Thinking of the Alps at the end of November automatically evokes images of skiers, boarders and snowy landscapes. So when I arrived on a cold Friday evening in England for a twenty-hour coach journey out to the resort of Argentière, in the shadow of Mont Blanc, it was this mental picture that I was using to get myself through the journey.

It was about 18 hours into the journey that I first began to worry. At this point I had expected to see snow all around but instead was surrounded by a barren, rocky landscape. Arriving in Argentière, with everything boarded up and closed, was a slightly surreal experience. Everything was in complete contrast with what I had been promising myself throughout my long coach journey. It almost had the feel of a town in hibernation.

After a night out on Monday, sampling the best of Argentière's limited but lively, Apres Ski scene (at the seasonairre run Officers’ Club), I went to bed wondering when the snow would finally arrive. I didn’t have to wait long for an answer. On Tuesday morning the whole town was covered, and it has hardly stopped snowing since. In many places in town the snow is now well above knee deep.

It is amazing how snow can instantly transform a place as well as your outlook. From being a drab town in rural France, Argentière suddenly became a vibrant alpine ski resort in the middle of the Mont Blanc/Chamonix ski area. Snow instantly brings people out of every corner as well as causing people to come flooding in to the town. On Monday night we had been pretty much the only people in the town. On Tuesday morning for the first time, there were other people in the snowy streets. Argentière had suddenly come alive.

The people I have talked to since boast of Argentière's reputation for its challenging runs and plentiful off-piste work. In particular, the locals, many of whom have skied at a number of alpine resorts, talk very highly of the pistes at the top of the Grands Monets area as some of the best they have skied, as they give access to a whole range of white-knuckle glacier runs. This area also has the advantage of reliable snow cover throughout the course of the season. Everybody in Argentière waxes lyrical about the skiing/snowboarding possibilities in the area and everyone seem sure that despite the late arrival there will be more than enough snow this season.

Preparation for the upcoming season is now fully underway. Ski shops and bars are removing the wooden boarding and opening up for the first time. The first lift and runs in the resort are opening on Sunday, whilst there is one already open in the Mont Blanc/Chamonix Area. On Wednesday, what had previously been a gravel pit in the station car park became the towns very own ice rink. Argentière, slowly but surely is starting to conform to the picture that I had in my head last Friday in England.