Went there for spring break this year. It was our second time skiing as a family. My two older kids were fine, but my youngest and my wife had difficulty at Flegere and Brevent.
I had trouble just because the conditions were deceiving in appearance, all the off piste terrain between trails looked like fresh powder, but ended up being crunchy hard ice. upper elevations of grand montet didnt have that issue as it was north facing
I was there for 9 days in Jan. 2018 and had a fantastic time. I was lucky enough to know someone that lived there who made a really good guide. We spent two days at Grand Montet, which is truly majestic and pretty spicy in certain areas. The first couple days I was skiing with colleagues after a decent storm and we did Brevant the first day, then we hired guides to take us into the backcountry behind LaTour (amazing and mostly untracked) and the next day the Valle Blanche, which should be on any serious skier's bucket list. Visibility was crap that day, but the views were still jaw dropping and the crampon ridge traverse redefined the term 'pucker' for me. Bottomless drop on both sides. Yikes. We took some beginner Dutch friends to Les Houche one day too and had fun skiing and day drinking. 😁 The town is awesome. We spent a couple of nights hanging out at Maison des Artiste, which is both a nightclub and a recording studio. Bands come and record during the day, then perform at night, and while we were there a very cool Brazilian band was staying all week - we danced what was left of our legs off!
I wouldn't call Chamonix quintessential (quintessential means typical, which Chamonix certainly isn't), it's quite a unique place tbh and is a very different experience to most European resorts. I would describe Cham as the holy grail of off piste skiing, and the 3 valleys as the holy grail of piste skiing. Espace Killy (Val d'Isere and Tignes) is the perfect mix of the two imo and is my favourite resort in the world. Chamonix has some amazing off piste runs, but it's pretty crap if you want pisted skiing and/or don't want to have the bother of hiring a guide and carrying avi gear. There aren't much pisted runs, it's all broken up, and the pistes aren't particularly interesting. 3V has the biggest selectionn of pistes, but it's very piste dense, so there's little area for off piste skiing, as most of the slopes which are skiable are already marked runs. EK has many amazing pistes which Cham lacks, but it's much less piste dense than 3V (for context EK and 3V both cover roughly the same area, but EK has half the pistes), which means there are lots of unpisted areas left for off piste skiing while still within reach of the lifts, many of which are incredible. Also leaving some or all blacks ungroomed is very common in France, but not in Austria, Switzerlad and Italy, where all pistes are groomed, including blacks. France uses a slightly different grading system to the rest of Europe, with a green category that the others lack. This means that French blues and reds tend to be harder than the same colours in other countries, and French blacks are harder than any marked runs in those countries, though Austria have their skiroutes and Switzerland has the orange itineraries which are eqivalent to the french blacks. One other point is that "trail", "lodge"/"lodging" and "tram" are americanisms, if you use those here many people will just give you a confused look or ask you what you mean, we generally say piste/run instead of "trail", cable car instead of "tram" and accomodation insead of "lodging". Obviously you could also use the local language if you speak it.
I guess I would agree with your analysis from a tourist average skier perspective. In fact unless you are a hard charging expert there's not a lot in Cham besides the views. But for hardcore skiers and boarders it's a pilgrimage that must be made by all. Hopefully they get the top tram running soon on the Grand Montets as that and the Augille De Midi are what make Chamonix truly special.
While technically not part of Chamonix, did you get a chance to go across mont Blanc to Courmayer? Its also on the MBU pass, but im suspecting no, because i assume you were just using the IKON pass. I had just as much if not more fun there then Grand Montet . The snow conditions were night and day better, especially on the upper north facing slope, which had some awesome steep trees with an awesome view of the south face of Mont Blanc right in your face. too bad I cant post a picture here.
Chamonix is probably my biggest love/hate resort - super convenient from the UK, lots of value accommodation which is easily bookable, and when you get a good off piste day, it is incomparable. The scenery and vertical I have found nowhere else, and that ridge down from the de midi cable car to top of the vallee Blanche is memorable whatever the conditions!! However buses connecting the resorts are beyond awful, the lift infrastructure is appalling, and yet the lift ticket is the same as 3 vallees, Val d’Isere etc which is ridiculous. It is a must for any serious skier but has a lot of downsides. If you can book late and time for the conditions then it can be top notch, failing that head for 3 Val’s, Val ‘Isere if heading to France - much better all round - although none of these are cheap!!
I don’t think you quite understand mountain culture, you coming from New York and all. You’ve gone to Europe, what once to ski and your giving commentary on alps skiing, seems a little premature to me.
You will never find a ski region in Europe that has the same amount and quality of snow as in North America. There's just too much continent between the ocean and the Alps... Not sure how fair it is to use North America as the baseline in this regard.
