Chamonix trip, how to

[PNWbrit]

Kind of want to thread-jack and answer "the questions" as we'll be in the UK with a free Monday-Friday the week leading up to Xmas (18-22), but before I did is that timeframe, and skiing the Alps, even somthing I should consider? Or should we do something else?

It depends.

[hutash]

I'm not anti-guide. I simply want to represent the perspective that you can ski many serious off-piste routes in many locations without a guide. A competent backcountry skier can find out what he need to know to travel safely from guidebooks, helpful locals, etc. If you need your handheld and can't be trusted to make safe decisions, by all means, get a guide.

Re: February - avoid the holidays if you can, if you can't try to ski at places that are less attractive to families. It will be busier and it will be more expensive but in can be manageable.

All true, but as I mentioned earlier, another big advantage of a guide is help with the logistics. Knowing train schedules can allow you to ski runs that were be difficult to coordinate without such knowledge. It is easy to find yourself in the wrong country after the lifts have shut down while skiing in Europe.

Just the advantage in some of the tram lines can be a huge benefit. We got first box out of Zermatt to do the Breithorn because they were only allowing guided groups who were heading OB while they were still doing avi control. Got us second tracks off the summit.

[Beder]

A group of us is probably going to do this, Courmayeur, in March. We'll be flying from SLC to Europe, either to AMS or CDG then transferring to Geneva. The Paris connection is more convenient but experienced travelers have advised to stay out of Paris unless you actually want to be in Paris. Good advice or overly cautious?

[Kevo]

CDG is the most frustrating airport I have ever experienced in a first world country. Germans love efficiency. The France revel in inneffiency. I've stood in 90 minute lines for immigration while one officer checks the passports of 6 plane loads of passengers and the other offices are on breaks while fellow passengers get more and more despondent about missing connections. During one connection I tried 20+ different wall outlets trying to find a working outlet to charge my phone. There wasn't a single working outlet across two terminals.

Paris is truly the land of "fuck it, it's not my job."

There are plenty of other single stop connections from SLC to Geneva. You can fly through Newark or JFK or Dulles or AMS.

I'd opt for any of them over CDG. AMS is really efficient and easy in my experience. I'd go through there over CDG any day.

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[hutash]

AMS is a great, functional airport and I have connect through there several times with never an issue. My last trip to Geneva was through Moscow on Aeroflot...very cheap. Turkish Airlines has been pretty cheap lately as well. Just beware of explosions as coups, but happened within a few weeks of a trip I took.

[Buster Highmen]

. The Paris connection is more convenient but experienced travelers have advised to stay out of Paris unless you actually want to be in Paris. Good advice or overly cautious?

Flying through CDG to make connections works fine for me the times I've done it. I just had a few shitty experiences @ Heathrow though.

If one leaves CDG or Orly, that's when things can get complicated.

I do think AMS is a little easier to get into the city and back than Paris mostly because of the sheer size of Paris versus Amsterdam.

[BlatantAlias]

I've connected through CDG many times without any issue. I've not connected through Orly but have flown into/out of it without ever having a problem. I flew into CDG just a few weeks ago, and took the train from the airport right into the middle of the Latin Quarter also without any issues. I've slept at CDG thanks to delayed flights, but that said I've slept at a lot of other airports around the world for the same reason, and so I don't understand the concerns here as it's no more complicated or a cluster ^%&# than any other large airport.

[old goat]

Pick airline on the basis of ski baggage policy, that will probably decide the airport.

[Hicks]

I haven't used CDG in years due to permanently ongoing construction work but experiences vary from all right to fucking nightmare. At times slow moving queues can be really testing your nerves. If you connect thru CDG make sure you got plenty of spare time to be prepared for eventual inconvenience but doesn't matter too much as a final destination.

AMS is much better in that regard, only bottleneck there can be the immigration/ID control area when connecting. Again not an issue as final destination.

[BobbyBill]

Some great info here...thanks for the beta. Wife and I are thinking of a trip like the OP and since I work at ski area here in the States, I'm wondering if the first two weeks of April would be a possibility as that's likely the earliest we could swing it? Thanks and cheers!

[Foggy_Goggles]

Beginning in April will be great. I've had great powder days that time of year. Honestly, that is prime ski touring, ski mountaineering and partying time. Google Derby de La Meije to see what I am talking about. Look for high elevation cable cars and glaciers. It's kinda like spring in the US. When most people are giving up is when it can be the best.

[BlatantAlias]

FYI - I've been looking at flights for late March to Geneva for the last month and just in the last two days they have dropped from $1400 to $700.

