Visitor reviews for Chamonix Ski Resort
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(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
Bottom rated
August 13, 2003
Nick Russill from
United Kingdom
Nick Russill from
United Kingdom
With the Mont Blanc massif on it's front door, Chamonix has so much terrain to explore. It is a Mecca for high altitude touring, off-piste skiing and a real 'mountain' experience. The six main ski areas are stretched out along the valley and getting to them can be a chore - the buses are good, but it's the kind of resort where having a car to get around really helps.
In other ski resorts where you can ski from your door, you might get more ski miles in per day, but Chamonix has it's own appeal: quality, not quantity.
January 13, 2004
Martin Tomlinson from
United Kingdom
Martin Tomlinson from
United Kingdom
Chamonix is a Mecca for skiers, but it can be inconvenient, some (but not all) of the lifts are old, and you really need a car especially if it's busy. So why do people rate it so highly?
The reason is the big mountain, high altitude skiing, especially on Les Grand Montets. Intermediates will find it difficult but rewarding, and the more advanced will love it. Some of the piste marker signs say things like 'caution very steep, very narrow, very difficult' and 'only for very good skiers' or even 'you must be in excellent physical condition' and they mean it.
In addition there is some lovely family skiing at Le Tour at the sunny end of the valley. All in all there is more sking at many other resorts, but there really is massive variety at Chamonix, and people find it endlessly interesting to ski there.
In the evening there are some good and lively bars in the centre, and some decent restaurants, but it's not the place for the stylish apres ski party hound.
I went with my kids once, and although OK, it's not a place I'd recommend for families.
January 05, 2010
Martin from
United Kingdom
Martin from
United Kingdom
Put simply, Chamonix is not great for:
* Novices, families with small children etc. There are plenty of places to ski, but there are better resorts for this, which are more convenient and better set up.
* "Beautiful people" apres-ski. Apres-ski is great in Cham, just a bit more grungey. It is a top resort, but does not have the same "scene" as say Verbier or St Anton.
* Endless blue and red groomed pistes - go elsewhere for this, say 3 Vallees or La Plagne.
* Endless linked pistes - you need a car or be prepared to put up with the buses. It is 8 miles from Cham up to La Tour and 5 to Grands Montets.
So if you want a trip with lots of cruising around and ski-in ski-out, Chamonix is not the place for you. Certainly I took two kids under 5 once, and it was a poor choice.
BUT BUT BUT... Chamonix is unique. It has the biggest vertical drops, a huge variety of difficult, challenging runs, fantastic off-piste, unique views. La Vallee Blanche - 13 miles down a glacier and the highest vertical of any run in the world. Les Grands Montets is a skiing Mecca. Some of those runs from the top lift are simply incomparable - leg burning, lung bursting drops of 1500m in 4.5km of trail.
For decent skiers who fancy a challenge, Chamonix is fantastic. It also has the Midnight Express late night snack bar, with the Super Double Midnight Burger - unique, amazing, challenging, incomparable. Sums up Chamonix really.
August 24, 2004
Dirty G from
South Africa
Dirty G from
South Africa
Chamonix and Argentiere are so extreme its sick. Not at all a boarder's resort, but I would reccommend everyone go at least once, if for nothing else but to humble yourself.
Aside from the endless Scandanavians and British tourists, the resort is impressive and definatley a place that must be visited before death sets in. Skiers should live here, boarders should taste and move on.
February 03, 2011
Steve from
Germany
Steve from
Germany
October 26, 2004
danny from
United Kingdom
danny from
United Kingdom
Having lived in Chamonix for nearly five years I can say with my hand on my heart that I would never go there again. It one saving grace are a few wonderful people who call this arse-crack in the alps their home. The one thing I wish for is that Mont Blanc would become detatched and slide into the valley. Perhaps this would improve the 'resorts' piste systems and would certainly improve the view...
