
If you're concerned about snow conditions, then I suggest you go somewhere with a decent altitude. Conditions are ok if you stay high.
In Chamonix Valley we continue to have this unseasonally warm weather so the amount of snow at bottom of the valley (which about 1050m elevation) is much much lower than usual. But there's been a decent amount of snow over the last couple of weeks and the ski areas (which mostly start at 1800m and go up) stay fairly cold and as a result the snow conditions aren't too bad at all. Currently snow conditions are reported as: Depth of lower slopes: 152 cm at 2000 metres Depth of upper slopes: 220 cm at 2800 metres As for accommodation, we're offering self-catered places and we're running a special flexi-break promotion at the moment, so it works well for long weekend, midweek check-ins. Accommodation details can be found on: http://www.chaletinthemountains.com http://www.chamonixselfcatered.com to make an enquiry, just drop us an email at stay@chaletinthemountains.com |
|