As I have said elsewhere, these reviews are done with an incredibly American bias and based on a complete misunderstanding of skiing in the Alps. Good example: measuring "piste to piste" acres (here supposedly in the 100s), which then leads to a comparison of skiable acres at US resorts (in the multiple 1,000s for the larger US resorts). Problem is: the US resorts acres of course includes tons of ungroomed but inbounds skiing. If you measure the acres of European resorts including not just the groomed pistes but all the backcountry / sidecountry near the pistes, you'll understand that large European resorts are multiples of the size of their US counterparts... Anyone standing in Chamonix at 3000 ft and looking up to Mont Blanc at 15,000 ft will realize that this area simply can't be compared to anything in the US! You can ski 8,000 vertical feet runs here! There is nothing like it in the US. Finally, PLEASE learn to pronounce basic names of the places that you review! It's just painful otherwise.
One of the best channel for ski resorts on RUclips, with comprehensive review criteria, in depth reviews, tons of footage, having gone to all major areas of North America, many ressorts in South America and starting reviews in major resorts of Europe… and you criticise the prononciation? If we just want to be chauvinist and congratulate ourselves on having the best and biggest resorts in the world, yeah maybe don’t watch Americans reviewing European resorts On the skiable footprint it makes sense when you consider US backcountry skiing is ensured as safe by the ski patrol when counted in the resort size, whereas Europe rarely has secured off-piste skiing. I just really hate European insularism. We have great mountains, I know. But can we not appreciate a slightly different point of view?
@@dhowe5180 Replying to both of you. No European insularism or chauvinism here, let alone any hate. I'm a dual citizen living in both places and skiing in the Alps, the Rockies, the Sierra Nevada... I agree there is great skiing on both continents, no question about it! I continue to believe that this channel takes a US-centric ("insular") view of grading ski resorts and does not understand very well what makes skiing in the Alps different and great. A lot of the data is skewed - in terms of size, acres, snowfall. And, yes, as an American, I'd like my fellow Americans to learn basic pronunciation of terms they do youtube videos about, out of courtesy and respect. I expect the same of other nationalities. On the note about "rare" snowfalls and bad snow quality in the Alps, I'd note that the best and deepest powder I have ever skied was at high elevations in Switzerland - and that it just dumped 1 meter plus in many areas in the Alps and you can ski powder there right now in September (as long as you venture high enough). Happy skiing!
@@christianartmann8145 I don’t like hearing couloir pronounced as ko-LORE but I think that’s an issue with the narration software. It doesn’t know French. I’ve skied on both sides of the ocean and alpine resorts are incredible. However, I do think that North America has europe beat on snow quality.
Tignes/Val is so much better in every respect except for that it is slightly less convenient with a long ski bus ride from Geneva airport to resort. Ride from Lyon to Tignes is quite nice as well.
@@Know-it-all55 do you happen to now. Do you need to reserve bus/taxi from airport ahead of time or is there public public trasportation. I saw some that cost 85e trip.
@@IV-A reserve your transfer to tinges/val. A private transfer isn't too costly if you have a larger group/family. A Swiss taxi from GVA might cost 1500 euros- beware.. You could hire a ca which opens up St.Foy, Les Arcs and La Rosiere. . Public transport, unless it is an airport bus, is impossible.
@@Know-it-all55 it isn't so much better- it's just totally different.Chamonix is much closer to the airport (not slightly -save 3 hours), Cheaper- a lot-, has more challenging skiing -if you venture off piste-, has incredible scenery and is much better for non skiers as it is a town. . Chamonix is not good for families, generally not ski in/out, has an antiquated lift system and is low 1000 metres. Tignes/VD have much better pistes and lifts. As someone who has spent years in each they are just different. I would take my children/parents to Val D. I would take good skiers to Chamonix. My opinion- but you know it all.
@@MACCA0405 hey can i ask is 24.3.-30.3.2024 too late to go Tignes thinking of Snow conditions. Other time is 18.1.2024, what is better or is it a gamble?
Can't wait for the 3 Valleys review!
By far, the most informative video I have seen yet!
Went there for spring break this year. It was our second time skiing as a family. My two older kids were fine, but my youngest and my wife had difficulty at Flegere and Brevent.
Alright so crowds stay low
I had trouble just because the conditions were deceiving in appearance, all the off piste terrain between trails looked like fresh powder, but ended up being crunchy hard ice.
upper elevations of grand montet didnt have that issue as it was north facing
@@RD1Rwe were there in early April and crowds were not bad at all.
