Finesse with huge vertical. Some people get turned off by likely crowds, but I was there in February with only a few on each lift at Grand Montets all day, top to bottom. Must have been due to icy runs, but the runs still had good quality on high. Hardly anyone there early at any of the 4 resorts. Great variation, huge vertical, great snow reliability, still top to bottom in a bad snow year at most of the 4 resorts in the valley.
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An icon of the ski world, Chamonix’s reputation precedes it. Expectations are set way higher than other locations & there are a plethora of nay-sayers ready to complain about ‘Cham’. In reality though, it delivers everything most people want on a ski adventure holiday but has the requisite hordes of humanity present because of it. Say what you like about Chamonix, it certainly does get one’s juices flowing.

A disparate collection of ski areas rather than a single ‘resort’, Chamonix is a town bursting with vibrance, good cheer, tall tales & true in a sea of humanity. Its glorious location below Mont Blanc is unique & reason enough to visit - the scale of the valley is awesome.

Of the ski areas, whilst each is totally different, all are totally complimentary to each other offering a full range of ski experiences. And even though the ski areas aren’t lift or trail interlinked, we found the free local Chamonix bus to be wonderfully efficient at pulling the jigsaw together (despite what many may say). We also utilised the Mont Blanc Express train running from St Gervais-Chamonix-Vallorcine -Martigny (Switzerland) which is indeed useful, but overly expensive (a shame – we love train travel). Keen Powderhounds will want to know that the train line stops at a sneaky powder stash in Switzerland called Les Marécottes toward Martigny.

The ski area of Vallorcine-Balme-Tour is the best for improving beginner & intermediate skiers, but still has substantial off-piste powder potential on the cold, shaded north aspect under the Tete de Balme chairlift toward Vallorcine. The valley into Le Tour is a beauty & in addition to the wonderful valley trail has several good powder options on the right day. Le Tour is the most authentic of the Chamonix villages. It’s learn-to-ski area ( La Vormaine) is the best in the valley, extending out from the top of the delightful village, with glacier snouts clinging to the high ridges above adding to the experience.

Grands Montets is the high adventure off-piste ski resort of Chamonix which, from all reports, is better since the Lognan & Grands Montets cable cars burnt down & were removed. The sensational north aspect, high alpine & glacier freeride terrain above & beyond the top of the Herse chair (once serviced by the top cable car) is now blissfully devoid of the previous humanity, allowing for relaxing skinning up & stress-free skiing down. Ample lifted terrain still exists, with broad swathes of luscious 900m vertical descents in the Combe de la Pendant accessible from the Bochard gondola. Whilst the snow stays fresher for longer at Grands Montets, skiing pressure can seriously bump up the easy to get to areas. Beginners should look elsewhere. A top to bottom on-piste valley descent of 1500m vert is possible for intermediates from Bochard to Argentière. Worth the visit for that alone if the off-piste has turned to crud! For the valley trail, come after 10am, once the sun gets onto the hill. For a powder day, do NOT sleep in. Get to the Plan Joran gondola as early as you can. This place gets tracked inbounds quick.

Brevent Flegere was a surprise package. Flegere ski area is accessed via a soon to be replaced cable car from the valley at Le Praz. Access from Chamonix, Argentiere or Le Tour is best via the free ski bus, however there is a car park with limited spaces at the base of the cable car (if you must!). Interconnected with Brevent via the linking Maison cable car, the two areas are relatively similar in terrain, aspect, vertical & views. Of the two, Brevent’s access from the valley via the gondola near Chamonix is superior, but it also attracts more people for that very reason. (Flegere gets a new efficient gondola from season 19/20 which will increase its appeal.)

Aside from the valley trails, all the ski terrain is sunny, south facing & predominately above tree line. The diversity of ski trails will please the vast majority of skiers but particularly intermediates. Lift infrastructure is much better than many nay-sayers would have one believe. Brevent has the steeper terrain, & everyone happy to ski a black run should take the Brevent cable car up to the peak at 2525m for a cheeky slide down. Best overall terrain is off the Cornu chair. Earlier in the day is better than later (usually!). Snowboarders may not enjoy some of the connections particularly on a warm day if the snow gets baked & slows down. Off-piste & freeride is plentiful. Finding the big consistent fall line runs requires a bit of knowledge & visibility but is easy enough. More adventurous riders prepared to hike will be rewarded for their efforts at Brevent Flegere.

An excellent beginner & family ski area is set below Flegere’s Trappe chairlift. The chairlift is tediously slow, but tremendously child friendly. The best intermediate run at Flegere is the wonderful La Chenal which winds its way down fabulously from the high Index chair toward the link with Brevent.

As for valley trails, put simply, the marked valley descents from either resort are not great – you have been warned! Both are rated as black based on difficulty but also on the amount of dark bare earth you are likely to encounter on the way down. Scope them out from the lifts on the way up & only do them when deep snow conditions prevail in the valley. The Flegere Le Praz trail is the better of the two. Experts will find some serious freeride options into the valley when the snow is deep.

