Chamonix Ski Domains

The skiing and the boarding in the Chamonix Valley is simply world class. Featuring Le Tour, Les Grand Montets, Brevent and Flegere, we have a staggering vertical drop of 2807m, 152km of pistes and an endless array of easily accessed off-piste.

In addition to this you can access the Aiguille du Midi, Les Houches, Courmayeur and Verbier through the ‘Mont Blanc Unlimited’ ski pass, incorporating a huge ski area – all accessed from our door. With 90% of our ski area above 2000m our snow record is the envy of the Alps.

 

While thrill seekers and advanced skiers hunt out and find the steeps, deeps and drops that delight the best of free riders, the beginner and intermediate must not fear as our valley provides excellent terrain for all.

The beginner slopes of La Vormaine (at the base of Le Tour) are worthy of a special mention, as is the Aiguille du Midi and access to the 20km Vallée Blanche, and the sun soaked slopes of Flegere and Brevent with staggering views over the Mont Blanc Massif.

Le Tour (and La Vormaine)

Le Tour, also known as the ‘Domaine de Balme’, is the area sitting at the top of our valley that we recommend for most of our clients first day on the mountain. The views are breathtaking, with the Mont Blanc Massif to the left and the Aiguille Rouge to the right, and there is terrain to suit all abilities.

After one of the best nursery slopes in the Alps at La Vormaine, beginners can enjoy the gentle blues overlooking the valley and for intermediates this is great confidence building terrain. The picturesque blue through the forest to the Tete de Balme chair is an excellent choice and combining the Ecuries and Caisets pistes above the Autannes chairlift allows a fantastic top to bottom run that excites us every time.

Le Tour is a great place for your first off-piste tracks too with mellow terrain just next to the markers, while with fresh snow the advanced will marvel in tracks through the forests to the side of the Tete de Balme chair.

Flegere & Brevent

Flegere and Brevent sit above Chamonix town and combine to form an interlinked ski domain on the south facing side of the valley with 57km of pistes and amazing close up views of Mont Blanc and the Glacier des Bossons. On cold December or January mornings the sun trapped pistes here can offer warmth to those bones and both gentle or steep runs and fantastic off-piste with a picture postcard backdrop.

At Flegere, beginners can progress with two wide, fantastic green runs surrounding the ‘Trappe’ chairlift, while intermediates enjoy the ‘Index’ blue and the blues off the Chavanne chair. Brevent offers confidence boosting blues off the Parsa chair (named by locals as the Magic Carpet), and the new Cornu high speed chair gives access to an excellent intermediate red piste of the same name which remains one of our favourites.

For a full day why not cruise the blues of Flegere and Brevent in a single round trip to earn that après ski drink?

Adventurous intermediates and experts will marvel on the higher altitude pistes, and in the natural off-piste terrain between them which offer a fantastic challenge and a rush to match. On a powder day the masses usually head to Les Grand Montets and can leave Flegere in particular as a hidden gem.

The ‘Brevent’ telepherique has stunning views from the top, and while a drink from the restaurant there is not cheap you can begin to understand why. Access from the restaurant is by a fantastic black piste (or the cable car) which holds the snow well and if often the best run of the day

Les Grand Montets

World famed as the off-piste Mecca ‘Les Grand Montets’ and its North facing slopes above Argentiere offer the advanced intermediate and expert an unforgettable experience and a vertical drop of over 2km!

Beginners and intermediates will take heart that there is terrain to suit them here in the form of the blues above the Plan Joran chairlift, and the Pierre a Ric homerun can be fantastic before the end of the day.

This remains the area to light the dreams of the advanced intermediates and beyond. The Bochard and Combes red runs are magnificent and offer jumps, drops and powder just off the sides of what are great pistes in their own right. The Bochard bubble lift opens up the Lavancher Bowl which is simply sublime!

A top notch snow park and boarder cross add to this snow sure delight.

L’Aiguille du Midi

The cable car ride to the top of the 3842m Aiguille du Midi is an experience in itself and a must for any budding photographer or mountain enthusiast. Take the cable car from its base in Chamonix-Sud and the ground disappears quickly. The 2nd cable car to the summit is a challenge for anyone vertically impaired!

Once there the views are simply breathtaking, and as a skier and boarder all this is before you start the 20km off-piste decent through the Vallée Blanche. Here you can see the real scale of the mountains, with huge crevasses, seracs and an experience not to be forgotten.

The Vallee Blanche can be tackled by anyone who is a good intermediate or above, although you must take a guide as there are hidden dangers to be avoided. With good snow cover you can ski or board all the way back to Chamonix Centre at 1035m, giving a vertical decent of 2.8km.

For skiers, boarders or non-skiers alike we highly recommend this trip, although please note this is part of the ‘Mont Blanc Unlimited’ ski pass only.

Les Houches

Les Houches is located at the bottom end of our valley and is a pleasant place to ski although features on the ‘Mont Blanc Unlimited’ ski pass only. Its tree lined slopes offer very good protection for those bad visibility days, and the family orientated plateaus above the Prarion and Bellevue lifts are a stark contrast to the world famous Kandahar World Cup Downhill ski run.

Fresh powder can be found between the trees here far longer than the other domains and the red and blues from the Prarion gondola are great intermediate terrain. Several traditional restaurants can be found on the pistes overlooking St Gervais and Le Fayet giving you a real isolated feel.

Courmayeur

With the Mont Blanc Unlimited ski pass you can spend an inclusive day on the slopes in Courmayeur, Italy, and access it with no extra charge through a free bus shuttle with a 30 minute journey that can be booked by your chalet hosts. Once through the tunnel you can see instant architectural changes. Experiencing the Italian cuisine and the hot chocolate is a must.

The resort offers 100km of pistes and again some great and easily accessed off-piste. Beginners will enjoy the blues above the Val Veny cable car and some of the gentler reds will reward your progress. Intermediates will delight as there is red run after red run of excellent terrain. For the experts, in the trees is where it’s at, and we’ve had a lot of fun there.

Verbier

Included in the Mont Blanc Unlimited ski pass you can be on the slopes in Verbier in little over an hour.

Once there you can access the 412km of pistes and the entire 4 valleys. With such an array of pistes there is something for everyone as you’d expect, and last year they featured a inflatable landing area so you could safely practise your own ‘big air’. The resort is expensive although definitely worth a visit.