by 
In April last spring, two skiers standing in the center of Chamonix, geared up and ready to ski, came up to me and said, “Where’s the ski resort?” asked. That’s a fair question – the most legendary destination in the Alps is an elusive puzzle to solve.
I was standing at the base of the Aiguille du Midi cable car in the center of town – the famous cable car launches skiers 2,800m high, 3,842m above sea level and puts them at the back of the Mont Blanc massif and the rift-lined, legendary off-piste Vallée Blanche run. Maybe it’s not a place where you can find your ski legs on the first day of vacation and it definitely confuses new visitors.
However, you have to understand that despite its reputation, Chamonix is not your classic ski resort. More a working town than a ski village, it has five separate piste areas lined up along a valley, connected by bus – enough to put many off. Granted, this doesn’t provide ski-in/ski-out convenience, but geography may work in its favour. Think of it as adding some variety or structure to a week’s ski trip. Cloudy days or cruise weather are perfect for trees and light jogs in Les Houches. The sunny south-facing slopes of Flégère, the quieter pistes at Le Tour and the reds, blacks and off-piste at Les Grands Montets; choose a different mountain each day or work with the weather and make the most of the conditions.
And then there is the land that goes, so vast that it will take a lifetime to explore. This is what Chamonix is famous for; The adventure capital of Europe, if not the world. It is the birthplace of mountaineering and is called the ‘seasonal retirement home’. You will hear languages from every corner of the world as you walk the streets. The landscape inspired the paintings of Turner, the words of Shelley and Byron, and the ski slopes of some of the world’s best freeriders. Whether you know it or not, here you walk, eat, drink and ski alongside the gods.
Yes. More than enough to set Chamonix apart from the rest. But with expectations this high, there’s bound to be some fallout. I hear the “overkill” and the “overdone” from some, and from others the ego-deferred bullying of a select few, desperate to be part of the famous ski culture, as if they were just there, dressed in gear, drinking. kool aid makes you elite. Everywhere has their wannabes, but nowhere more so than Chamonix.
“Chamonix’s status exists because of the people there and the lines on which they ski,” says Charlie Krarup, director of Chamonix skills training and guidance company Adventure Base. “But for most of us, Chamonix is relatively safe and accessible. It’s a great place to visit because of its Alpinist heritage. More than anything, it’s inspiring and there’s something for everyone.”
Of course, it is only a small part of the people who push the boundaries, open new areas, determine the future of sports. Mostly skiers enjoying an extraordinarily beautiful place.
I visited three times (yes, I kept coming back) to understand what the scam was all about. And I remember my first trip feeling like the couple I met at the elevator station – lost in the periphery, wondering about the number I missed.
The “entry” to Chamonix turned out to be simple. On previous visits they found me touring Le Tour, having a noisy night on the town and hitting the Argentiere on a dusty day, chasing random skiers who seemed to know what they were up to (nb this is never a good idea). It was good but it would have been better.
Skip forward a few seasons and I was having some of the best turns of my life, following in the footsteps of my guide Neil. Sarcastic, exhausted – the perfect man to take out the mess – his method of operation was to avoid people. Went for low-hanging fruit, straying from the big routes and skiers to the summits – empty slopes, new pistes and secluded viewpoints. We hit the best ski moment after the best ski moment.
Full disclosure, the reason I was in Chamonix again was not to polish it for the third time, but to take the Haute Route, the classic 120km ski tour that follows the skyline between Chamonix and Zermatt. I had arrived in town in a storm that dropped over 3,000m of snow a meter—maybe two—snow. in April. With one of the longest ski seasons in the Alps, these high mountains definitely hold the ball, but as departure plans were delayed, I spent a few days skiing in the sweetest conditions in the Chamonix region while waiting for the avalanche warning to drop. with a guide who needs to keep spirits and energy levels high. And so my opinion of the resort changed.
A striking moment was Vallée Blanche. Normally for skiing or similarly sized landscapes, you must earn your ranks by descending deep into the mountain or taking a helicopter or snowcat into the wild. But in Chamonix all you need is an elevation, a guide, around €50 for the cable car, the ability to do something easy off the piste, and it’s all yours – skiing under the cathedral peaks, next to the ice-blue seracs to the pinnacle of the Alpine world.
Chamonix deserves its worldwide reputation, whether it’s scenery, history, skiing or mountain life. While it’s there to get it, the trade-off is that you need insider information. Invest in that, in getting to know him, and you’ll reap the rewards. A place to be recognized, where there is always more to see and ski. And just an hour’s bus ride from Geneva, it may also be the most easily accessed ski resort in the UK to boot.
