Skiing-Chamonix-February 16, 2008

Hello out there.  For those of you who have never been skiing in Chamonix-Mont Blanc, it is more than one domain, more like 4 that are more or less connected.   From the Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice) to the other glaciers that traverse the valley, it is hard to find such a combination of snow, high peaks at almost 4000m, glaciers, and off piste skiing.

Which is why (1) the lift tickets have always been upon the pricey side of 40 euros plus, and (2) you have always had big, big waits and lines at the Grande Montet lift or the Midi lift--1.5 hours not being out of the unusual at all.  Perhaps due to the large change in clientele of Chamonix, with Northern Europeans vastly outnumbering French (a nice way of saying British people), management has given in to a rather obvious way to reduce the waiting.  

Now serving number 35...if you do not have a reservation...sorry!

Yes, a reservation system.  Online even at www.chamonix.com.  That is not to say just buying the lift ticket, but reserving a specific slot, at a specific time, to go up.  

So what if you are not exactly sure of where you want to go, at what time, etc?  Or you want to be more flexible in your ski schedule?

Easy.  Throw money at the problem!  A ski monitor or ski guide, available through the ESF (Ecole de Ski Francaise) gets to bring clients in tow and more or less jump into line, up to a reserved number of seats blocked for ESF on each cabin lift.   On this last Saturday while I watched the hoi poloi wrangle with the new internet reservation system and bide their time waiting at the Grand Montet for their lift slot, we were whisked on board with the guide with maximum waits of 5 minutes, each of our 4 ascents upon the Grand Montet, except for the last one of the day where we simply didn't arrive when the cabin was there and opted to take our spot in 30 minutes...so we did adjacent runs for exactly 30 minutes, skiied into the departure area.  Voila.  Again, no waiting at all.  

In addition to no waiting, a monitor can take you everywhere you might want to go in the ski domain areas and is an invaluable resource.  If you are feeling more brave, a guide can take you all over the off piste areas...glaciers and all...and still have you back to a cabin lift with no waiting.  

So in case you were wondering, yes, the daily prices for a monitor or guide are in the 250 Euro plus range.   But if you are only in Chamonix for a long weekend....and coming from far away...well worth the splurge.

Skiing in the Parc Mercantour vs. Savoie

Several people mentioned that I might want to clarify that yes, in fact, there are several ski stations inside the Parc Mercantour for those who don't know. Auron, Isola 2000, and Valberg are perhaps the best known and most accessible. You can get weather, lodging, ski condition information, etc, directly for the three resorts from www.auron.com which has been updated this year.

So the 3 Vallees (Val Thorens, Courchevel, Meribel) is a larger resort and higher, and has three resorts that are connected. So why would you want to go to smaller, less high resorts near Nice?

Several reasons. Accessibility. The Parc Mercantour resorts are a bit more than an hour drive from Nice, with the exception of Isola 2000 which is a bit further. You can be up and out the door at 7 a.m., and skiing when everything opens at 9 a.m.

Trees. Auron and Valberg are both heavily forested, making for beautiful on and off piste skiing. Val Thorens is bigger, but...it's a big bowl. Rocks. No trees.

Fewer people. The 3 Vallees is now a huge magnet for vacationers coming from all over Europe, flying into Geneva or training into Moutiers or Albertville. And a lot of them only ski once or twice a year. So you are up there with the Audi crowd all trying to outdo each other.

Auron, since Nice is not exactly a ski destination, has more local people, and a higher percentage of people who ski a lot. Hence, fewer people overall, and better skiers.

If you are just going for a day, you also have the added bonus of ease of accessibility. If you are even just an OK skier, you can park and start at St. Etienne de Tinee with the Pinatelle telepherique. You don't have to go to Auron village and mingle with the masses. Park, 10 meters from your car is the caisse and telepherique. Could it be any easier?

There is a similar access for the 3 Vallees, but it is mostly useful if you are coming up from Lyon for the day. Longer drive, 2 hours each way, but you can easily do it and access the 3 Vallees by www.orelle.net which has a large parking area and is a bit further to the telepherique, about 100 meters.

Lastly, you will notice if you have skied both in the 3 Vallees and Auron that there is another big difference (advantage) that Auron has over the 3 Vallees. No advertising, anywhere on the slopes. If you are in the 3 Vallees you have a hard time escaping timeshare, private banking, and sportwear advertisement up the lifts, in the cabins, everywhere. In Auron...nada. The difference is ownership and operation. The 3 Vallees is privately run, whereas Auron is owned and operated the the Department (Alpes-Maritimes) and hence is an extension of the parc.

ETSY PROFILE

Hello everyone, I am starting a blog to talk about "the arriere pays" or back country as it also known behind Nice.  Most of the people visiting or living here in the South of France never actually make it up to the mountains or are even aware that France has some of the best national parks in the world.  

From time to time I make photos of some of the trips I make up there or to Savoie and the Vanoise.  People have been bugging me to print photos or at least make them available, so voila, there they are on ETSY.  We'll see if I can sell enough of them to fund a Large Format camera and lenses.