J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Ranchero_1979

At least a few times a year someone will post a message on why Chamonix should be avoided, so I thought I would make a consolidated topic on what exactly makes it rubbish.

1. Holidays are for relaxing, why go to a resort where you get so excited you find your self waking up far too early in order to secure fresh tracks.



2. When you get to the slopes snow will be so deep you have to drink expresso and eat croissants.



3. When lifts do open you will find out that no pisting has occurred.



4. On some days visibility will be so poor that you have to head for the trees.



5. Other days lifts will not even open, forcing you to walk.



6. We don't have enough terrain and occasionally you will need to share.



7. Snow gets tracked out.



8. Scenery is rubbish.


Definitely one to be avoided!

So I am absolutely biased but here is my opinion. Out of interest when are you going?
1) Chamonix is cheaper than the UK to eat out in town and quality will be better. As for the slopes, everywhere but Italy they are overpriced and generally poor quality. However if you eat at the bottom of Brevant Lift, Balme lift, Les Houches, Grands Montets you can get something decent for a reasonable price (11 Euro for omelette and salade vert)
2) Chamonix has a mix of slopes, there are no seriously steep pisted runs and only the black off the top of Brevant Cable car can become unpleasant
3) As a general plan.
Day 1 Le Tour: Super easy slopes, these are a dream for anyone wanting to improve their skiing.
Day 2 Les Houches : Little steeper but really nice fall line skiing
Day 3 Brevant/Felgere: Personally I prefer Flegere but would ski over from Brevant on basis of better lift access. Really nice reds down from top lift, do that in a one and legs will feel good.
Day 4 Grand Montets: Am not a massive fan of piste skiing here, probably the nicest run is the one down to bottom which is empty all morning and gets a little hectic in PM (I often bin down). Offpiste is great but never really occurs to me to do any piste skiing there.
Day 5 Courmayeur: Definitely worth a trip, can arrange from nr train station

Really worth studying the weather in Chamonix to get best out of skiing.

If you enjoy skiing just go and book your-self into a hostel or B&B. There are only a few certainties in life but:
Ski towns always have a great atmosphere and anyone and everyone is welcome to join in.
Ski school/ski courses are possibly best icebreakers there are.
Worst case skiing alone will massively improve your technique

No idea where you are coming from in UK but Central London-Chamonix is a ~ 4hrs, so certainly good for a weekend. Would also suggest that you take a Monday morning flight home in order to make the most of your time. A lot of people make this weekly pilgrimage throughout the year.

Accommodation really depends on how many people but some good 2* places in centre of town Hotel Le Chamonix, Crete Blanche, Isabelle etc.

Sounds like you want an mogul specific ski.

Nearly all other modern skis are shaped to turn, on the basis that why would you want a ski that is good on the flat? Being on a slight edge is always more comfortable and much safer than having flat skis, especially if going fast.

I think one of the great things about skiing is that you can have fun as mixed groups.

Assist someone to carry skis to bus; which is only really good manners. After that who cares what they get upto as long as they are having fun. People who try to babysit family members or better 1/2's are frankly crazy, that is what ski school is for (only way to learn).

Avoid that rookie mistake and you won't have to worry about the other 9 points.

Good news that you are back to full health. My recommendation get skipping as is a great measure of both power and control, when you can skip of one leg you can tick a box in your head.
Unfortunately it took me about 4 weeks before I finally felt happy with knee. Despite believing I was pretty fit after some decent climbing 3 months before; I found my knee getting pretty tired after an hour or so. Initially it also irritated the fatty pad under my knee cap (I had hamstring graft). First week or so was spent rotating days between skiing (I think first day I probably spent max 1 hr), climbing and skinning.
On piste is not such a problem but found myself really struggling in poor visibility and choppy snow. A few lessons, some blue bird powder days and a few big crashes and was back to normal. I used a knee brace at least some of the time, despite being assured by everyone that it was pointless .
Anyway your body will let you know where you stand so as long as you listen to it; all will be well.

British drinking culture explained in 4 posts :-).

The French might claim that you can buy a very nice bottle of red in a specialist shop in most reports for ~7 Euro and there is even a Brit bin with bottles for <5 Euro.

Even in the most expensive reports a Plat du jour is not going to cost you more than 15 Euro with a glass of wine or dessert thrown in.