Who has been to Chamonix, France

[ftrain]

I am leaving for France next week to ski Chamonix. I am intrested in talkign with people who have been and what their experience with that area was. Best places to ski and also night life.

 

[thetrailboss]

I am leaving for France next week to ski Chamonix. I am intrested in talkign with people who have been and what their experience with that area was. Best places to ski and also night life.

Really wanted to go when I was in Switzerland, but did not make it. It is on my "must ski" list. Did go to Zermatt, no regrets there

If you get a chance, Geneva is a couple hours away and is an interesting city.

 

[LarryNH914]

Chamonix is great!

Chamonix has 4 mountains easily available by shuttle bus (included with your lift ticket/hotel card).

I like the off-piste skiing there, not to be missed is the La Vallee Blanc, you go up tto the Aquile Du Midi and ski around 10km or so, some people make it a day. You should have a guide to do this, especially if you want to do chutes or something like that.

Le Grand Monets is a great ski area with Awsome views and much off-piste skiing. I generally follow some tracks when off-piste here as I am not familiar with the area...

Brevent-flegere is also nice, more area to ski, not as much challenge as above.

Le-Tour I have't been too, but it looks open and a bit milder.

I have been in 2000, when the tunnel was closed. Now you can also take a shuttle to Itay and ski cormanyer, which I plan to do... I have read you may be able to access the valle blanc from the italian side and ski home, but I am not sure, but I will ski in Italy this trip (Feb 19th).

As for night life, I never did find the best places to hang out, aside from the internet bar full of Brits (there are many here).. The village is nice to stroll around with no traffic allowed and many little places to pop in.

http://www.chamonix.com/accueil.php?ling=En


Have a great trip!
Larry

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

I skied La Vallee Blanc when I was at Cormire, Italy. We skied from the Itialian side down to Chamonix . The skiing itself was supprisingly easy. A good intermediate can handle what the guide took us on. There was some uphill hiking involved. Our guide told us tradition dictated that we all have a hugh beer at one of the outdoor cafes when we got to Chamonix. It was a fun experience. I wish we had stayed in Chamonix. Cormire (spelling?) was a disappointment. On that trip I also got to ski Virbeir, Swis. which was great, but if you are staying in Chamonix you have no need to go any place else. Have a great time.

 

[ChileMass]

I skied La Vallee Blanc when I was at Cormire, Italy. We skied from the Itialian side down to Chamonix . The skiing itself was supprisingly easy. A good intermediate can handle what the guide took us on. There was some uphill hiking involved. Our guide told us tradition dictated that we all have a hugh beer at one of the outdoor cafes when we got to Chamonix. It was a fun experience. I wish we had stayed in Chamonix. Cormire (spelling?) was a disappointment. On that trip I also got to ski Virbeir, Swis. which was great, but if you are staying in Chamonix you have no need to go any place else. Have a great time.

HPD - that's Courmayeur, which is actually a little French town that wound up on the wrong side of the map (inside Italy) after they kicked Napoleon out. The other town is Verbier, which is on the way to Zermatt..........this is what comes of 8 years of French in high school and college......

As with Trailboss, I skied Zermatt many years ago and want to get back there or to Chamonix someday. The old part of the city of Geneva is defintiely worth a visit if you fly in there. Have a great time.........!!!

 

[beswift]

Been there, done that.

Chamonix is a huge Valley about ten miles long with 4 villages. I stayed in l'Argentiere the highest and most picturesque village. I accessed it via the cog Railroad out of that Swiss village which has a name like an alcoholic mixed drink, Martini.

I have read you may be able to access the valle blanc from the italian side and ski home,

If you ski the Valley Blanche out of Chamonix on a clear day, you can see the cable car on the Italian side. Yes, it is a very easy (flat) glacial valley to ski. I didn't go through the tunnel to Italy and don't think it is worth skiing unless you go to Zermatt. The l'Argentiere glacier hangs over the village. The cable car starts a walk from anywhere in the village. There is a vast piste skiing from the lifts that start at that cable. It's great challenging skiing. It helped me that I spoke French. My room was extremely inexpensive at the time. It snowed the whole week I was there. As a matter of history, the first Winter Olympics were in Chamonix in '24 and '28 with no downhill events, jumping and cross country only. The valley floor is wide and flat which allows good x-c touring. The '32 Olympics took place in Lake Placid and introduced slalom competition. Who took the first slalom Gold metal?

 

[ftrain]

If you get a chance, Geneva is a couple hours away and is an interesting city.

We are flying into Geneva and taking a bus. We will be staying there for a day or two. Any places you recomend to visit?

 

[beswift]

Geneva

I visited Geneva in the summer once and thought it was pretty dull. The mountains aren't very attractive to look at from there, either. The only Swiss city I have liked was Zurich. It is similar to Vermont (Champlain) for terrain. The only city near Chamonix to which I would make a return visit would be Annecy. Your bus might pass through it. The home of Solomon and Rossi, I believe, an ancient stone town on a lake I found it quite enchanting.

