We have had just about 1.5m snow during the last week. The snow has been so heavy that chairlifts were closed, the funicular has been stopped at the Chamonix train station and not traveling up to Les Grands Montets. Some roads have been shut past our chalet holiday accommodation and snow announcements published.

Compare this to two seasons ago, with the unusually mild Jan weather conditions, earth appearing on pistes, and reports that global warming would mean the finish of the ski industry in France. Highlighting this the OECDs study from winter 2006 warned that climate change could make skiing too dear for a lot of snowboarders, with one 3rd of ski fields shutting and the disappearance of glaciers. Glaciologists insist that it is impossible to assign the seasonal variations in the snow to the off shoots of global warming.

We could have the longest recession in almost 25 years, and the Pound has headed to new levels versus the Euro, but the conditions are superior, and the last bookings prove that boarders are enthusiastic to enjoy the exceptional snow conditions. This season is probably the best in eight seasons, and many people are announcing that it’s the nicest ski snowboarding conditions in at least ten seasons.

All the same recall that this amount of snow means large avalanches risks.