I was there for 9 days in Jan. 2018 and had a fantastic time. I was lucky enough to know someone that lived there who made a really good guide. We spent two days at Grand Montet, which is truly majestic and pretty spicy in certain areas. The first couple days I was skiing with colleagues after a decent storm and we did Brevant the first day, then we hired guides to take us into the backcountry behind LaTour (amazing and mostly untracked) and the next day the Valle Blanche, which should be on any serious skier's bucket list. Visibility was crap that day, but the views were still jaw dropping and the crampon ridge traverse redefined the term 'pucker' for me. Bottomless drop on both sides. Yikes. We took some beginner Dutch friends to Les Houche one day too and had fun skiing and day drinking. 😁 The town is awesome. We spent a couple of nights hanging out at Maison des Artiste, which is both a nightclub and a recording studio. Bands come and record during the day, then perform at night, and while we were there a very cool Brazilian band was staying all week - we danced what was left of our legs off!
I wouldn't call Chamonix quintessential (quintessential means typical, which Chamonix certainly isn't), it's quite a unique place tbh and is a very different experience to most European resorts.
I would describe Cham as the holy grail of off piste skiing, and the 3 valleys as the holy grail of piste skiing. Espace Killy (Val d'Isere and Tignes) is the perfect mix of the two imo and is my favourite resort in the world.
Chamonix has some amazing off piste runs, but it's pretty crap if you want pisted skiing and/or don't want to have the bother of hiring a guide and carrying avi gear. There aren't much pisted runs, it's all broken up, and the pistes aren't particularly interesting.
3V has the biggest selectionn of pistes, but it's very piste dense, so there's little area for off piste skiing, as most of the slopes which are skiable are already marked runs.
EK has many amazing pistes which Cham lacks, but it's much less piste dense than 3V (for context EK and 3V both cover roughly the same area, but EK has half the pistes), which means there are lots of unpisted areas left for off piste skiing while still within reach of the lifts, many of which are incredible.
Also leaving some or all blacks ungroomed is very common in France, but not in Austria, Switzerlad and Italy, where all pistes are groomed, including blacks. France uses a slightly different grading system to the rest of Europe, with a green category that the others lack. This means that French blues and reds tend to be harder than the same colours in other countries, and French blacks are harder than any marked runs in those countries, though Austria have their skiroutes and Switzerland has the orange itineraries which are eqivalent to the french blacks.
One other point is that "trail", "lodge"/"lodging" and "tram" are americanisms, if you use those here many people will just give you a confused look or ask you what you mean, we generally say piste/run instead of "trail", cable car instead of "tram" and accomodation insead of "lodging". Obviously you could also use the local language if you speak it.
peak rankings dropped, hell yes 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 more France, gentlemen!
I guess I would agree with your analysis from a tourist average skier perspective. In fact unless you are a hard charging expert there's not a lot in Cham besides the views.
But for hardcore skiers and boarders it's a pilgrimage that must be made by all.
Hopefully they get the top tram running soon on the Grand Montets as that and the Augille De Midi are what make Chamonix truly special.
Chamonix is great for mountaineering and steep skiing, but for “regular”skiing, I much prefer Verbier.
Great vid
I skied there six years ago. Spectacular skiing
Now you need to hit Les Arcs, Tignes, and Val d'isere. And maybe Sainte Foy, but that's a secret. You're welcome. 😉
While technically not part of Chamonix, did you get a chance to go across mont Blanc to Courmayer? Its also on the MBU pass, but im suspecting no, because i assume you were just using the IKON pass. I had just as much if not more fun there then Grand Montet . The snow conditions were night and day better, especially on the upper north facing slope, which had some awesome steep trees with an awesome view of the south face of Mont Blanc right in your face. too bad I cant post a picture here.
Good infomation!
Love these videos, but volunteering to speak French on all future videos.
Did you ever make videos for all of the other Mountains in the breakdown table?
I couldn't find one for Veribier 4 Vallees. Possibly being edited?
Verbier and Les 3 Vallees are still in the works!
Awesome to hear, thanks for all the content! Incredibly useful and informative
@@PeakRankingsyall should hit the jungfrau region this winter, that one's an 11 for mountain aesthetics
nice
My rankings of the areas i went to
1. Le flegere
2. Le brevent
3. Les grands montets
4. Le tour
5. Les houches
Vallee Blanche?
@@dhowe5180 aguille du midi is much more than Vallee Blanche
Chamonix is probably my biggest love/hate resort - super convenient from the UK, lots of value accommodation which is easily bookable, and when you get a good off piste day, it is incomparable. The scenery and vertical I have found nowhere else, and that ridge down from the de midi cable car to top of the vallee Blanche is memorable whatever the conditions!! However buses connecting the resorts are beyond awful, the lift infrastructure is appalling, and yet the lift ticket is the same as 3 vallees, Val d’Isere etc which is ridiculous. It is a must for any serious skier but has a lot of downsides. If you can book late and time for the conditions then it can be top notch, failing that head for 3 Val’s, Val ‘Isere if heading to France - much better all round - although none of these are cheap!!
I'm here for the très français pronounciations.
