Snow report Chamonix, 04/13/2017

Snow condition

Very thin and already in mid-April. Some tours over very crevassed glaciers can't be done at all, such as Pointe Isabelle from the Couvercle hut, because you simply can't get through. Vallée Blanche is completely bare on the last section and sliding between the rocks and all the groups is relatively fun-free. Definitely not worth it until the next snowfall. Precipitation is expected over the weekend and at the beginning/middle of next week. Of course, that won't change anything in the lowlands. Hopefully the snow will be moist enough to stay in the higher elevations. In the Alps as a whole, it's already a place with better snow conditions, but good is something else. Just under 2-3 stars.

Snow quality

Except for sun-exposed everything is crap. We went looking for firn today and were successful. If you want good snow, that's the only option. Unfortunately the weather won't be good tomorrow.

Stable conditions. 2 wet snow planks from the previous days were visible. Nothing else out of the ordinary. Danger of falling if conditions are too hard is currently higher. Converted on the sunny side up to 3700. On the last few meters, however, the snow cover becomes noticeably thinner. I can't say anything about that. It will of course change again with the coming fresh snow.

Overall impression

The weather here has been absolutely high pressure for 2 weeks with almost nothing but sunshine and that has left its mark. We did everything right on today's tour and found good snow. Fresh snow is coming and that's a good thing.