Chamonix France ski holidays: pick the ski area that fits you

Chamonix sits beneath Mont Blanc, and the skiing starts close to the town. The Brévent gondola leaves a short distance from the centre and climbs to a south-facing ski area that looks straight across the valley at the summit. Opposite, the Aiguille du Midi cable car rises to 3,842 m, the top of a 2,807 m drop. That vertical is why skiers come, and why a week here rewards more planning than a week in one linked resort.

Chamonix ski holidays suit confident intermediates, experts and freeriders who want steep, high and varied terrain more than one tidy piste map. The valley's ski areas are separate mountains. The Compagnie du Mont-Blanc, the company that runs the lifts, says its areas are not linked except Brévent and Flégère, so most days start with a bus or train ride. Grands Montets at Argentière has numerous red and black runs and vast off-piste. The steep Hotel Face of Le Brévent hosts a stop on the Freeride World Tour. Most areas are high and exposed, and Les Houches is the sheltered, tree-lined exception when the weather closes in. Learners can start on the low nursery areas of the valley floor, but the moves between areas can frustrate beginners. A first-timer who wants to ski from the door on one connected area will usually be happier in a linked resort.

Groups of mixed ability do well here when they plan the day around the strongest and the newest skier. Wide, sunny Flégère and Le Tour keep a progressing skier happy while the experts in the group take Grands Montets, and everyone meets on the valley floor in the evening. Our page on skiing in Chamonix keeps the valley's hotels and seasons in one place. First-timers learn faster in a resort built around its nursery slopes, such as Soldeu in Andorra: read our guide to skiing Soldeu.

Each Chamonix ski area suits a different skier, so match the area to the day rather than the week: sunny reds at Brévent and Flégère, steep terrain at Grands Montets, quiet cruising at Balme and shelter at Les Houches. If you would rather ski one huge linked area, Les 3 Vallées is the answer: read our guide to ski holidays in Val Thorens.

Brévent faces south, looks straight at Mont Blanc and is mostly red runs (one grade below black). It is the intermediate and advanced skier's home mountain, with a snowpark for freestyle. Flégère, reached by gondola from the village of Les Praz, has wide, accessible slopes between 1,030 m and 2,385 m and views over the Argentière glacier. It suits beginners, intermediates and families. Brévent and Flégère are the only two areas linked to each other, so one day covers both.

Grands Montets above Argentière is the playground for experienced skiers and freeriders: technical slopes, numerous red and black runs and vast off-piste, meaning the ungroomed snow outside the marked runs. Its summit station at 3,275 m has had no lift since a fire in 2018 and is reached only by ski touring. The Compagnie du Mont-Blanc is rebuilding the Grands Montets lift as a gondola from Argentière to Lognan and a cable car to the summit. Its pass pages still list the top as closed, so check before you plan a summit day.

Balme sits at the far end of the valley and has two sides. Le Tour has wide, sunny slopes for beginners and intermediates, and Vallorcine runs down through the forest in a wilder setting. Families and anyone who likes space to cruise will feel at home here.

Les Houches has trees and shelter in bad weather, when the high, exposed areas are hard work, and it gives learners the most consistent progression. It shares its own lift pass with Saint-Gervais.

First-timers and children start on the low beginner areas: le Tourchet, le Savoy, les Planards, les Chosalets, la Vormaine and la Poya. The lift company also lists Plateau 2000 at Planpraz and the Plateau de Lognan as beginner areas, for the day a learner is ready to go up the mountain.

No. Ski the Vallée Blanche with a mountain guide and avalanche safety gear, because it is unpatrolled, unmarked glacier terrain. The Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix, the mountain guides' company in the valley, describes the classic Vallée Blanche descent as 15 km and 2,000 vertical metres through the Mont Blanc glaciers. It starts from the Aiguille du Midi at 3,842 m.

The day opens with a 15 minute walk down a ridge secured by fixed ropes, skis on your pack and crampons on your boots. Heavy traffic builds moguls that ski like a steep, narrow black run. After a snowfall there can be several dozen centimetres of untracked powder. The descent finishes on the Montenvers train, or, in a big snow year, on skis all the way down to Chamonix.

It suits strong skiers who can hold a steep, mogulled black run in control for several hours and handle effort at altitude. The guides supply glacier and avalanche safety gear; you bring crampons fitted to your boots and a backpack, both mandatory. Group outings take 3 to 6 people from 15 years old with a parent, and snowboarders go private only, with telescopic poles. If you are unsure of your level, the guides strongly recommend a preparatory off-piste day first.

Ski Chamonix between late January and late March for the most dependable snow base and classic big-mountain conditions. In that window the higher areas, Grands Montets above all, tend to hold the most stable snowpack and the best off-piste.

The season runs from December to April. Early December can be good or thin, depending on the first storms. March and April bring longer days, milder temperatures and spring snow. April is often favoured for ski touring and high-mountain routes, when clearer weather and firmer morning snow make long days practical.

The table below is theKlub's month-by-month climate for Chamonix, averaged from Open-Meteo data for 2016 to 2025. January averages 4.0 °C by day and -4.2 °C at night, and February has the fewest days of rain or snow of the winter, 11.8.

Most skiers need CHAMONIX Le Pass, the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc's valley pass. It covers Brévent and Flégère, Grands Montets (top closed) and Balme, plus the beginner areas, on 110 km of slopes between 1,000 m and 2,765 m. It also rides the valley shuttles and buses free. It suits anyone skiing Chamonix itself all week, but it leaves out Les Houches.

Buy the Mont-Blanc Unlimited pass when you want more. It adds Les Houches and Saint-Gervais, the Evasion Mont Blanc areas around Megève, the Aiguille du Midi and Montenvers for the Mer de Glace. From 2 days it also covers Courmayeur in Italy and Crans Montana in Switzerland, subject to conditions. That is 723 km of slopes. It suits a group that wants a Vallée Blanche day, an Italian day or Les Houches on a stormy one.

Fly to Geneva. The shuttle from Geneva Airport to Chamonix takes around 1 hour and 15 minutes, traffic allowing, says the Chamonix tourist office's guide to valley shuttles. Lyon Airport is about 2 hours and 30 minutes away. Shuttles from the train stations at Geneva and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains take 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes. Book as soon as your dates are fixed for Christmas, school holidays and long weekends.

Once you arrive, ask your host for the free guest card. It gives free travel on the Mont-Blanc Express train between Servoz and Vallorcine. With a valid ski pass you need no bus ticket at all: scan it on the terminal inside the bus, as the guest card page explains.

Four of the ski-friendly hotels theKlub rates are in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc itself. Grand Hôtel des Alpes is a 5-star with a guest rating of 9.6 out of 10 from 543 reviews, the most tested of the four. Hôtel Mont Blanc Chamonix is also 5-star and rated 9.6. Héliopic Hôtel & Spa, a 4-star, scores 10.0 from 148 reviews, and Les Grands Montets Hôtel & Spa is a 4-star rated 9.2 from 79 reviews.

Chamonix rewards the skier who plans by area: Flégère or Le Tour on a sunny morning, Grands Montets when the snow is deep, Les Houches when the cloud is down, and one big guided day down the Vallée Blanche. Browse ski holidays with theKlub for other mountains on your level. Before you book, pick the two or three areas you most want to ski and choose a bed near the bus or train line that reaches them.