I'm not sure how Grand Montets only gets a 9 for challenge with runs like the Poubelle couloir, Rectiligne couloir, etc?
I really like Mene ze pu pah.
I don’t think you quite understand mountain culture, you coming from New York and all. You’ve gone to Europe, what once to ski and your giving commentary on alps skiing, seems a little premature to me.
Love your videos. When have you been there?
Its written in the description
Haha. Sorry
You will never find a ski region in Europe that has the same amount and quality of snow as in North America. There's just too much continent between the ocean and the Alps... Not sure how fair it is to use North America as the baseline in this regard.
These kooks always find my recommendations:(
As I have said elsewhere, these reviews are done with an incredibly American bias and based on a complete misunderstanding of skiing in the Alps. Good example: measuring "piste to piste" acres (here supposedly in the 100s), which then leads to a comparison of skiable acres at US resorts (in the multiple 1,000s for the larger US resorts). Problem is: the US resorts acres of course includes tons of ungroomed but inbounds skiing. If you measure the acres of European resorts including not just the groomed pistes but all the backcountry / sidecountry near the pistes, you'll understand that large European resorts are multiples of the size of their US counterparts... Anyone standing in Chamonix at 3000 ft and looking up to Mont Blanc at 15,000 ft will realize that this area simply can't be compared to anything in the US! You can ski 8,000 vertical feet runs here! There is nothing like it in the US. Finally, PLEASE learn to pronounce basic names of the places that you review! It's just painful otherwise.
One of the best channel for ski resorts on RUclips, with comprehensive review criteria, in depth reviews, tons of footage, having gone to all major areas of North America, many ressorts in South America and starting reviews in major resorts of Europe… and you criticise the prononciation?
If we just want to be chauvinist and congratulate ourselves on having the best and biggest resorts in the world, yeah maybe don’t watch Americans reviewing European resorts
On the skiable footprint it makes sense when you consider US backcountry skiing is ensured as safe by the ski patrol when counted in the resort size, whereas Europe rarely has secured off-piste skiing.
I just really hate European insularism. We have great mountains, I know. But can we not appreciate a slightly different point of view?
@@thomasalexandre7056 both continents offer great skiing. I think it’s just fashionable for euros to hate on the US these days
@@dhowe5180 Replying to both of you. No European insularism or chauvinism here, let alone any hate. I'm a dual citizen living in both places and skiing in the Alps, the Rockies, the Sierra Nevada... I agree there is great skiing on both continents, no question about it! I continue to believe that this channel takes a US-centric ("insular") view of grading ski resorts and does not understand very well what makes skiing in the Alps different and great. A lot of the data is skewed - in terms of size, acres, snowfall. And, yes, as an American, I'd like my fellow Americans to learn basic pronunciation of terms they do youtube videos about, out of courtesy and respect. I expect the same of other nationalities. On the note about "rare" snowfalls and bad snow quality in the Alps, I'd note that the best and deepest powder I have ever skied was at high elevations in Switzerland - and that it just dumped 1 meter plus in many areas in the Alps and you can ski powder there right now in September (as long as you venture high enough). Happy skiing!
@@christianartmann8145 I don’t like hearing couloir pronounced as ko-LORE but I think that’s an issue with the narration software. It doesn’t know French. I’ve skied on both sides of the ocean and alpine resorts are incredible. However, I do think that North America has europe beat on snow quality.
Whoa dude, take it easy.
This or Tignes/val d'isere? or some other? I want to go back to alps.
Tignes/Val is so much better in every respect except for that it is slightly less convenient with a long ski bus ride from Geneva airport to resort. Ride from Lyon to Tignes is quite nice as well.
@@Know-it-all55 do you happen to now. Do you need to reserve bus/taxi from airport ahead of time or is there public public trasportation. I saw some that cost 85e trip.
@@IV-A reserve your transfer to tinges/val. A private transfer isn't too costly if you have a larger group/family. A Swiss taxi from GVA might cost 1500 euros- beware.. You could hire a ca which opens up St.Foy, Les Arcs and La Rosiere. . Public transport, unless it is an airport bus, is impossible.
@@Know-it-all55 it isn't so much better- it's just totally different.Chamonix is much closer to the airport (not slightly -save 3 hours), Cheaper- a lot-, has more challenging skiing -if you venture off piste-, has incredible scenery and is much better for non skiers as it is a town. . Chamonix is not good for families, generally not ski in/out, has an antiquated lift system and is low 1000 metres. Tignes/VD have much better pistes and lifts. As someone who has spent years in each they are just different. I would take my children/parents to Val D. I would take good skiers to Chamonix. My opinion- but you know it all.
@@MACCA0405 hey can i ask is 24.3.-30.3.2024 too late to go Tignes thinking of Snow conditions. Other time is 18.1.2024, what is better or is it a gamble?