Skiing in Chamonix valley

Chamonix valley

This year we went skiing to the Chamonix valley, a French resort we had heard about for years but somehow never managed to get to. I always perceived it to be a very tough resort to ski in, and to be honest the first day felt like that too. But once we got the hang of it, it turned out to be a breeze and we had a fabulous time there. Of course a major reason for our enjoyable trip was the awesome weather we had - sunny and double digits temperature every day! But the gorgeous valley views and diverse mountain slopes definitely added to our experience.

We stayed in Argentiere for about 5 days. It is a small little ski village located somewhere in the middle of the Chamonix valley. The whole valley is made up of multiple ski resorts – Brevent (near Chamonix), Flegere (near the village of Les Praz), Grands Montets (near the village of Argentiere), Domaine de Balme (near the village of Le Tour), Courmayeur (in Italy), Verbier and many more. All the resorts are connected by a convenient bus network and we ended up skiing at Brevent-Flegere, Grands Montets and Le Tour over the 5 days we were there. And each of these resorts had their own unique feel and experience.


The skiing experience

View from airbnb

We took a night flight to Geneva and then a taxi to Argentiere. It took us about 2 hours to reach the village. The views outside our chalet were stunning - snow covered mountains and wooden chalets in front. The location was perfect too as we were staying right by the ski lifts. So the next day, it was a breeze to rent skis, get the passes and off we went.

No snow in villages

This year was a low snow year, there wasn't enough snow even by the end of January as the weather had been extraordinarily warm – temperatures were in double digits for all of December and January. So even when it was to snow, there was rain instead and the snow melted. The slopes of Chamonix are at a relatively higher height, so the snow up the peaks was ok but skiing all the way down to the villages wasn't always possible. And apparently a lot of other resorts are having a shorter skiing season this year. It's definitely not a good sign for the years to come - climate change is real and closer than we think.

To make it easy for us, we went up the nearby Grands Montets slopes on the first day. And in hindsight it wasn't a good move, at all. Of all the resorts in the valley, it had the toughest slopes. One because most of them were narrow and steep. But also because that side of the mountain does not get much of sunlight. So given the warm weather and the recent rains, there was a lot of slush and ice here. I was also skiing only the second time since 2020, so was a bit rusty too.

We started the day with the blues and had a difficult time navigating the slopes. I fell many many times all day, even on blues! We went down the same blue slope 5 times to get some confidence but every time it was tough. All the slopes were too icy and slushy that day, it felt like they were good only for the experts. And once I even fell and skid for a few metres down a slope, when my skis almost fell off the slopes! It was a massive kick to our confidence as we thought we knew how to ski but that day made us feel we had learnt nothing in all our years of skiing 😳.

There weren't a lot of blues up the mountain and we had no confidence to go on the reds. So we felt quite limited too as the only slopes we could go on, we sucked at. The day felt quite brutal to be honest and we were doubting if we had made the right choice to even come to this resort. I also was doubting how we will make it through the next 4 days if each day would be like this. I don't know how we navigated the day but we came back home with a bruised ego. And a very low morale.

Valley views

The positive side was that the views of Argentiere below and the whole valley were absolutely stunning. The sun was out all day. And we had lunch at the Plan Joran restaurant which had a beautiful view around. Every day after that got better though. And our confidence kept getting a boost slowly and slowly.

The next day I took a bus to the neighbouring village of Les Praz from where you can take the gondola up to the slopes. It was just a 10 mins bus ride from Argentiere and quite convenient to get there. The village below didn't have much snow for January given the warm winter but the peaks were full of soft snow.

The slopes of Brevent and Flegere resorts are linked through a gondola and so there are many more slopes here. Also the variety was more than Grands Montets with enough blues and reds. And even some greens! So I started with greens (after years) and only after doing a few of those went on to the blues. Such was the state of our morale😂.

But I did well and got my confidence back too. It actually felt easy that day though we were still treading carefully after the battering from the previous day. I skied there the whole day from one valley to the other. I also went down a slope which is built for speed, and a photo is taken of when you are at your fastest. I was clicked going down at 84 kmph there 😊.

