Finally some more snow in La Plagne

The predicted solitary little snowflake that was due to fall tomorrow grew in size and stature and arrived early falling on us Sunday night and through until Monday morning. We were only supposed to get one cm across a whole 24 hour period but there was definitely at least 3cm on the ground in Plagne Centre by the time the lifts opened, and yes I was out for first lifts this time!

I headed out into the first cloudy day of the season, low light lenses in, jacket done up to the neck and lightweight gloves which turned out fairly quickly to be a mistake. With the snow came a surprising drop in temperature and winds that closed the glacier area and swiftly numbed noses and fingers alike. But who needs to feel their nose when they’ve got fresh snow to play in? Out we went and up as high as we could get to play on Sources and Levasset running down from the Roche de Mio. The new snowfall was beautiful up the top especially on Les Sources which was newly opened and almost deserted by other riders.

The resort opened up more of the piste map this week as promised, with nearly 50% of runs open now including ones down to Montalbert (albeit with a warning sign proclaiming very good skiers only) and the Mont Blanc run down to the Vanoise link to Les Arcs. The lower runs are held together almost entirely by snow cannon snow at this point, but the coverage is surprisingly good (although it has to be said it’s pretty darn icy in places so get your equipment serviced and edged before you head down low).

Our fresh snow stopped falling around mid morning and the clouds rolled around ineffectually for the rest of the day but it seems they’re amassing again now for the second attack.

We can expect it to begin snowing again any second now and it will hopefully carry on through tonight and into tomorrow morning dropping another few centimetres down to 2000m. Unfortunately my trusty weather report is suggesting that 2000m will be the freezing level and below that the snow may fall as rain, but since the last forecasted snow fell earlier and harder than predicted, here’s hoping that this lot falls colder and lower!

If we do get some more snow, make sure you’re heading out early to make the most of it, if it snows over night the runs will have nice new coverage in the morning but as the day progresses and more ski traffic comes along the snow gets pushed out and scraped away revealing the icy base layer below. This is happening at the moment on the busy sections of the map, where several runs converge into Bellecote for example and the same in Plagne Centre. If this happens and you find yourself on an icy section of slope always stick to the edges of the piste where you’ll find the softer stuff piled up and you’ll be able to get a turn in easier.

The resort has definitely picked up in numbers this week and little lift queues have starting forming here and there but it’s not looking too crazy yet although I’m sure it’ll pick up as the week goes on with the Christmas crowds sneaking up the hill for the festive weekend. Here’s hoping we have a little (or a lot) more snow on the way as a Christmas gift for us all.

If you haven’t written your letter to Santa yet, get started - you know what to ask for!