 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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hey
with regards to the valle blanche i would leave it unless u are slightly more experienced.its bloody high mate!! and should never be done without a guide.
with regards to chamonix u will have a hell of a time.if u dont know anything about it then its split into about 3 or 4 sections
le tour
grand montets/argentiere
fleger
brevent
all these areas are worth skiing if u have the time-maybe a day at all the places altho u could do most of the areas in one day-my personal fav is definatly grand montets-i stayed in argentiere for two months last season and spent most of my time on this part of the mountain range-it has everything a intermediate/expert can ask for.great steepish slopes and lots of off piste sections should u wish to try ur hand at it.
the areas are all linked by bus which is free.the busses are usually fine but dont half get packed at the end of the day.because some areas are only linked by bus i would recommend staying in one area for the whole day.
with regards to renting im not to sure as i have my own skis-perhaps others can help?!!?
but yer i def reccomend u go to chamonix-the skiing is amazing and the twon is pretty cool too!
any other questions let me know
Neil
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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thanks for all of that. one of our party may struggle with the vallee blanche, so we've definitely knocked that on the head. Do you need a guide for off-piste at grand montets? The bits and pieces we've done at Tignes, we've always had a very experienced former guide with us.
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rainman, depends how off-piste you are going!
with your level of experience, I'd say you shouldn't venture off piste from the very top of grands montets without a guide. there is a lot of stuff to the side of pistes lower down the mountain which should be OK. consider getting an off-piste lesson - the instructor will kit you out with safety kit and hopefully take you to some interesting places which you wouldn't find on your own
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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rainman, some of the off-piste on the Grands Montets is far more serious than the vallee blanche, guide/instructor essential. IMO, if you're in Chamonix you should do the VB, it's not that scary depending on route, your guide will determine which is most appropriate for your level of skiing but it's well within the range of the average intermediate, my youngest son skied it, aged 10. It's long and in March you'll probably have a long walk back or climb the steps to the cog railway, but it is one of the great of-piste itineries, if you do it take a camera.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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rainman, staying at Les Praz you are pretty much at the base of the main Flegere lift, so I would start with that. The skiing there varies from the basic to the quite interesting - Combe Lachenal had some fairly taxing bumpy bits around its sides the last time I went down it), and there are some lovely runs through the trees. It's linked easily to Brevent so you can do these two areas in a day together. Col Cornu over there is a great red for cruising/blasting down, but requires pretty good control if you are doing it at reasonable speed - and Charles Bozon is the big black over there (with bottle-out options if required). Those are the more taxing runs, but some of the blues there are great fun too, and I really enjoy skiing this side. The thing to watch out for here though is that it's south-facing, so if conditions are warm/sunny it can turn to slush in the afternoon and be rutted ice first thing in the morning.
Le Tour, up the top of the valley, is really two halves. The front side (looking back towards Chamonix) is wide open spaces, gentle slopes, and is the main learners area in the valley. The back side (down towards Valorcine) is wooded and much more isolated. There's some interesting skiing to be had there, but I'd probably say for a 3 day visit you're better off sticking with Argentiere.
The main attraction is Argentiere. Re the top of the Grands Montets, what Arno said. There is a pretty easy route down onto the Argentiere glacier, and hundreds of people do it unguided - but several do die falling into crevasses (so don't do it)! The (black) piste itself (Point de Vue) probably has enough for you anyway, and some great views over the glacier, so you should certainly do that at least once if the weather's OK. The bottom half of Pylons (which also starts at the top, but you can get to its lower half from off the Herse chairlift) will provide any bumps challenge you're after (with a read run snaking through/across so you have plenty of bottle-out opportunity if you get knackered before the end of it), as does the Variante Hotel (red) run lower down (although if warm that is frequently skied bare and closed). For checking out off-piste stuff, there's the Canadian and American bowls - turn right, under the rope, immediately you come out of the Bochard bubble and traverse over a couple of hundred metres - and you've then got loads of wide open space to play with in front of you. There's also a load of great gullies over to the right of the area as you look up the mountain, served by the Marmottes lift, and the Magic Forest too if visibility is poor (just make sure you don't go below the walking track at its bottom, or you'll be....walking).
