 Poster: A snowHead
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Short trip to Chamonix pre-Xmas 2019
Following this thread (https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=149830) where I asked whether it would be too “sad” to go on a one-man ski trip... I went... and I followed the advice to go to Chamonix.
This is the brief report, in case others find elements useful.
I took the 8am SleasyJet flight out of Luton to Geneva on the Tuesday morning. The flight is scheduled to get in around 10:40 which with a quick transfer to Chamonix can mean being on the slopes by 1pm for an afternoon skiing. That’s what I’ve done plenty of times before to St Gervais, Morillon, Morzine, etc....
This time, rather than hiring a car (as previously done) I used AlpyBus. What this makes up for in Cheapness... you definitely lose in convenience. I travel Hand-luggage-only for a quick transition through the airport, this advantage being lost in the 45 minute wait for the scheduled AlpyBus, then compounded by the bus being an hour later than that (due to “damage”). Throw in being the final drop-off from the bus, and I arrived at Chamonix far too late to do more than 1 hours skiing (assuming that I could have bought a lift pass.... the lady at the teller wouldn’t sell me one for that day... nor for the next day in advance... since it was not high-season and in their opinion it would be risky to assume that Chamonix might open from one day to the next!)
I stayed at the Croix Blanche hotel. Nice and central, half-board and their food is really good and filling. I’m not an apres-animal and having a nice restaurant to eat my meal and read my book was ideal. There is an outdoor bar area which was good for a vin Chau at the end of each day.
The ski resort of Chamonix is really a bunch of separate villages with their own ski areas linked together by a sporadic public bus service. The week before Christmas they were saving half of each ski-area for the Peak-season rush... so within 2 of my 4 days I had skied every open run (Black to Green) at least once across Brevent-Flegere-Montets-Tour. If you’re used to (as I am) Paradiski/Soleil/Massif style inter-linked resorts, then you’re in for a shock. I can see that there is an awful lot of off-piste here which seems really accessible... but I’m not that sort of skier, sorry.
There is a lot of time waiting for busses here. It might be due to being pre-Christmas week.... but this week there was even MORE waiting than normal (so I’m told). I was waiting at Le Tour and the bus driver dropped off his passengers at the bottom of the car park, turned around and left... didn’t pick any of us up from the Gondola!! One of my fellow frustrated passengers told me that the previous day another driver had completely missed off the Grands Montets stop because “He forgot”!. The Brevent lift in Chamonix itself is actually around 300m up/down a steep hill from the village... and the bus doesn’t run (at all/reliably) until peak-season.
In summary.. For me.. a ‘Piste-bashed high-mileage ski every second on a short-trip’ type skier... Chamonix is not a place I would come back to. I can see the attraction for many, and I suspect that there are wannabes out there that would want to go to Chamonix during the ski season and not even put on a ski.... but I’m not one of those either.
I AM glad that I took the plunge and did a solo ski when I had the chance. I’m getting older every day... and if I hadn’t come.. I would have always thought “if only”. Now to start convincing my wife to let me do it again... after we’ve done our annual trip together at Easter 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@jamescollings, glad it was worth it. In fairness to the logistics, it's scheduled opening for "everything" is this weekend ... and not many places elsewhere would have been any if much better.
I'm a huge PdS fan, but Cham has a lot of things to offer that the PdS doesn't, but you need to want to do them... e.g. off piste.
I will say though that, for a place that is so reliant on the bus service, the drivers are surly, unhelpful and decidely rude to share the road with.
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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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@jamescollings - I read your original post and thought you should just do it! agree with your review and were staying at the same hotel Monday through Friday. We’d never been just before Xmas and like you was informed that the slopes were being kept for the Xmas visitors in the hope they’d return next year. The bus system (up until today) is very much autumn timetable but it worked ok apart from one trip at 11am to Grand Montet, the bus was rammed and the driver drove his bus like he was Lewis Hamilton. Interesting to be in the town at this time of year before it gets into gear. Certainly for the prices it was a great time to go - flights and hotel were bargains.
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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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@jamescollings, early season go to Verbier. Much more open. Much more civilized experience. Chamonix real appeal is for the adventurous off pisters who will live with the inconvenience for the unique experience of skiing big, steep mountains under the shadow of Mont Blanc
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@PeakyB, going skiing is always better than staying at home!
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| PeakyB wrote: |
Well done for taking the plunge. I suppose the acid question is 'was it better than staying at home?'
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Definitely!
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