Chamonix: Host, 1924

The main trip for 2011 took us to Chamonix in the Savoy region of France.  This is where the Winter Olympics began (retroactively) in 1924.  It was originally called the International Winter Sports Week and then was awarded Olympic status at an Olympic Committee  meeting two years later.

Les Houches

I was tasked with securing a ski vacation somewhere in Europe for a week.  Getting half-board was such a success at Nagano, we decided to do it again.  It was Christmas and a vacation still wasn't booked, due to an abundance of faffing.  I was debating wether to book independently directly through the hotel or through a British Tour operator.  For simplicity sake, I went through an operator, I think we paid slightly more.  We have board, your accommodation options are a bit more limited, we settled upon the Excelsior Hotel, located 5km from Chamonix in the village of Les Tines.  I honestly didn't know too much about Chamonix, or what to expect when we got there.  Fortunately we made a good decision to rent a car for this trip.

Stade Olympique then (1924)...

....Stade Olympique now (2011) 

We got the Mont Blanc Unlimited pass, which allowed us to go to Verbier, Coumeyer in addition to the hills in the Chamonix Valley.

Chamonix is an old style mountain town, not a purpose built resort like Whistler and Val D'Isere, which I thought was a plus.  There is lots to do, and there aren't super expensive ski apparel clothes stores in the bottom of hotels everywhere you go.

Apparently it was a really bad year for snow.  It hadn't snowed for 3 weeks when we arrived.  The locals were complaining but being hard-core on piste East Course North American skiers, the icy/ hard packed conditions suited us fine.  Powder?  What's that again?

We skied in the Chamonix Valley for a total of 4 days, we went to Verbier, Switzerland and Courmeyer, Italy both were fantastic but aren't included in this review.

On-Piste: Silver 


We experienced a lot of excellent smaller ski areas.  Smaller is a relative term to Verbier and Val D'Isere, they are still big enough they require a full days worth of skiing to explore all the areas.   We had no lift lines.  The lifts were okay, some resorts had an abundance of Poma lifts(by North American standards). Compared to larger European resorts there weren't quite as much high speed lifts.   Les Houches, a good place to start your trip, has 900m of vertical and is mostly forested, Les Grand Montets has a vertical of 2000m and is more challenging.  Les Tour has lots of wide open intermediate groomer runs, good for carving.

Relaxing at Le Tour

The resorts seemed to be fairly old and dotted with chalets that served Vin Chaud for about 3 Euros which was always welcome. Skiing in Europe is definitely a more laid-back affair when compared to the New World. Time skiing was matched with an equal amount of time relaxing in a chalet with vin chaud, cafe or lunch. The beach chairs were great to relax on in the surprisingly warm sun.

  The conditions weren't too bad and the challenge of the piste generally depended on the resort area.  There is a lof of variety so you wouldn't get bored in a week here.  It seems in France the pistes are a suggestion so you can ski just about anywhere after a fresh snow.  But it hadn't snowed  for a while so the off-piste sections were really rutty, we tended to stay between the trail markers where they were freshly groomed.  Most of the skiing is done above the tree line. Conditions we experienced could be better, snow was certainly not abundant at lower elevations.

The main problem with Chamonix is that the hills are spread out through the valley and require you to drive or take a shuttle bus to the base of the mountain.  There is no ski-in or ski out.  We had a car so this wasn't too much of a problem but I could see it being a pain waiting for the bus every morning.  The resorts here do not have the variety that the mega resorts of Val D'Isere.  Apparently when there is lots of snow, the off piste skiing is phenomenal.

For 75 Euros you can take a guided trip down the world's longest 22km ski run the Valle Blance.  I was about to do it but talked myself out of it, due to confidence issue,  when the guide said you have to do the blacks no problem, I fell once of the blacks so in my mind that was me done.  Oh well, next time!

Off Piste Gold 


Chamonix has a good Apres ski especially for the late 20 thirty something crowd.  Chambre Neuf quickly became our favourite.  The band, which would play 90's rock would take to the stage at 1700 and be done at 1900.  Fairly loud, but good fun. Anyone who knows me well, knows that this is my kind of night out finished by 2000.   There were also quieter drinking establishments in town and one night we went for a fantastic fondue at a restaurant down the road in Argentiere, but got ripped off with a 3 minute 30 Euro cab ride.  Our hotel was 10 minutes outside Chamonix and the last train/bus was at 2030 which could cause some logistical issues if you want to make it a late night.  At our hotel, hotel Excelsior, we had fantastic French cuisine.  I have a major weakness for croissants, so having them for breakfast and looking out to fantastic views of the alps every morning, I was in Alpine heaven.

At the hotel bar we also discovered Le Biere Vert, it is a green, beer based drink that is infused with Genipi extract that comes from local plants and herbs, very refreshing highly recomended.  


During the day there is also lots to do, you can tack the Mer de Glace railway to see the Glacier or go up the cable car to Mont Blanc or do some shopping in Mont Blanc.

Brevent & Flegere

Overall Gold


Marc Says: It was a great trip, not much left in terms of Olympic infrastructure, but what a suitable home for the first Winter Olympics.  The skiing was superb, food excellent and apres ski fun, but not too rowdy.  If I could do it again, I would probably stay in Chamonix town centre, the only problem is we miss out on the good food at the Excelsior. Stunning scenery, the Alps around here are very majestic and ragged. The Olympics may once again return here after a 94 year hiatus as part of the 2018 Annecy bid. I know which bid I support for the 2018 Olympics: go Annecy!