Morzine Snow Report: 10th February 2012

The cold keeps the snow in really good condition. There is no thaw and subsequent freeze going on at the moment. The snow is so cold and dry it squeaks when you walk on it! If you are arriving this weekend for half term then it’s good timing, all you need to do is put an extra jumper in.

I have been out for a couple of hours' skiing midday over the last few days and I had some brilliant little skis around Morzine today and the Nyon area yesterday. To get to the latter you need to head up the Pleney telecabine and then traverse your way around Pleney on Piste R and Piste G to get to the Pre Favre lift which will deposit you on the Nyon plateau. Piste R from Pleney is a little steep. The less experienced should take the Belvedere followed by the mellow Granges blue and then the Troncs lift out of the Grand Pre.

From the top of Nyon, the télésiège de la Pointe, there is a superb view all the way back down the valley to Morzine, well worth the trip up. The trip back down is initially via the Aigle Rouge, zig zagging around the hairpins. The snow was okay early on but returning an hour or so later, the middle of what is already a fairly narrow piste was becoming quite icy purely from all the skiers scraping the snow off. Get in there early!

You can also cut across the zig zags and drop straight down under the lift line for a much more demanding ski! It’s brilliant in the fresh powder snow but this long after any fresh it’s all moguls. I’m no master of them but still like dropping into them and pushing the skiing along. Further down you can drop into the Aigle noir which, again, is covered in moguls. The snow is nice though so it’s not too catchy on the edges.

For less experienced skiers there are two wide blues further down the hill. The snow here was particularly good yesterday. I really enjoyed carving some wider turns after the leg burning of the moguls further up the mountain.

Today the snow was the same as yesterday – good. I hung around the Pleney using the telecabine to access Piste H, Piste V, Piste F and Piste R – red runs. It was quick up and a quick blast down, skiing as hard and as fast as possible to try and keep warm. I reasoned that even though skiing hard made the wind-chill higher, I was working harder therefore generating some internal heat. It seemed to work!

The outlook is for on-going cold temperatures. On that basis I think the way forward is frequent stops for vin chaud or similar so you never get too cold!

Bon Ski