To top off my alp skiing experience during peak ski season, this first weekend of March I took a trip to Chamonix, France. This is supposed to be one of the best ski destinations in the world, and as a result, is quite highly regarded in Europe. Chamonix is made up of 5 different ski resorts along a valley in the French Alps. From those 5 different resorts, you have access to the alps from 3 countries. From Le Brevent, one of the ski resorts, skiers have the ability to ski from France into Italy and Switzerland, as well as between ski resorts within France.
Chamonix is unique from other ski resort towns because it has a more substantial set of valley towns that make up the area. While we were there, it seemed like it was almost a town before it was a ski town, with bigger apartment buildings and shopping centers and plazas with well-established restaurant areas, bridges, and transit systems.
To get the full experience of the town, we stayed in one of the hostels close to Chamonix center. One of the upsides of staying in Airbnbs is that they are a good value with typically a decent kitchen and living space, but a lot of times they sacrifice location and centrality to cities, which hotels and hostels have. We stayed at a very cheap hostel called Gîte le Chamoniard Volant (pictured left), for 23 euros a night! You definitely get what you pay for. In our case, the hostel didn’t come with sheets.
On the first day, we went to the advanced ski hill, Grands Montets. Take my word for it: don’t go to this one unless it’s an insane snow year or you really like ice skating. I’m not an advanced skier but most of Europe skiing has been incredibly mellow and not all too challenging. Grands Montets made me want to quit skiing. The runs were insanely steep with a thick layer of ice on top. After getting incredibly frustrated I moved over to Brévent, the most popular ski resort in the valley, and that had beautiful views and made me a much happier skier with the soft snow.
For our second ski day, we tried out Le Tour, which is known for its views and was the most perfect day. Skiing in France was also great because the food didn’t break the bank. All in all, a great weekend to top off skiing Europe. From now on, the skis are getting left at home! Full tourist mode only.
Bis zum nächsten mal!
Kara