Activity Reviews in Chamonix

It's that time of year again; clouds are gathering, the temperature is dropping, wind is picking up - it can only mean one thing... it's Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc time!

We have had weather that I can't really describe without making it sound like a bit of everything, which is exactly what it is, and exactly what the forecasters have been predicting. It's been raining, snowing, sunny, hot, cool, cold and warm! The only way to know for sure what to do with your day is to wait and find out, take a chance, do what you want to do and hope for the best.

Well the good news is that the Winter season has already started, the bad new is that it is July and it should be hot and sunny!! Following weeks of blistering heatwave we have been plunged into a week of rain and storms with temparatures stuggling to hit the 18C mark.

Have you ever been up the Prarion gondola at Les Houches? It's the one a bit further up the hill from the Bellevue, and the most westerly lift of the Compagnie du Mont Blanc network. The Prarion itself, for which the lift is named, is a plateau which sits around 150m higher than the gondola arrival station, off to the right as you look up at it from the lift. We decided to go up there and have a poke around in search of some singletrack to ride our mountain bikes down.

This winter has got off to one of the best starts of the past few years, a week of heavy snow and low cloud has given way to blue skies and fresh powder. Yesterday brought us perfect conditions to get our ski legs back in shape with a mountain skills session hosted by Arc'teryx.

So the winter is over and summer is on its way, but inter-season is still a good time to get out and about on the hill, in the river, or in the bars and restaurants - and you don't even need to book a table to eat at the moment! Monkey Bar and Bar'd Up are still on their usual “Happy Hours” regardless of the time of year, offering some great deals for anyone still hanging around town and MBC has their half price chicken wing night on Mondays as always!

Need sunshine? Well, Chamonix won't have been for you this week! The pressure's been low, the skies grey, the temperature cool and the town quiet. It's the calm before the storm of the summer, as the locals win back their town and get it into shape before the influx of crowds seeking sunny fun in the high alpine.

Yesterday saw the much-anticipated finals of the World Climbing Championships (Coupe du Monde d'Escalade) with competitors from (as the name suggests!) far & wide. There was a heavy European presence – sadly no-one representing GB – and a good handful from further afield such as USA, Canada, Hong Kong & Australia

It's amazing what you can find when you poke around a bit. And Chamonix is no exception. From the secret gorges and tucked-away walks to the less obvious mountain bike trails that we've found in previous weeks, there always seems to be something new in a place like this.

An absolutely scorching few days in Chamonix, with temperatures pushing in to the 40s, which has made it pretty hard going if you're planning some big hikes or climbs around the valley, even early in the morning temperatures are rising enough to make everyone want to head down to the lake.

We've had another great few days here in Chamonix with temperatures rising along with a lot of humidity. Thursday and Friday had some big storms in the late afternoon, which helped cool things down for a bit and a great help for the Cross and 10km runners on Saturday with slightly cooler air but it was all change for those running in the full marathon today with high temperatures and humidity.

A mixed few days here in Chamonix, some sunny spells but all in all its been fairly wet here, making it more difficult to climb, but still as easy as ever to go for a hike or a bike ride under the cover of trees - and of course there are many water sports to get involved with in and around the valley that don't require such a high level of dryness!