Well, it didn't snow in town on Christmas night, but there was a nice 20cms of fresh snow on the mountain, and boxing day we had a great Christmas present - the opening of the Grands Montets top lift for the first of the season. The snow was great deep windbuffed powder, the sun was shining, and the air was very crisp and sweet up at 3300m.
We had another storm yesterday, with lots of wind high up, heavy snowfall on the mountains, and a mix of rain and wet snowflakes in town. Today the sky cleared to high cloud, with another 35 or so centimetres - another great storm cycle with hardly any break between powder days, and theres still more in the forecast. We have an awesome ski area all open now, depending on weather conditions, and lots of snow everywhere.
Today's snow was heavily wind-blown, and hard work with the flat light, but good and soft in places, and the pistes were sweet, especially the Pierre-a-ric down from the Grands Montets. Almost all the lifts opened up eventually, after an initial wait for avalanche control. The helicopter with the bombs was very busy today, working all the ski areas and the Col des Montets. There were a lot of results from the bombs, too - many triggered the new storm snow in slab avalanches, sliding on the ice crust layer from last weekend.
It was a nice day to be on the mountain, not too cold, and with all the new snow it feels like the middle of winter, though it is still early season.
The weather is supposed to be a bunch clearer tomorrow, so it will be a great weekend of skiing in the Chamonix valley. Its starting to get busy, though, with the New Years crowds, so better get up early ;-)
