Merry Christmas!
We sure have a white one here in the valley - theres still tons of snow everywhere despite the recent rain, and more snow forecast for christmas night.
It rained high-ish on Saturday night, but only for a short time above 2000 metres. It didn't do too much damage, just made it a bit icy in the mid and lower mountain. At the top of the Bochard at the Grands Montets there was a smooth layer of tightly packed fresh snow. It was challenging to ski, but not bad, and there was some hazy sunshine around to see the beautiful Alps around.
Since my last report, there has been some great skiing, especially Friday with 33cm fresh at the Grands Montets. Saturday saw the opening of the other ski areas of the valley, a little limited lift-wise at first due to there being lots of snow to move around and avalanches to bomb. The helicopter was out yesterday doing some bombing on The Brevent top lift, and all the lifts that are still closed are being prepared for opening soon, hopefully.
The Flegere and Brevent had some great powder on slopes facing slightly away from the sun, and the Col Cornu held some classy lines with good snow. Le Tour was the most open, and Les Houches at the other end of the valley. The snowpack is very complex at the moment, though, so anywhere that has not been controlled is liable to be avalanche prone, especially steeper terrain.
The next storm is approaching from the West, with a bit of foehn wind before the snow comes in again on Tuesday evening.
Here's a video from Friday and the Weekend:
