 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Le tour 2 days ago, scratchy but nice
Needs the promised "more snow"
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Did a few runs up Les Houches. Up top cover pretty good, loose probably 40cm deep. Not quite enough to cover all the terrain under chairs, etc. but very good.
Lower slopes hardpacked and mix of man made and natural. Unsurprising.
Blue to Prarion complete and wide to bottom.
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Did a short tour off the back of Les Houches, going in knee deep or 2/3 of my pole (125cm) while skinning.
Agree with @under a new name, about the rest of the conditions.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Idris, my wife hates touring  it is probably my fault.
Nice piccy.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Grand Montets was open and incredible. Lognan and Plan Jouran (eventually) opened and Bouchard all day plus freezing chair Montettes and Tabe. Very good on piste, rocky off. Plenty of wind at top of Bouchard. Great day...
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@Robin_C, busy?
I wanted trees as the vis wasn’t so great. It was never going (for us) to be a huge ski day 
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Fair shout. Today's a bit of a washout right?!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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So from anyone that’s out there, is there any indication of when the arête down from aiguille du midi to the vallee Blanche may be roped up and open? Heading over the last weekend of jan and would love to give it a go!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@MountainIdiot, that’s slightly early for the VB to be “open” but with all the early snow you may be OK.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Has the cable car to the top of GM been open at all this season? Every time I look at the list status it seems to be closed
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@On the rocks, they were planning to open today whenI looked. No idea if they did or not.
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You know it makes sense.
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Can you still pre book the top lift of GM and if so, does anyone have the online link?
Thanks
Chris
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| On the rocks wrote: |
| Has the cable car to the top of GM been open at all this season? Every time I look at the list status it seems to be closed |
Rode it yesterday, no queue late afternoon. Blowing a hoolie at the top, but very well worth it!
As for booking, there are time slots displayed at the base. I'm using a M-B Rapidcard, one of the benefits is not paying the Top premium. Another benefit was avoiding the huge queue for tickets at Les Houches this morning. It appears many in the valley had taken that option with the uncertain lift status higher up.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Gustavobs, no idea.
Weather forecast somewhat complex with expectations of disturbances passing through all week.
Les Houches probably. Who knows what else 
Are you contemplating a cheeky trip?
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@under a new name, got my short warm up trip for the season from the 5th to 8th Jan. With the amount of snow I have been seeing was expecting more open areas...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Verbier typically open more and faster than Cham if you have flexibility. Everything was open yesterday. Closed below 2500m today due to avi 4
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@chrise1967
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@BobinCH, why is that d’you think?
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@under a new name, Swiss efficiency and a lift company acutely aware of the increasing competition for skiers would be my guess
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Gustavobs I might have mis-understood your question, but next weekend everything could be open or just Les Houches. If you looked at the openings yesterday morning ( https://www.skiplan.com/bulletin/bulletin.php?station=chamonix®ion=alpes&pays=france&lang=fr ) you'd have seen not much open, but that was just due to the amount of precipitation we were having in Chamonix.
Verbier does generally open quicker than Chamonix, but it seems to get less snow and has easier to secure terrain than Chamonix were every area except Les Houches has multiple avalanche paths crossing pistes that all need to be secured and that takes time.
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| Grum p wrote: |
Verbier does generally open quicker than Chamonix, but it seems to get less snow and has easier to secure terrain than Chamonix were every area except Les Houches has multiple avalanche paths crossing pistes that all need to be secured and that takes time. |
Verbier got less in this last dump but more last week. It seemed to have more snow all of last year. Be interested in the official figures but doubt there is much difference. I used to ski a lot in Chamonix but got tired of the queues and find Verbier a much better overall experience, the lift system and mgt being probably the biggest factor.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@BobinCH The official figures are a bit tricky as Chamonix has a range of 1000 to 3800m, whilst Verbier is 1600ish to 3300 so the figures online generally aren't for comparable altitudes, however, Verbier is in a bit of a snow shadow where even nearby places like Les Marecottes get more snow from the majority of storms.
Anyways, for a quick and unscientific random site from the internet comparison, flick between these 2 sites and see the snow depth difference:
https://www.igluski.com/ski-resorts/switzerland/verbier/snow-history
https://www.igluski.com/ski-resorts/france/chamonix/snow-history
Digging out the details from Argentiere/Grand Montets would probably be a fairer comparison being 1400-3300, but I didn't google for that 
Also, snow depth is only 1/2 the story. The pistes are definitely better maintained in Verbier which will make the skiing better for anyone not fussed on the steep and deep, and that's much more important than the actual depth.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Which area / lifts is most likely to be open 4th to 6th Jan - just working out where to base myself (Les Houches / town / Argentiere) for a few days quick ski, and given the forecast.....
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@ChrisKernow, when there’s been a big snow fall often only LH is properly open, given the forecast it might be a safe option. You can always get a bus up the valley if you want.
If you want to safely try out your touring rig there’s a skinning track through the woods at both LH and GM.
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You know it makes sense.
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@jbob, thanks. LH it is.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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@under a new name, wow nice NYD present! We had a measly couple of cm’s. How much has fallen this afternoon/evening? Maybe we should pay Vallorcine a visit.... and do you know if there is somewhere that gives the updated status of the montets pass?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@under a new name, unreal wasnt it? we were the amongst the first people up GM and kept expecting it to get skied out, but until 1230 we were skiing untouched lines - I did top of Herse through the bowls and variant hotel (2600m to 1600m) without touching another set of tracks. All those poor hungover people taking a lie in vs probably the best powder conditions in 4 years.
@BobinCH, chamonix-meteo has a link to road conditions and passes. As a rough rule of thumb, anything over 50cm or avi 4 means the Montets pass likely to be shut. Monday (yesterday) morning I estimate 10-15cm on the car and 50cm at 2800m. Below 2200m it rained on saturday and there's probably 20-30cm of Sunday nights snow on top of a hard layer of ice; the powder is very light so I was frequently going through to the ice.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@snowdave, thanks. How much more this mornings g. We have about 20cm since it started yesterday evening but looks like you got more 👏
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@BobinCH, sorry, flew back to UK last night so no update! However, it was dumping when I left around 4pm, and very heavy rain all the way to GVA.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| BobinCH wrote: |
| @under a new name, wow nice NYD present! We had a measly couple of cm’s. How much has fallen this afternoon/evening? Maybe we should pay Vallorcine a visit.... and do you know if there is somewhere that gives the updated status of the montets pass? |
https://www.chamonix.com/road-conditions,10,en.html
This is usually upto date.
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@jbob, thanks for that. Finally decided to stay this side and head for Bruson. Should be a great day in the Cham forests!
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@BobinCH, haven’t been out yet but we walked home about 9pm with a good 15cms...surprised you got so little!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@BobinCH, love the commentary!
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FAQ