September 30, 2006
Lynn from
United Kingdom
Lynn from
United Kingdom
I visited Chamonix in March 2006. I have snowboarded in most major resorts worldwide and I can honestly say I had some of the best snowboarding I have ever experienced. The snow was around 1m deep at most of the nearby resorts and the off -piste experience was truly unbelievable.
Whether you are on your own or with a group, to get the most out of your visit to Chamonix, hire a Chamonix Mountain Guide. A guide will take you away from the crowds and show you the best parts of the Chamonix valley. The guides will also show you how to improve your skiing/snowboarding and how to adapt to the different conditions - well worth the price!
I would highly recommend www.chamonix-sport-aventure.com
November 26, 2004
Ahmet Douas from
United Kingdom
Ahmet Douas from
United Kingdom
Chamonix, is a very interesting resort. Set at the foot of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the alps, it offers an endless amount of high altitude off piste skiing, and exploring. Although the lifts aren't at your doorstep, in Chamonix, the ski areas are known for their distinct variety. Each ski area, has their own unique character. Les Grands Montets, in Argentiere, allows endless exploring at a high altitude, with long pistes and off piste skiing. More suited for boarders, in Chamonix you will never get bored. Although not the largest ski areas in the world, the main word here is quantity not quality. Not extremely appealing for beginners, and an easy change of the weather at high altitudes, this resort, although extremely rewarding, is to be taken seriously..
January 05, 2005
John Ricketts from
United Kingdom
John Ricketts from
United Kingdom
Chamonix was so good last February (did the VB run!) that I am going back this February with wife and daughters (12 and 14).
Will drive this time though as its a lot cheaper and opens up a lot more terrain (as if you'd need it though!) Nice thing about Cham is the variety....from high mountain to forest, and slopes N/S/E/W you can usually find a sunny spot out of the wind. My brother is heading back there the week after me for his 4th year in a row and he's never had bad conditions! If the apre-ski was cheaper it would be
perfect.....
February 07, 2016
Lewis from
United Kingdom
Lewis from
United Kingdom
Quality before quantity.
Chamonix, how I love and hate it. In some ways, it's simply the best place to ski; ever. In other ways, it's like a high maintenance beauty that's emotionally unstable.
The Aguille Du Midi and the Vallee Blanche are stunning, also Grand Montets is an amazing ski area too. Any advanced or expert skier could live here forever and die happy. However, oddly for many others it really should never be recommended.
Let me explain. Mont Blanc is on the western side of the Alps and is the highest peak, so it attracts the most unstable weather. This can be good because it will probably get some of the best snow, but then can also be bad because fog, rain and high winds are more likely. Cham is at an altitude of only 1000 meters meaning many of the lower runs will be unskiable most of the year. The locals seem slightly laissez-faire: the first lift doesn't open until 8.45 or 9 and you could be hanging around with no information. Then the lifts shut at 3.30. The town is massively popular so the big cable cars on Montets and Aguille Du Midi have to be pre booked.
Some of the ski areas are at a stupidly low altitude and are far apart needing long bus journeys. If you ski the Valley Blach you're unlikely to ski for more than 1.5 hours the whole day over a 1600 meter vertical drop.
So for the improving intermediate or low advanced skier, on a six day ski holiday, Chamonix is a bit of a disaster area. You spend more time queuing, sitting on buses or on slow antiquated chair lifts than you ever will skiing. In this case, it would be better to find a ski area less crowded, better situated and open for longer to get the most from your precious short time on the snow and paying 5 Euros for a can of cola.
However, if you are an expert skier looking for a place to live Chamonix would be a great choice. If you have a season pass and just ski those blue-bird days after a snowfall it couldn't be better. Or maybe you've fully mastered the gnarliest, steepest black runs, and are bored of regular resorts and need some insane ice-climbing/mountaineering skiing.
I'm not saying Chamonix isn't amazing or shouldn't be on every skiers bucket list, but it is something to work toward, especially if you have already had at least 10 days on snow that year.