One of the great things about Argentiere for the beginner off-pister is that there's so much space to play in in the "in-bounds" area, but it's all really accessible and frequently skied that you don't stand much chance of getting lost, and if you get in trouble there will probably be someone skiing by pretty soon you can ask for help. So all of that above is well doable without guide/instructor. If you can run to an instructor though, as Arno said, he will take you places you wouldn't find by yourself, give you challenges it would be unsafe/unwise to do alone, and you'll get a load more out of it. He may even find some untracked snow if you're very lucky, but don't count on it, as the place is so full of hardened ski-bums most slopes are skied out within about 3 hours of it stopping snowing!
I'd suggest for a 3-day trip: day 1) Flegere-Brevent, make it up as you go along; day 2) Argentiere free-ski am and explore, get an instructor for pm; day 3) Argentiere, maybe freeskiall day, maybe another half day's instruction.
But above all....you'll have fun. (I'm off there myself for a long w/e next Weds eve  )
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I think GrahamN and all have said it! Just one minor curiousity, when you mention your chum in Tignes is a "former" guide, what do you mean? I thought it was a job for life...
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Could just buy some shoe/boots whilst your in town, it's currently taking a good three days to perfect the fit and it's an adventure into what lies within. 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Blimey; I've certainly come to the right place for advice! Fantastic.
David Murdoch, i think the call of family life was even harder for him to resist!
Thanks to you all. I'll definitely look into some off-piste instruction, I think. Our reservations about VB are also to do with lack of time. We all like to ski pretty hard, but are not averse to the odd chocolat chaud stop...
SMALLZOOKEEPER, why, do you know of somewhere?  anyway, we only need skis...
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| rainman wrote: |
, but are not averse to the odd chocolat chaud stop...
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there is a hut half way down the VB which will serve you a hot chocolate or an intriguing-sounding "the guide" - tea with red wine it it!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Arno, Now, that's the sort of info i need!
But seriously: thank you all for your advice, patience and enthusiasm. I'm sure you're cheesed off with Chamonix questions, yet you've all made the effort to point a newbie in the right direction. Any recco's for off piste guides/ instructors for the willing and partially able most welcome.
I hope I can become a valued member of Snowheads 
and i'll be down the zookeepers shop on the monday morning, being a right royal pain in the ar*e...
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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rainman, make yourself useful by quizzing SZK about the Dynastar Legend Pro XXLs he mentioned in another thread. don't leave until you get an answer!
re guides - I'd just go to the Maison de Montagnes (near the centre of Chamonix) and ask there. you do hear stories about grumpy/unhelpful guides but my experience has been that so long as you treat them as a guide rather than a porter, they are a good lot. also flatter their egos by pointing at things and saying "have you climbed that? .... wowwww!"
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rainman, If you are there for just 3 days in March, and if the weather is good, the VB is well worth doing, with a guide. It's one of the best days on skis you'll do ever ! The skiing isn't that hard, but the views are well worth the trouble - and it's a great adventure !
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You know it makes sense.
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I'd just add that Le Tour is a great place for getting your ski legs together if its been a while - very pleasant and less demanding than the other areas. It's not what you go to Chamonix for but still nice.
If you have a car then it is very easy to do mornings and afternoons in different areas if you want.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Would echo the other posts and also say that you should do the Vallee. Be warned that the ski bus gets packed and can be a bit of a pain.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Would echo the other posts and also say that you should do the Vallee. Be warned that the ski bus gets packed and can be a bit of a pain.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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halfhand, There's more than one echo in here, in here, in here................................... 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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rainman, I have skied the VB twice, if you are in Chamonix and the VB is open then it has to be done. You do not need to be an expert skier, get a guide and he/she will take you on the most suitable route.
Second time I did it was in May and we knew there would be quite a walk out from the end of skiing. We took walking boots in our rucsacs so it was not a problem.
Scenery is fantastic, I have pictures on the wall in my office to remind me of what I would prefer to be doing.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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sorry don't know how that happened
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Sounds like this has sorted rainman,
I would think that the VB is a good idea but pick a good sunny day and then it will be a memorable experience. In good conditions its a must do.
Take food if you get hungry because there is just one hut which everyone uses...unless you do the f*** off gullies which you wont...but take a look up the hill once in a while. The scenery is amazing and the classic ski is not daunting!!
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