Excellent snow on the Grand Montets..

I have been away this week skiing in Chamonix. A couple of significant early season snowfalls have left excellent skiing conditions both on and off piste.

Most of the ski areas in the valley will be opening during the Christmas week. Sadly, we have been limited to the Grand Montets (well it could be worse), which allegedly one of the best ski areas in Europe.

On Wednesday we decided to head over to the Italian side on Mont Blanc on the advice of local Mountain Guide Johnny Baird. As usual he was right, and we enjoyed an excellent descent from Pointe Helbronner to La Palud, with some good powder in places.

It looks like conditions back in the UK remain cold. Although there hasn't been anymore significant snowfall in the Scottish Highlands, I would anticipate that some of the more unusual ice venues may well be building ice...