 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi, my husband really wants to ski Chamonix this year, and we were planning on taking some time off the first week in March. He can do double blacks at snowbird/grew up there & is a good skiier. However, I am a beginner-intermediate skiier (I can do black diamonds at Big Bear Snow Valley in California, blues at solitude/brighton in Utah) and we have ikon passes (bought them when we were students at discounted rate then but had to defer due to my husband hurting his leg last year, so we are locked in to using our ikon passes this year despite now living on the East Coast of the US.) We were planning on flying into geneva & bringing our gear, skiing 3 days, and then taking the train to paris (my part of the trip haha) to fly home, so kind of locked into france although haven't bought any tickets yet- flights are direct and reasonable from our airport for the dates I was looking at.
Any specific tips on where to stay that has good access to beginner slopes for me? I am also totally down to take a private (English-speaking) lesson for a day or two (any reccs??) so my husband can do harder stuff. Our ikon pass says 5 days shared between: Grands Montets, Les Houches, Le Tour/Balme, La Flegere and Le Brevent. The internet says Le Tour/Balme ski area is ok for beginners, but wondering if there is something better/if there is a good place to stay nearby that would make it easy to get to this area without a car?
Also, if anyone has any experience taking the train to paris with your ski stuff, that would be helpful too as it seems easy to do from geneva to chamonix but haven't heard if people do this to paris.
Basically tl,dr need recommendations for:
Best place to stay with good access to beginner slopes for me in the Chamonix ikon pass area
Any recommendations for private lessons at whatever slope is recommended
Anyone ever take the train from Chamonix to Paris with ski stuff? Would also have other normal vacation stuff, and I'm not sure if this would be incredibly difficult?
I'm not super into skiing or the internet, and everything I found on google, just made me want to talk to somebody about this trip, so I typed in ski forum and found this after making my first reddit post to r/skiing that immediately got deleted fro some reason- so sorry if this is not the best place to post, I didn't know where else to! My husband is really into skiing but not good at planning trips so I kinda feel on my own here.
Any tips appreciated! 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hello @dogmom12, and welcome to SHs  (Full disclosure, I live in Chamonix).
I've skied Solitude (we loved it) on a Utah trip. It was a few years ago but I think if you're happy on blues there, you'll be happy on reds in Chamonix. And "happy on black diamonds in CA and blues in UT", that's not really "beginner" territory to me?
Brevent-Flégère are (usually, weather can disrupt) linked. Even if you are both skiing "together" there's reasonable challenge in good snow for your other half. That said, he'll want at least a day up the Grands. C.f. "Blizzard of Aaahs"  And maybe a guided day down the Vallee Blanche (which is usually very doable by a competent intermediate and very iconic).
If it was me, I'd want to be central-ish, probs near the main train station as that is easy transport to Flégère albeit only one train an hour.
If hotels, that suggests the hotels Pointe Isabelle, Mercure, Gustavia, ...
Private lessons, if you can get him, Dennis who at least used to be with Evo2 is very convivial, also, I had a lesson (confidence issues post knee surgery) with a chap called Antoine who was a lot of fun will ping you phone by DM).
For 3 days I wouldn't bring skis, and if no skis the TGV Geneva-Paris should be dead easy. ** The train Geneva-Chamonix is very slow and involves multiple changes. Not recommended. **
Also, 3 days too short.
Also, also, if you can schedule after March 10, that would be better as the first week of March is still in French school holidays so busier.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@dogmom12, I’d echo what UANN says with a couple of additions:
1) instructors- Nico of https://mountainschoolchamonix/ is excellent. Fluent English, and a really nice guy. You’ll need to get in contact and book now, he sometimes books up a year ahead.
2) Mountain restaurants. My US friends are always amazed by the difference in mountain restaurants in Europe vs the US. If you like good food, it’s worth building this into your plan- le tour ski area has the best IMO (cafe comptoir at the bottom of the resort run in vallorcine, les ecuries and les alpages on the hill) and Argentiere has an exceptional raclette hut as well as the renowned Cremerie. Brevent flegere is somewhat cursed when it comes to eateries tho.
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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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@dogmom12, also yes you can easily have skis on train Geneva to Paris, we do that regularly, but I’d second UANN’s view that you’d be better hiring skis if only there for 3 days. There’s a not unreasonable chance that skis get delayed and arrive later than 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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@dogmom12, all good advice above. If you aren't already you need to be aware that Chamonix isn't a single area but a group of ski areas either side of the valley. In practice you will probably only want to do one each day, and to get between them you need to use the bus (you get a free pass from your hotel) or for some the train. If your husband takes up the suggestion of some more challenging skiing (such as the Vallee Blanche, needs a guide) you will have no problems taking the bus and exploring La Tour or Les Houches on your own.
One thing to look out for, if you stay near the station you are (I think, @under a new name will confirm) not near the bus route which is generally the best link between access lifts.
Using the trains to get to Geneva isn't a disaster, but they are slow. It is a narrow gauge mountain railway in the Chamonix valley which you take to Le Fayet to change to the standard gauge train. However it is only a single track line, so the train will need to wait at some stations for trains in the other direction to pass. You may or may not need to change at Annemasse but it doesn't change the timing. You just need to check the timetables to ensure you have allowed enough time.
The usual alternative though is taking a shared transfer minibus, but those only go to Geneva airport so you have the hassle of getting a train from there to the main station. There are some buses going to the city centre via the airport, but probably less frequent.
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Rent a car much less faff for just 3 days skiing, actually ski 5 days. Wouldn't be that expensive to rent a car and then go to Paris at your 'leesure' . Cham is an awesome place but it is a collection of unlinked ski areas across a valley. Argentiere might work as a one stop shop for both of you. Utah is freekin awesome too would love to go back. Enjoy wherever you end up.
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Don’t discount a day trip through to Courmayeur either. More than enough to keep you both happy and some of the best on mountain places to eat anywhere, full stop.
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