Chamonix compared to Meribel?

I live in London and usually go to the 3 Valleys, and went to Mottaret
recently. I'm planning a second holiday, and thought I might try
Chamonix. Just wondered how it compares to places like Meribel in terms
of pistes, lift infrastructure, location of accommodation etc.? Any
other comments? Not too fussed about apres-ski as long as there's
places to eat good food and enjoy red wine..

mindpower wrote:
I live in London and usually go to the 3 Valleys, and went to Mottaret
recently. I'm planning a second holiday, and thought I might try
Chamonix. Just wondered how it compares to places like Meribel in terms
of pistes, lift infrastructure, location of accommodation etc.? Any
other comments? Not too fussed about apres-ski as long as there's
places to eat good food and enjoy red wine..


My vote would be for Chamonix, although I probably have different
priorities than you as the things you ask about are way down in my
criteria.

Chamonix has a wide variety of pistes in a number of different areas.
Lift infrastucture is very good, although probably not quite as good as
Trois Valles. Chamonix however, has a few more interesting things to do.
You can get easy access to some great off-piste by getting the Aiguille
Du Midi lift up to the top of Argentiere, or spend half a day doing the
Valle Blanch from the top of Monte Blanc (which is a great experience).

I generally try to avoid the usual Brit resorts like Val d'Isere,
Chanonix, St Anton, Trois Valles and Les Arc just because a large number
of Brits turn into animals at these places and have no respect or
tollerance towards different nationalities and cultures. I'd much rather
go to a small friendly town where you can meet up with locals in the
evening and maybe join them for a freeriding session the next day. You
can gain a lot of knowledge about good places to ride. This is sometimes
possible in Chamonix, but it's a lot more difficult. I think that the
locals are a bit more wary of me since they are used to a lot of ******s
turning up every year.

Octes

I generally try to avoid the usual Brit resorts like .Val d'Isere,
Chanonix, St Anton, Trois Valles and Les Arc just because a large
number
of Brits turn into animals at these places and have no respect or
tollerance towards different nationalities and cultures.

Thanks for the info. Chamonix sounds nice, the friend I am going with
has been but I haven't had a chance to ask him about it.
Totally agree re. the Brit thing (and I am one). I'm getting more and
more embarassed by some of the people who pollute the resorts and
pistes these days with their drunken, filthy behaviour. This year
seemed worse than ever on that score.

I'd just do a bit of research so you know what to expect. The places
you mention are in the same country, but that's about where the
simularities end. Cham is, well, quite steep. There are bits of it
spread around a rather inconvinient town... it's handy to have a car.

If you really want to avoid the brits, then try some small
non-destination places. Take your own transport and go to places you
can board in one day. That way you seldom meet any brits, and the
average standard of riding can be a lot better too.

Thanks for the extra info.

No offense intended re. 'Brits'. I guess I mean any lout of any
nationality who is out of place in a ski resort.

If you really want to avoid the brits, then try some small
non-destination places.

Thanks for the extra info.

No offence intended to anyone re. 'Brits'. I guess I mean any lout of
any
nationality who in my opinion is out of place in a ski resort.

On Sun, 12 Feb 2006 20:37:33 GMT, Octessence
allegedly wrote:

You can get easy access to some great off-piste by getting the
Aiguille Du Midi lift up to the top of Argentiere, or spend half a day
doing the Valle Blanch from the top of Monte Blanc (which is a great
experience).

Actually the Aiguille du Midi leaves from mid-town in Chamonix, and
takes you to the top of the Aiguille du Midi (about 3800m) where you can
run down the Valle Blanche. Here you need a guide unless you're very
exprienced in glacial navigation and crevasse rescue.

You cannot get a cable car to the top of Mont Blanc (4810m). I know,
I've climbed up it and ridden down the North face. ;-)

From Argentiere you can get the Grand Montets cable car, which is an
extra charge, and get to some great terrain, but again there can be
crevasses here so care needs to be taken, but it's not as bad as VB.

Mindpower: One comparison is that places like 3 Valleys are big resorts
joined up together to form a super area. Chamonix is a town nestled at
the bottom of many areas, but these areas are largely not linked -
certainly not by lifts, so getting around requires the use of the local
bus or car etc.

So if you find the conditions are bad at Le Tour, you could spend over
an hour relocating to Grand Montets, or even more to get to Flegere.

The big attraction of Chamonix is the access to the masses of
backcountry, but you need training and equipment for that. Many people
die there each year, so it's not something to be taken lightly.

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow -
Securing your e-mail

The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://rssFAQ.org/

Switters wrote:
On Sun, 12 Feb 2006 20:37:33 GMT, Octessence
allegedly wrote:


You can get easy access to some great off-piste by getting the
Aiguille Du Midi lift up to the top of Argentiere, or spend half a day
doing the Valle Blanch from the top of Monte Blanc (which is a great
experience).


Actually the Aiguille du Midi leaves from mid-town in Chamonix, and
takes you to the top of the Aiguille du Midi (about 3800m) where you can
run down the Valle Blanche. Here you need a guide unless you're very
exprienced in glacial navigation and crevasse rescue.

You cannot get a cable car to the top of Mont Blanc (4810m). I know,
I've climbed up it and ridden down the North face. ;-)

From Argentiere you can get the Grand Montets cable car, which is an
extra charge, and get to some great terrain, but again there can be
crevasses here so care needs to be taken, but it's not as bad as VB.

Mindpower: One comparison is that places like 3 Valleys are big resorts
joined up together to form a super area. Chamonix is a town nestled at
the bottom of many areas, but these areas are largely not linked -
certainly not by lifts, so getting around requires the use of the local
bus or car etc.

So if you find the conditions are bad at Le Tour, you could spend over
an hour relocating to Grand Montets, or even more to get to Flegere.

The big attraction of Chamonix is the access to the masses of
backcountry, but you need training and equipment for that. Many people
die there each year, so it's not something to be taken lightly.

- Dave.


I think I got the Aiguille du Midi and the Grand Montets cable cars
mixed up then, but you get the idea.

phil wrote:

If you really want to avoid the brits, then try some small
non-destination places. Take your own transport and go to places you
can board in one day. That way you seldom meet any brits, and the
average standard of riding can be a lot better too.

One of my favourites is Andermatt, just south of Zurich. The town is
mostly filled with Swiss doing their compulsory army training for a season.

There is a fantastic snowboard shop there (although very expensive being
in Switzerland) where the people who work there are really friendly and
are quite happy to talk to you about all things snowboarding for an
hour, even if you don't intend to buy anything. There's a Picadilly pub
where a lot of locals hang out at the bar and are very friendly and
approachable.

I'm off there this weekend. Can't wait.

Octes.

The big attraction of Chamonix is the access to the masses of
backcountry, but you need training and equipment for that. Many people

die there each year, so it's not something to be taken lightly.

Thanks Dave and everyone else. At my current level perhaps I need a
couple more trips to more standard areas before I try Chamonix. Have
nowhere near exhausted 3 Valleys yet so may go back there..

TAS