Chamonix: piste guide

Chamonix gives you access to not one mountain, but four, at least – if you opt for the Mont Blanc Unlimited lift pass (which also covers the entire Megeve Evasion region and Courmayeur in Italy). For novices there is the Chamonix Le Pass, which gives access to all of Chamonix's ski areas other than the top of the Grands Montets lift. However, it doesn't cover Les Houches’ small local ski area, so if you choose to stay there it's definitely worth opting for the Unlimited pass. Le Pass can be upgraded to an MBU pass any time by paying the difference

Chamonix’s revival owes much to the opening of the Argentière/Les Grands Montets sector back in 1963. The upper GM cable car serves an immense freeride playground, much of it glacier, punctuated by two long black pistes of 1,300m vertical back to the mid-station, Lognan, and 2,000m vertical for the full descent down to the valley. The lift operator rings the changes in trying to manage the high demand, the current system being a combination of free-for-all and advance reservations online.

Going with a guide is the simplest solution at busy periods, or taking the view that a fairly long rest between tiring runs is no bad thing. The other lifts above Lognan serve terrific terrain, including a few groomed intermediate pistes, but this is not a mountain for easy cruising. The red run down from Lognan to the valley, Pierre à Ric, is great in the morning, when hardly anyone uses it – less enjoyable from mid-afternoon, when it’s packed.

The Brévent-Flégère sector on the sunny side of the valley is a game of two halves – each half has a broad fan of intermediate pistes above steep forest, with a single black run down to the valley, marked on the map but rarely open. A flat two-way linking lift near the treeline, Liaison, has connected the two areas, creating a splendid wide-open space for sunny cruising with classic views of the Mont Blancscape. Many keen adrenalin-junkies who obsess about Argentière spend hours in line when they could be enjoying great conditions in this sector – powder, spring snow or groomed corduroy depending on the time of year and time of day.

The two-stage cable car from Chamonix to Plan de l’Aiguille (2,170m) and Aiguille du Midi (3,842m) is an engineering marvel and sightseeing highlight in itself, and the famous Vallée Blanche (an unmarked, unmaintained, unpatrolled off-piste itinerary) which runs back down through the glaciers to Chamonix, delivers some of the most spectacular scenery the Mont Blanc range has to offer. It starts with an exposed ridge walk and usually finishes with a longer, steep staircase for access to the Montenvers railway back to Chamonix. If snow conditions are particularly good, it may be possible to continue down through the woods to the Planards chairlift. The run itself is a long scenic cruise with a few tight sections between gaping crevasses – fairly easy, but dangerous. There are more challenging variants, but even for the so-called tourist route, it’s advisable to go with a guide.

Le Tour/Vallorcine is an M-shaped area with gentle open slopes and reliable snow at the head of the valley, ideal for confidence building and entry-level off piste, with an easy link to the attractive woodland runs and more rugged terrain above the village of Vallorcine.

Les Houches has long runs through the woods of a kind more often associated with Austria, including Verte – Chamonix’s World Cup downhill race course. Although it’s graded black, it's not especially difficult unless taken at downhill racing speed. There is also a top-to-bottom blue run, Aillouds, but the terrain is essentially intermediate, with good lunch options.

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Chamonix