With Season 2019/2020 lift dates and times now published for the Chamonix ski resorts, now is a great time to start your winter planning – if you haven’t already. With days getting shorter, we’re getting excited about a great season ahead, and thought we’d share with you our favourite places to ski in Chamonix.
Les Grands Montets. Hands down our favourite place to ski! Literally 5 minutes walk from the apartment, this is Chamonix’s largest ski area with over 2000m of vertical and 1800 ha of terrain. The summit reaches 3,295m and while the ultra hardcore will need to use skins to access the Argentière glacier (due to the seasonal closure of Lognan gondola), most skiers will still be overjoyed with the terrain accessed by Plan Joran, Bochard and Herse chairs. We certainly are! Long winding runs, natural bowls and a huge number of possible descents both on-piste and off-piste, the Grands Montets is truly a skiers & boarders paradise.
Le Tour. Sunny, quiet and gentle. This is our favourite place to go as a family and is the best skiing in Chamonix for beginners and intermediates. It has 19 pistes that are mostly blue, a terrain park where kids (big and small!) can try their jumps, some wonderful restaurants and places to relax in the sun … which always seems to shine here! It’s 5 minutes away on the bus that stops just across the road from the apartment (buses run every 10 minutes and are free with your lift pass or visitor card), and because Le Tour is the far end of the valley from Chamonix town, it’s always quiet!
La Flégère & Brévent. Flégère caters to all skiing abilities and being on the south side of the mountain, enjoys a lot of sunshine and spectacular views of Mont Blanc! There are 3 black, 7 red, 2 blue, and 2 green pistes, and of course the cable car that links Flégère to more skiing in Brévent. Winter 2019 will see the opening of a brand new gondola to access the wonderful skiing in Flégère. To access it, catch the bus towards Chamonix (stops right outside the apartment and runs every 10mins) and get off at Le Praz.
Les Houches. Similar to Le Tour, this is a great place for beginners and intermediates. We don’t tend to go that often as it is more quiet and often better snow at Le Tour. Les Houches is lower in altitude (runs from 950m to 1900m) so can be a good place to ski if the weather is not being your friend!
Aiguille du Midi. Chamonix is the home of extreme skiing, and much of it can be accessed from the awe inspiring Aiguille du Midi cable car, including the famous Vallée Blanche. You don’t have to be an extreme skier to enjoy this experience though – the views at an altitude of 3,842m will literally take your breath away!
There are several other world class resorts within a short drive such as Megeve (France), Courmayer (Italy), and Verbier (Switzerland), but to be honest Chamonix has everything you could possibly want, and it’s at your doorstep.
Happy planning!
One Le Savoy Apartment 
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