Chamonix Off Piste & Ski Touring 4 days

Chamonix off piste day by day itinerary

Subject to change depending on weather / mountain conditions & participants fitness.

Day 0 : 

Telephone appointment with your guide for a program briefing, plus gear check, and confirm meeting time in the morning of Day 1.

Your guide will bring the gear you have requested from us on day 1.

Night in the hotel*** in shared twin room & breakfast included. Dinner is at your charge.

Day 1:

The “Grands Montets”, is one of the most well known off-piste skiing spot in the world, and today, you will discover the most beautiful off-piste either on the Argentière Glacier, either on the north face through the glacier de la Pendant or the combe du Lavancher. Lunch in the mountains. The upcoming 3 years the top cable car will be closed, offering us the opportunity to discover this famous spot with only few experienced people. After skinning up 200 m from the top of the "Bochard" gondola towards the col des Rachasses, we can enjoy skiing down on the Argentière glacier. If it is your first experience in ski touring, our guides will take the necessary time to teach you all the tricks and technique that you must have to master this acitvity. During the descent focus is on the off-piste technique encountered in different type of snow.

Night & breakfast in the hotel Pointe Isabelle*** in Chamonix.

Day 2:

The famous Vallée Blanche  is on the program today. Taking the Aiguille du Midi cable car and walking down the ridge, we enjoy some off piste on the glacier until reaching the bottom of the Combe Maudite. Time to put our skins on to head toward the Helbronner Point and the col des Flambeaux for a 1h30 walk. The tremendous Combe de la Vierge will be our playing field of the day, skiing down the Vallée Noire to join the classic itinerary of the Vallée Blanche through the glacier du Tacul at the bottom of the refuge du Requin. This is an incredible day in the middle of the glacier, surrounded by seracs and by many famous peaks. We reach Chamonix by ski or train depending on the snow conditions. Night & breakfast in the hotel Pointe Isabelle*** in Chamonix.

Hours ascending: 2h

Daily altitude range covered: +300 m / -.

Day 3:

Time to put in practice the previous days lessons on ski touring. We'll hit the high mountains again on the  Aiguilles Rouges side. From the top of the Brevent cable car we’ll ski down the north side. We then put our skins on to reach the “lac Cornu” and the Col Cornu. From the top of the col we ski down to the valley through the slopes of the Brevent area. Another possibility is to go above the Flégère ski area and cross the two passes, "col des Crochues" and "col de Bérard" to finish our tour in the village of le Buet, from where we take the train to come back to Chamonix. It's a classic and beautifull tour in the Chamonix valley and depending on the group fitness we can also aim to the top of Mont Buet at 3000 m. Night & breakfast in the hotel Pointe Isabelle*** in Chamonix.

Hours walking : 5 / 7.

Daily altitude range covered: +1041m/ -1672m.

Day 4:

Back  again to the Grands Montets ski area for a beautiful day skiing and climbing the col du Passon (3050 m).This a very nice couloir, offering the occasion to use crampons and ice axe in order to secure the climb, carrying the skis on our backpacks. Depending the group physical ability we can skin up to the top of Tête Blanche (3429 m) admiring a wonderful scenery of high mountain peaks such as the Chardonnet north face. The run down to the Tour village is probably one of the most beautiful in the Chamonix valley, generally having legendary powder snow as it’s facing north. On this day we will cover some essential topics of ski touring such as route choice, navigation, crampons use on ski and boots etc...

Hours walking : 5 / 7.

Daily altitude range covered: +1030 m/ -2100 m.

Note and Extension:

If you want to add 2 more days skiing on this program for a full week skiing, please let us know as there are many off piste and ski touring possibilities around the Chamonix valley.

If you wish to do our "Haute route Chamonix to Zermatt" this program can be an excellent preparation to improve your technique and your fitness.

Possibility to keep on enjoying what you have learned with our Haute Route Chamonix-Zermatt, a mythical ski mountaineering course linking the two famous alpine capitals.

Fitness Level

This course is an introductory to ski mountaineering or an improvement if you already have a previous experience.

Consequently, to totally enjoy the course, you have to be fit, with stamina. You must be able to ski 5 to 6 hours a day on steep slopes (red and black).

Technical Level

Technically, you need to have a previous off-piste experience. You are happy cutting down all the pisted runs on the mountain, and you often wander off to the side of the pistes to sample deeper, messier snow. Yes, you get thrown off balance or miss your turns even now, but you handle it. You like the challenge of moguls and your are efficient on different snows (soft, icy, breakable crust).. Now, you want to go off-piste properly and to lay your own virgin tracks in the powder!

To resume, you are already a good skier, eager to start ski mountaineering.

You don’t need to have knowledge in rope management, crevasse rescue and glacier travel. Your guide will be here to teach you these different topics.

Guide

Our tours are led by highly qualified high mountain guides (state qualified), equipped with radios in case you need assistance. Our Guides are fluent in English and some are ski instructors as well.

Groups

5 to 8 persons.

Accommodation

Hotel*** Pointe Isabelle in Chamonix. Shared twin rooms between participants.
 

Meals

- Breakfast at the hotel.
- 4 packed lunch

Formalities

Passport and 1 identity photo for the ski pass.

Rendez-vous

In Chamonix day 1 in the morning ; will be confirmed by your guide day 0 late afternoon.

Chamonix Off piste & ski touring in 4 Days Pricing and Availability

Cost per person: €1690

The cost is based on a group of 5 to 8 people. If you are a private group, please contact us to discuss dates and prices.

GET IN TOUCH directly by e-mail or phone / whats app +33 6 95 04 23 02 as we have other different dates and program available.

The price includes:

• Organisation of the trip
• High mountain guide (state qualified) for 4 days
• 4 night B&B in shared twin room, 3* hotel in Chamonix "Pointe Isabelle", Day 0, 1, 2 & 3.
• 4 packed Lunch 
• Ski pass for 4 days in Chamonix Valley
• Local bus in Chamonix Valley
• Safety Equipment provided by guide (ropes, tranceiver, shovel, probe, harness)

The price does not include:

• Transport to Chamonix
• Additional snacks and drinks

• Dinner on days 0 to 4. and hotel day 4.
• Personal ski and equipment (touring skis and boots,etc...)
• Any unplanned additional expenses due to weather forecast, snow conditions, lack of fitness, etc
• Alpine insurance (rescue, medical fees & repatriation)