 

[ftrain]

Awesome. I just picked up new B2 skis this weekend for the trip. Most of my skiing will be off-piste skiing and I love the challange of chutes and glades. Hopefully I will not crash hard like I did last year in St Anton and was hazey for a few weeks with a crushed helmet.

Mike

 

[beswift]

Most of my skiing will be off-piste skiing and I love the challange of chutes and glades. Mike

Austrian skiing is a lot different than French. You won't see too many glades skiing Chamonix. In fact you won't see too many trees. They don't grow on the glaciers. Take a look at the previous thread put up last December on this subject. The only place I remember chutes or trees was on the side of Mount Blanche that the two cable cars face. You should try those :roll:

 

[LarryNH914]

Off piste

You are above the tree line...

When you go to the Valle Blanc, you can take many ways, one is easy, one involves chutes and stuff.

This would be all easy to do with a few buddies if you had the local knowledge, if you don't , better with a guide (they tend to take 6 at the most, the guide is a flat fee, so get your friends or others of similar capabilities together).

Most skiing in the ski areas is above the tree line, and you do not have to stay on the trails. In fact, they do have guides that will take you to ski areas to show you where the off-piste sking is. I have just follwed tracks, as I always do, and don't generally go too far from the trails.

One day we had very bad fog, and tried to make the best of it. It was horrible, you could not see an bumps, could not anticipate. In fact, I got motion sickness. Then I discovererd, that if you can find skiing below the tree line, the trees help you keep you frame of reference and you don't get sick. Used this to my advantage in Italy last year and had a great day skiing below the tree line in fog. Never, Never ski in fog above the treeline unless you like to barf.

Got my new mid-fat Dynamic 8000's (made in Chamonix by coincedence) ready (Damn those "Demo Days").

Larry

 

[LarryNH914]

Some pictures from Chamonix... (first time witth pictures, hope this works!, it didn't the

stuff does not seem to work! any hints? anyhow, you can click... )

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/c9ff231c/62d4/__sr_/920d.jpg?phYpt5BBJf_gloxt
http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/c9ff231c/62d4/__sr_/316b.jpg?phYpt5BBjA_e5s18

 

[ChileMass]

If you get a chance, Geneva is a couple hours away and is an interesting city.

We are flying into Geneva and taking a bus. We will be staying there for a day or two. Any places you recomend to visit?

Yeah, I'll admit, Geneva isn't much for scenery, but you can see Mont Blanc from a distance, and the food is terrific. The old city (across the river, downtown) is very cool to walk around. My wife and I ate at a classic little cafe under the spire of the cathedral on a beautiful night, and it was great. Had dinner at the Hotel de la Ville on top of the hill which was also very nice. If you're feeling upscale and the weather allows, any of the cafes and hotels along the Rhone River are beautiful and fun for people watching. I don't know how they do it, but everyone in Geneva dresses like a millionaire. I felt very under-dressed the whole time I was there. I recommend it a lot......

 

[beswift]

Yeah, I'll admit, Geneva isn't much for scenery, but you can see Mont Blanc from a distance, and the food is terrific. The old city (across the river, downtown) is very cool to walk around. My wife and I ate at a classic little cafe under the spire of the cathedral on a beautiful night, and it was great. Had dinner at the Hotel de la Ville on top of the hill which was also very nice. If you're feeling upscale and the weather allows, any of the cafes and hotels along the Rhone River are beautiful and fun for people watching. I don't know how they do it, but everyone in Geneva dresses like a millionaire. I felt very under-dressed the whole time I was there. I recommend it a lot......

Geneva is the U.N. and Unesco capitol in Europe so it attracts a lot of well paid diplomatic types. I took the train up from Lyon one summer, checked it out, and then returned. Lyon has a much more interesting old town, better food (world famous) and incredible terrain. In fact the hilly, wild country between Lyon and Geneva is quite fascinating. All in all, I found the Swiss cities rather staid and dull, even by euro standards. Zurich, however, has to be one of the richest cities in Europe. It is home to the famous Swiss bank accounts. The main drag has at least a dozen chocolate shops. I believe the Bernese Oberland with good skiing isn't far off, either. Switzerland costs more than the other Alpine countries, but I have been told that their are some quite affordable ski resorts there.

 

[ftrain]

THanks for all the information. I am putting a notebook together with all of your comments to make sure I get the best skiing out of this trip. We are all advanced to experts foinf on this trip. The first two or three days we are hiring a guide. I leave in 2 days.

Mike

 

[ChileMass]

Have a great time and even though this is a Northeast ski forum, I'd be interested in a trip report when you get back - !! Bon voyage et a bientot!