Morzine Snow Report: 7th January 2013

At present the weather forecast looks a little like this. Perfectly clear skies, mild temperatures and low wind speeds until Thursday when the clouds are set to roll in. There is light snow forcast on higher ground on Thursday night and Friday morning, but after that, it's sun in the afternoon and snow showers at night. Hopefully this is the start of the next snow storm, and we’ll get a little of the white stuff over the weekend, ready for next week. Fingers crossed!

With the New Year week, and Christmas holidays now firmly behind us, we can look forward to a slightly quieter ski resort. The warmer temperatures however do mean that the pistes in the lower sections of the ski are a little bare, especially those facing into the sunshine. I believe the trick to finding the best skiing this week is going to be to start low and in the sunshine, and pretty much follow the sun round, gradually getting higher up the mountain as the day progresses. This way you should manage to avoid the worst of the ice, and hopefully, the worst of the slush too. Conditions at the moment are a little like spring, enjoy it while it lasts, as January is usually notoriously cold.

The decrease in the tourist population after the holidays will have a few positive effects for anyone who is on holiday here now. You should actually be able to find a table for lunch, which has been a bit of a rarity recently. We should also be enjoying shorter lift queues, and even quieter slopes. That said, the best way to make the most of this is still to get up and hit the slopes early.

If you’re up for a challenge, the snow parks and boarder-cross tracks are now up and running across Les Portes du Soleil. The Stash in Avoriaz is one not to miss. For anyone who doesn’t know, the Stash is a ‘natural’ snow-park. Everything is made out of wood! It’s located in Les Lindarets bowl, between Avoriaz and Chatel under the Prolays ski lift. It’s well worth a visit for any budding freestylers. There are two other snow-parks in Avoriaz, one dedicated to children, the Burton Kids Pathway park, by the Plateau chairlift. All of these are clearly marked on your piste map. Les Gets has several boarder-cross tracks and a snow-park too. All are easily accessible from Morzine which is slap bang in the middle of the two. There are also numerous other parks throughout the ski area.

With the heat turning up, the off-piste skiing conditions leave little to be desired. You can walk as far as you like, but you are unlikely to find much powder snow out there at the moment. You may however find something a little like spring snow which can be quite good fun. If you are heading off the beaten track, please do make sure you have all the right avalanche safety equipment (avalanche transceiver, shovel, probe) as the melting and freezing conditions can make it dangerous out there. Wet, heavy, snow avalanches are especially nasty to get buried in so please take care.

Skiing back into Morzine can get very slushy if you leave it until the very end of the day right now. The sunshine is doing a great job of melting the snow and for nervous skiers on busy slopes on the home run, slush can be hell, so if you’re not feeling quite like it, make sure you’re not the last one down. Battling through deep slush (or as some like to call it, Scottish powder!) late on is becoming a frequent occurrence in Morzine and to a lesser extent in Les Gets and Avoriaz. Take care out there and take it slowly, especially at the end of the day!

I’m going ski touring in the morning, so on that note, happy holidays, and remember that sunscreen!