Both Flegere & Brevent have eye-wateringly spectacular views of the Mont Blanc massif – reason alone to visit this combined ski area & a great way to accommodate non-skiers into your skiing day. As a lunch (La Bergerie de Plan-Praz) or après ski location, Plan Praz in Brevent is hard to beat & is nominated for most amazing place in the world to safely have several alcoholic drinks after skiing & still get down safe – via the gondola!

An activity worthy of consideration on a clear day is a paragliding descent from Plan Praz. There isn’t a more spectacular place to do it as easily in Europe. Thermals (of the wind variety) rise from the valley allowing for ascents high above the take-off point & providing exceptional views of the Mont Blanc glaciers & the Aiguille du Midi. A slow descent brings you to near the gondola base in Chamonix.

Due to time constraints & snow conditions we didn’t venture up the Aiguille du Midi or across to Les Houches. Another visit is required.....damn! Previous journeys to Courmayeur & Punta Helbronner have confirmed the vastness of the backcountry terrain on the Mont Blanc. A guide may be of assistance to through the trickier sections, but competently skilled & equipped groups will management the major routes without too many issues.

In Chamonix after skiing the food & drink options are vast. Après ski bars line the streets. We enjoyed the diversity of having craft beers & snacks at Beer O’Clock then moving up to fresh seafood at Joséphine. Eat traditional or contemporary, fine-dining or convenience.

The perennial question of ‘where to stay’ is relatively simple. Unless you are averse to large vibrant mountain towns, Chamonix wins hands down. Argentiere is nice in the old town near the gare (train station) but soulless on the expansive fringe & near the ski lift base at Grand Montets. For an authentic mountain village, better to stay in Le Tour for true quiet & tradition. Quieter still is Vallorcine, but it is cold, dark & somewhat isolated in the depths of winter.

Visit Chamonix in mid-January or mid-week in March to avoid the worst of the crowds & the peak season accommodation costs. Whether skiing or not, a visit to Chamonix MUST be on every mountain lovers list of things to do before you die. The wonderfully diverse skiing is a bonus and the reason every Powderhound should visit in winter.

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Chamonix has got it all. Great place.
Been there twice in the last three years, would go again in an instant. Sure it's not easy in some respects - busing around, outdated infrastructure - but the skiing, terrain, scenery and ambiance is excellent. The town is a lot of fun, something for everyone, a great place to take a non-skier. It's not expensive either. Lift tickets are less half the price of the big US resorts , while there's loads of accommodation. Last trip in Jan 2019 we stayed in an amazing two-bed apartment with sauna, huge kitchen/dining in the centre of town for $500 night, fantastic value for four people. Food is also fairly priced.
I love Chamonix, flaws and all. It remains a special place, despite what others may say.
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I've spent a lot of time in Chamonix over the years. it is one of the most beautiful places on earth and a testing ground for anyone who calls themself a skier. However, the lift company must be the worst large ski operation on the planet.

There's no real defensible reason for a piste skier to be here. It's hard to get around, and the terrain is not particularly good for beginners and intermediates. There are just much, much better pure ski resorts nearby. It's easy to whine about ski resorts, but consider that as I write this there are 3 major ski lifts LYING COLLAPSED ON THE GROUND. A fire last year at Lognan took out two of them, which is almost but not really an excuse for not getting their act together to fix them. But the third lift (Helbronner) has been laying there for years now, a victim of deferred maintenance and abject unwillingness to spend as required to--you know--not kill your paying guests. Apparently, a last minute intervention prevented the iconic Aiguille du Midi tram from meeting the same fate in 2018 [I should say, however, that the loss of the Grands Montets Top Tram is an utter blessing: this was the most obnoxious lift line on the planet, routinely extending to 2-hour waits: utterly impossible to move the volume of people who want to get up there on a powder day, its loss has created a beautiful gift to the guiding community and anyone else who's willing to do a rather minor skin up to access this magnificent terrain. The lift operators would be giving a gift to the world if they'd leave this lift dead, but doing so would reduce their marketing vertical claims, so they won't!

Despite this shameful infrastructure condition, the shareholders of the lift company apparently enjoyed record payouts last year. Perversely, the lift company hired a non-european management firm a few years ago. I am so disappointed in France. Violating the country's food tradition, this twisted management also kicked all the local restaurants off the hill (editors note - Grands Montets?), so you now get the same generic, overpriced swill that other resorts have perfected so well.