I mistakenly let a buddy that doesn't travel much set the itinerary so now I'm going there through AMS-GVA, but returning GVA-CDG ... so I'm sure to have a full trip report on the airport comparison

Anyway, fingers will be crossed hoping for late March snow and bluebird days for touring/climbing.

[babybear]

we saw those price drops too- we saw a Jackson to Geneva for $560?! so I think we're doing La Grave and Cham for our honeymoon (think we're doing Feb/March) YEA!!!!

[auvgeek]

Thanks guys! We're doing Cham early April, and I'll see if we can afford to buy tickets now. b-bear, ping me if you guys end up in Cham in early April. Would be fun to make some turns.

[jtran10]

Anyone know if Mountain Collective benefits (i.e. have Alta pass, want 50% off tickets) works at Chamonix?

[babybear]

Thanks guys! We're doing Cham early April, and I'll see if we can afford to buy tickets now. b-bear, ping me if you guys end up in Cham in early April. Would be fun to make some turns.

fer sure. we haven't booked tickets yet but I'm leaning more towards Feb/March bc I'd like to hit more winter conditions. are you guys there for a couple wks?

[auvgeek]

fer sure. we haven't booked tickets yet but I'm leaning more towards Feb/March bc I'd like to hit more winter conditions. are you guys there for a couple wks?

Yea. Our group is currently jesski and myself with kevino, his lady, and maybe one or two of his friends with April 7 - 22 as our current plan. jesski and I honeymooned there for a month late Feb to mid-March year before last, and it was a blast! It snowed a lot the first half of the trip, but got pretty sunny the second half. New snow is always nice, but going to Cham to ski pow is like going to Squamish to pebble wrestle so we chose this trip to maximize potential for sunshine while still hoping for decent snow. I maybe would have preferred late March to early April this year, but there are scheduling conflicts IIRC. I figure wx is always a crap-shoot regardless—fingers crossed we miss the dreaded transition from winter to spring snowpack and associated avy cycle.

[babybear]

that sounds like a blast. Andrew's never been (I spent part of a winter there and have gone back one other time) so my thinking was that mid-winter would be more solid to show him all the various terrain.........although you have me rethinking it, with the potential for sunny spring touring, which is hard to beat
Le Grave is the real reason I got on this kick tho- I am mildly obsessed with it currently. Then read the Doug Coombs book and decided we MUST go. and since it's our skimoon we figured we would milk at least a few wks off work. so let's head to chamonix afterwards! but it's all still up in the air.
Good news is we figured out our honeymoon so hopefully we can work backwards towards the wedding bc we don't have any idea what we want to do for that lol
Let's pm about more deets as it draws closer/ comes to fruition

[hutash]

They honeymoon is always a lot more fun then the wedding, so spend accordingly.

I was thinking about a euro ski trip this winter. With those fares I just might have to. We are going to Austria in summer for a wedding, and plan on adding a week of climbing, so not sure if I can swing it.

Looks like a potential maggot mini in Cham.

[babybear]

whoa! that might be too much fun

[auvgeek]

Le Grave is the real reason I got on this kick tho- I am mildly obsessed with it currently. Then read the Doug Coombs book and decided we MUST go. and since it's our skimoon we figured we would milk at least a few wks off work. so let's head to chamonix afterwards! but it's all still up in the air.

Now you've got me re-thinking things! I've wanted to go to La Grave since high school. But we can only take two weeks this time, and I think Cham makes more sense since we kinda got the lay of the land last trip and have been itching to get back. We planned to go back last year, but jesski took a ground fall before the first clip while leading...land directly on an ankle that she was less than a year post-op on from a previous bouldering fall. Ugly. So we're a year behind in getting back to Cham, but hopefully La Grave the year after that!

Good news is we figured out our honeymoon so hopefully we can work backwards towards the wedding bc we don't have any idea what we want to do for that lol

Haha, we did exactly the same thing.

What hutash said is definitely correct. Weddings get expensive really quickly, especially if you do them in winter (= inside, so you have to find a venue). Our wedding was fun and all, but we've definitely joked that we should have just eloped to Cham instead.

[Foggy_Goggles]

The soul of skiing is in La Grave. It is the anti-Cham and the anti-Jackson. If that sounds like your style, go.

[babybear]

excellent- I like to get away from the norm on my vacations. yep aware it is not a normal ski area. are we still calling is valley x?

[Norseman]

But but.... Baby (bear), we had a date at Bridger Bowl! 😁

La Grave holds my attention... almost went there last year with Buster. Now with a lil kiddo in the mix, I'm unsure of timing for a trip like that. Auvgeek, maybe we could do a trip there one of these years. Or hold a La Grave mini.

[babybear]

Holy moly I hadn't thought about missing your BBI with these dates
Ok good thing we haven't booked yet. I might have to quit my job and go on ski tour this winter