Les 2 Aigles

These slopes were extremely crowded that day with loads of people around, including lot of children. The day was quite sunny till quite late in the day and the day felt perfect. The views of the valley and villages below were again gorgeous. And I had lunch at Les 2 Aigles, with fabulous views again.

I had gone up the Flegere gondola and came back the Brevent one – and it was a big mistake! It took me 1.5 hours to come back to Argentiere from there as I had to change buses and wait for both of them! Chamonix definitely seems to be a bigger resort, with a more complex bus system and less markings than other resorts I have been to. I, along with a few other skiers complained together about all this on our long ride home 😊.

Relaxation spots at the top

On the ride home, I also figured out that apparently Argentiere is the toughest of these resorts, Brevent Flegere less and Le Tour the least. And the third day we decided to go to Le Tour, clearly in the wrong sequence. It was again a 10 mins bus ride to get to the village. And the resort was amazing. It was a breeze to ski there, criss-crossing the wide mountains along the easy blues. We finally got our mojo back and enjoyed skiing the reds there too. They were quite easy and there weren't a lot of people there either. We also stopped at a few relaxation spots on the top, where chairs are kept at spots with panoramic views of the peaks around. They were fun to take a break at, sometimes even at the beginning of the day. Also apparently we were quite close to the Switzerland border while on the slopes.

Le Panoramic

The next two days got a lot more easier after that. We went back to the same resorts as before and spent all day enjoying skiing in the sun, with our confidence and ski level back. So we did mostly reds all day, and enjoyed the scenery around as we were not as scared of being unable to ski. And I think it was now that I fell in love with this resort. Brevent Flagere was brilliant again. We had lunch at Le Panoramic with views of the valley below. And since I knew the bus system better now, we came down from Flagere itself. So the bus back took us just 10 mins today, it all seemed so much more convenient today.

Glacier view from Bochard

The last day we skied in Argentiere itself. And the slopes which had seemed daunting 4 days ago felt like a breeze now. So we went down all the reds and had a great day. We went up the Bochard from where we could see glaciers and villages in the valley far off. And people walking on the glaciers. It was quite an impressive view. And the slopes, even the red ones felt beautiful that day. It was a good way to end our trip, on a high. We even skied all the way back to our chalet. The drive back to Geneva felt quite depressing actually after such a great holiday. It was all green all the way back with rarely any snow. And Geneva was hot - just a reminder of climate change, and how valuable these ski holidays should be for us all.


Eating at Argentiere

We had been hoping for some lively Apres skiing at the end of the day every day but there wasn't much to do at Argentiere. And we planned to go to Chamonix but every day we ended up eating in our village only. So we now know all about the best places in town 😃.

The first evening, a cafe barista suggested to us to go to Fubar, an underground and lively restaurant but we weren’t impressed - it was quite empty and just about ok. So we walked to a small cosy pizza place (whose name I can never find on Google maps) and ate there for two nights. They even had Asian dishes there but without the spices. But being in France, how much could I expect? Another place suggested to us was the Office which had great food but a very senior clientele. Our last dinner was at Aux Dix Vins, a fancy French place. It was fun there too. The favourites for me were definitely on top of the slopes though – with gorgeous views, and a welcome break with sore muscles.


About the ski resort

• In hindsight, the slopes in Chamonix were gorgeous - wide, not too steep and with spectacular views. Grands Montets was a bit tougher but if you go there after a few days, it doesn't seem tough
• All the eating places on the slopes had magnificent views, I loved my lunches at each of those places
• There were a few video locations where you could ski on tough slopes and get yourself video graphed or photographed. I found that quite interesting, especially the extremely steep high speed one
• The maps were shit. There is no other way to describe it. I've been to many other resorts but nowhere else was it so tough to figure out the lifts and slopes to take to get from one place to another. Sometimes the slopes weren't even named in the maps, sometimes they weren't even on the map! It’s something they can definitely improve
• The bus system was also complex as it was a big resort. So if you had a direct bus, it was easy to get somewhere but otherwise not as easy
• Lastly , the ski pass here was quite expensive, more than other resorts I have been to