The town itself has much to answer for, as well. Transportation is problematic, to say the least. The ski hills are not interconnected by lifts, so you have to get between them some other way. Having shut down the train for the better part of two years to do track upgrades to allow for twice hourly service, the train mysteriously now continues to run only hourly. And buses? Packed to heaving, if you are unlucky enough to be staying anywhere up valley from downtown Chamonix, don't expect to fit onto any bus that actually stops for you--most of them that you will see are "Fin de Service" or on some special mission that doesn't include you, anyway. It is tear-your-hair-out crazy-making. In response, and predictably, visitors just bring ever more and larger cars, so finding parking is virtually impossible. The air quality is some of the worst in France, thanks to the narrow valley and also the truck traffic through the Mont Blanc tunnel that sadly reopened after the big fire and a bigger fight to keep it closed. Do yourself a favor and figure out the back ways to walk between the villages. They are too far apart for this to be convenient (miles), and it will eat up much of your day, but your blood pressure will thank you.

As a town, Chamonix is in its death throes, having turned into a suburb of London and Moscow with the advent of Easy Jet's cheap flights and Air BnB. Geneva airport is a nightmare during school holidays. Really. They tell you with a straight face to come 3-4 hours before your flight, and you'll likely still miss it. Property prices are now stratospheric and locals are unable to hang on. Soon, Cham will be just another fake ski town.

Presumably, if the snow was good enough, no one would care about any of this, but frankly, it's not. The big secret of big mountains is that they get big weather: while there may be great powder at one elevation band, above will be wind slabs and sastrugi, below will be breakable crust and wet mank. And don't think for a moment that you will be the first one to ski that snow. Some of the best skiers in the world are there ahead of you, alongside some of the most self-deluded and clueless ones, both willing to take far more risk that you probably are. Not for nothing is Cham called a death-sport capital.

Really. Don't go there to ski in the resort.
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When traveling with a young family the Chamonix valley offers some exceptional snow experiences.

The ski school has some of the best ski instructors in the world with the option of booking an instructor for the day. This service includes the instructor picking you up at your hotel/ accommodation and taking you to wherever the best skiing is for that day which may be either the valley itself, Italy or Switzerland. Not only will you have a great instructor for the day but you will be shown some remarkable slopes.

For great family accomodation try Les Houches and is serviced by the Chamonix bus every half hour in Winter and peak summer season.

A great time to be there is in January, where you can find many of the slopes to yourself.

Summer or winter Chamonix offers a lot.
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Skied first week Feb 2018 after much snow and rain in Jan. Snow quality B-. Guide A. Off piste Le Tour to Vallorcine. Very good lunch at Le Tour(2 restaurants at very small base). Domain de Balme worth exploring. Next Valle Blanche from A. du Midi. Rope up, exit to howling winds, bad visibility, four hours later hike out. Survived. Next Grand Montets on and off piste, good snow, good lunch at hut at top of glacier, best skiing without a guide. Then, Val Veny, Courmayeur, best powder, stunning views of Mt Blanc, great lunch at Zerotta. Finally, back to Valle Blanche from Italian side, sunny day, mellow skiing, 311 stairs to old gondola to Refuge,ie, hotel. Fantastic lunch, local fish, local wine, dessert. Train back to Cham. Skipped Brevent-Flegere. Friend skied trees at Les Houches while snowing, very good. Great village, good restaurants, bars, shops. Big, but not too big. Not expensive. Stunning scenery. Easy access from Geneva. Never crowded where we skied.
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The valley for all seasons. 
You could easily visit this area any time of year. Les Grand Montets is a diverse resort which caters for all your alpine needs. 
If there is one challenge for Chamonix valley it's the connections between the various hills, the bus service can at times suck!
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The views are spectacular and when I was there it snowed so much most of the resort was closed hat a great time though. Mainly hung around Les Houches since the rest of the resort was in blizzard conditions.
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Timing is everything, especially for good off-piste experiences. We totally lucked out this March when we visited Chamonix. We flew into Geneva early March 5th and shuttled to Chamonix arriving around noon. Spent the day trying to stay awake while picking up rental equipment (skis, boots and helmets), confirming the ESF ski school Mont Blanc Discovery Program and finding snacks and supplies.
The hotel was central and made it easy to get around Chamonix. We skied 3 days in the Mont Blanc Discovery Program, March 6, 7, and 8. An ESF guide/instructor picked us up at the hotel each day. The guides made the decision on which mountain to ski based on weather and snow conditions. We skied 2 days at Grand Montets and one day at Courmayeur.
Every day was sunshine, 80+cms of powder and off piste/under the ropes. The guides took us places I would never have considered and WOW what an awesome experience. Day 4 was with an ESF Vallee Blanche guide who treated us to another day of sunshine and powder skiing Vallee Blanche, again a WOW day. You had to have the Mont Blanc Unlimited Pass for the ESF days which was good and it partially covered our day 5 trip to Verbier Switzerland. It was another sunny day but we skied Verbier groomers, ate well and took lots of breaks. It was the best 5 day ski trip ever!! PS. We never had a bad meal in Chamonix and our favorite restaurant was La Maison Carrier.
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Awesome place been here several times as a kid and everything is superb. The only downpoint is the food. The cheese fondue will come out your ears spending a week up here :)
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