The little town with its fin de siecle villas and grand hotels acts as a magnet for powder hounds. Strangely, Chamonix Mont Blanc France appears to have advanced and matured into the perfect skiing resort, as compared with being destroyed by ugly catered ski chalets and tourists like so many resorts. It has no end of olde worlde charm, streets that you could wander around for days, a multiplicity of nationalities and more facilities than anyone could need.
You’ll experience the lovely view of the mountains and the energetic nightlife, to the point where you just won’t want to leave. It’s true that it takes a long time to get to the mountains from the town, but despite that, Cham really makes you feel like you’re in a charming European town instead of a resort.
If you’re hunting for fine aspects, look no further than Flegre and Brevent, which lie on one side of the valley. You can access Brevent close to Cham centre and a bit further down in Les Praz you can access Flegere, even though both are connected.
At the other side of the valley lie Les Grands Montets and the Aiguille du Midi, both great ski ranges; at the far end of the valley, you can use Le Tour for a tree run. All in all there are 155 km of runs. The longest running downhill slope is nearly 7km by itself.
Obviously, Cham is mostly notable for it’s unrivalled off piste skiing. Chamonix is renowned as an extreme sports Mecca, with arguably some of the best off piste skiing in the world. It is a magnet for powder hounds, who are attracted by the steep slopes. The Grands Montets is a good start. The drop is around 2000m and you don’t even need to hike. From the Aiguille de Midi the infamous Vallee Blanche is a 22km descent. The run isn’t extraordinarily onerous but you do beed a guide.
Due to the fact than many people reside at Chamonix Mont-Blanc permanently, you can find an abundance of good bars, pubs, and clubs to keep you entertained. It will take you about 5 minutes to walk from the center of town to the MBC which is known for its homemade beer and all year clientele. There’s also a lively variety of nightclubs and discos to choose from.
Chamonix is fairly different from your typical French Alpine snowboarding resort.
However, with all its faults, Chamonix remains one of the most popular and famous ski resorts in the world.
+ves
- Good steep and challenging terrain
- Fantastic views
- Amazing cable car to the Aiguille du Midi, for the famous Vallee Blanche
- Copious amounts of mountains to explore
- A traditional alpine town
- Easy to get to
Minuses
- Not all the areas cater for mixed groups
- Pistes in each area are decidedly minimal
- Few good mountain restaurants