Anyone been to Chamonix?

Chamonix is great if you want high adrenalin and challenging runs...and bit of a challenge to get on the slopes. Also got a reputation for being a bit expensive. When we were looking for a base we picked Les Gets part of the Portes du Soleils ski domain. Les Gets as a village is a good mix of traditional with loads for all the family. Well worth looking at great range of skiing.

CanadianSkier - Glad it was useful. However, I must declare an interest: we've owned a small apartment in La Tzoumaz since 2003, so of course, I'm biased! As the article indicates, they are plenty of similar 'satellites' all over the Alps. To give you an idea of cost, here's the website for our Agency, which is just one of 4-5 in the village:

http://www.carron-immobilier.ch/en/

(ou «/fr» si vous êtes Québécois) Look at the RENTAL column - note that the number of rooms includes the living area, so 2 bedrooms is 3 rooms. Our 2-bedroom apartment is CHF 1'450 in the high season (CAN$ 1,885) but as you can see there's a variety of apartments and chalets available. A friend of mine has a chalet near us (www.chaletcathay.com) which rents out at CHF 3'000-5'000 a week (CAN$ 3,900-6,500) and sleeps 11 comfortably, 13 with a sofabed (catering is extra).

Out of school holidays, flights from the UK to Geneva on easyJet or BA can be surprisingly cheap - I just paid £17.50 for a single LGW>GVA a week ago, but more typically an off-peak fare would be £30-£50 single. However, if you hit the business travel slots such as Monday morning, then expect to pay £100+ single. Swiss (www.swiss.com) airlines is another option.

You're probably aware that there are four 'London' airports: Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick (LGW), City (LCY) and Stanstead (STN). If you're not flying direct to the Alps (such as Geneva, Zurich, Grenoble, Lyons etc.), then obviously it's preferable to transfer at the same airport hub.
Heathrow and Gatwick have the most carriers and flights to GVA. London City is in the commercial district and on the opposite, eastern side of London to Heathrow - from Heathrow it's a train into West London, then a circuitous subway route across. Stanstead is way outside to the NE of London - more convenient for people in NE London and Essex.

Car hire prices out of Geneva can be very variable: the GVA website is a good starting-point for budgeting.

http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-72/

I seem to end up forking out about £40 (CAN$ 75) a day for a basic small 4-seater with winter tyres and chains. Be aware that car hire prices on the French side may look cheaper but often don't include winter tyres, motorway 'vignette' etc.

A £97 (CAN$ 180) Swiss Transfer Ticket is also worth considering. Only available to foreigners, this is an open rail return from any Point of Entry to/fron a destination. Valid for a month, it gets stamped on your inbound journey and you then have a month to use the return. This is more an option for an individual or just 2-3 people staying at one location for a week or more - you just need to do the rail vs car hire math.

If you're using public transport, try to get a flight arriving in GVA before 12:30 and outbound leaving after 14:30, to give yourself plenty of leeway for changing trains or delays. There's an integrated rail/télépherique/bus timetable and journey planner on the Swiss Rail website (select 'Genève-Aéroport' as point of entry).

http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

The London Swiss Tourist Centre is a good place to research rail tickets, itineraries and offers:

http://www.stc.co.uk

Geneva is a major point of entry for both the Swiss and French Alps. I'd have to admit there are probably more transfer operators running to the French resorts. The obvious downside of sharing a transfer coach is having to wait for other people on delayed flights.

Ideally, you'd transfer on a Weekday. Predictably, Saturdays and to some extent Sundays at Geneva Airport et al can be extremely busy and chaotic if flights are delayed.

Finally, you can get the Eurostar/TGV «Train à Grande Vitesse» from London to Lille, then Lille to Geneva-Martigny-Sion. This is an attractive way to get across France. Details are on the STC website. However, it can be expensive - cheaper tickets go quickly and I've never managed to get a fare that's competitive with flying. But you might be more fortunate.

This one gives you best idea of amount of offpiste in Chamonix. Plenty of off piste to go at.

www.fatmap.com/

Fatmap!! thanks for sharing.......

Msej449, thank you very much for the information in your post. Our trip is a ways out, the information here has really helped us out. I really appreciate the effort in these posts.

If your group is all the same level and you are good at planning and sticking to your plans then you should be ok in the resort that is not linked, or if people in the group agree to split for a day and ski in the area more suitable for their needs. Each area in Chamonix has enough skiing to keep your day interesting and some can be more protected from weather so will be open when other areas are shut. But linked resort like Verbier doesn't require advance planning, you can always drop your beginners, do a lap of off piste and join them within an hour or sooner. Verbier "satellite" resorts give access to the same skiing and accommodation is cheaper there but they are frankly boring, more suitable for families with kids who don't like to go out. If you hit a good week then going out is not important as you will be skiing hard but there are weeks when the last thing you want is to be stuck in a boring place. I skied combined 5 hours from Saturday morning due to conditions, so being in a lively resort helps. Though on the plus side it's easy to get to Sion from Tzoumaz or Nendaz.

CanadianSkier Well Verbier Ski Bum has certainly put me in my place! {more suitable for families with kids who don't like to go out} But he has a point - If you are really keen off-piste skiers then his advice is based on local off-piste experience. It prompts me to ask, "Would you heli-ski?". If so, you can helicopter out from Croix de Coeur, but I've not done this myself so I can't comment on whether it's worth the expense.

Heli Ski is likely not the menu for us. It would likely put the trip outside the budget most in our group would want to spend. So far, everyone in our group has either been a ski instructor or patrol or still patrolling, so we seek the most vertical within a modest budget. I'd describe us as the middle aged adrenalin team. Admittedly, our hearts now sometimes write cheques our legs can no longer cash, but that's where funny stories come from.