Chamonix · Plan your trip
Chamonix weather & snow
From the valley floor at 1,035 m to Grands Montets at 3,275 m, Chamonix spans four weather systems in one lift ride. Here is the forecast, the live conditions, and the local logic for choosing where to ski.
7-day forecast
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Snow depths & open lifts
LivePulled from the resort's official live feed and refreshed every 15 minutes.
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Where to ski, depending on the sky
Every area faces a different way. That is the valley's superpower: there is almost always a right answer.
Brévent – Flégère
1 030 – 2 525 mSouth-facing, full Mont Blanc panorama
The sunny side of the valley, two linked mountains above town. Long reds, big views, gentle upper plateaus at Flégère.
Grands Montets
1 235 – 3 275 mNorth-facing, cold dry snow all season
Chamonix's legend: high, steep and serious, with the valley's most reliable snow and endless off-piste beneath the Argentière glacier.
Balme – Le Tour – Vallorcine
1 453 – 2 270 mNorth-west bowls and open ridges
Wide, rolling and friendly, the valley's best carving terrain, with quiet Vallorcine-side runs when the front side gets busy.
Les Houches
1 000 – 1 900 mNorth-facing forest slopes
Tree-lined and sheltered, the place to ski when clouds sit on the high mountains. Own pass, calmer prices, calmer pace.
Bluebird powder day
Grands Montets first (north faces keep it cold), Balme after lunch when the queues build.Flat light or snowing
Les Houches or lower Balme: trees give the contrast the open bowls lose.Spring sunshine
Brévent-Flégère mornings for soft-but-not-slush; carry your lunch to the Flégère terraces.Avalanche awareness
Before any off-piste run
Read the Météo-France avalanche bulletin (BERA) for the Mont-Blanc massif, carry transceiver, shovel and probe, and know how to use them. Risk 3 ("considerable") causes the most accidents: it looks safe and is not. Official avalanche bulletin (Météo-France) ↗Tempted by the Vallée Blanche or the famous off-piste? Go with people who read this terrain daily: see our off-piste coaching and guided skiing.
The forecasts professionals cross-check
No single model owns the truth in the Alps. Before a big day, we read all of these.
Good to know
Which Chamonix area has the best snow?
Grands Montets, almost always: north-facing and topping out at 3,275 m, it holds cold winter snow when everywhere else has spring conditions. Balme is the powder-day secret; Brévent-Flégère softens first in the sun.
Where should I ski in bad weather?
Les Houches. Its tree-lined runs keep contrast and visibility when the high, open areas are skiing inside a ping-pong ball. Lower Balme through the forest to Vallorcine works too.
How cold does it get on the slopes?
Count on -5 to -10°C at mid-mountain in January, and -15 to -20°C with wind at the top of Grands Montets. Valley level is milder (0 to -5°C). March afternoons can reach +10°C on sunny terraces.
Continue planning
Ski it with a local instructor
Our instructors ski these mountains every day. Book a private lesson and get the pass, area and timing questions answered for free.