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Les Grands Montets Ski Area
| Les Grands Montets Ski Area Description |
Les Grand Montets is situated above Argentière and with over 1800 hectares, is the largest of the pisted skiing areas in the Chamonix valley. In comparison to linked ski-systems across the Alps, the Grand Montets area isn’t huge but the sheer number of combinations of possible descents both on and off piste combined with the consistent steepness and difficulty of its slopes is one of the reasons why Les Grands Montets is a favourite with many skiers and riders in the valley.
Les Grands Montets has a reputation for offering some of the hardest pistes in Europe, and this is a reputation fully justified. Don’t be put off though, there are still long, wide slopes that can be attempted by daring beginners that suit an advanced skier just as well. There’s usually a board/skier cross park built here but if that’s not your thing, then there are plenty of runs to get the blood flowing with the Bochard and Lavancher bowl both lots of fun.
Most of the area is above the tree line with large expanses of open terrain. The upper skiing areas are located on a glacier so you need to keep your wits about you when skiing there, but it is generally a fairly straight forward process to keep within the pisted markets and thereby avoiding danger.
Les Grands Montets can be very cold in the mornings and its shady northwesterly aspect at high altitude can mean that in mid winter it barely gets any sun until mid-afternoon. Later in the season Grands Montets starts to get more sun but it is generally the least sunny of all the areas but this can work to the skiers’ advantage as it means that conditions will often be well-preserved till May.
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last updated 25-Oct-2007 |
| Les Grands Montets On Piste |
Looming above Argentiere, the Grands Montets area is made up of several high altitude and north-facing bowls that make for good-quality snow from December through to May. Access to the pisted skiing area for Les Grand Montets is by either the Lognan cable car which departs from the main car park at Argentiere, or by the slow four-man chairlift to Plan Joran and either Tabe or Plan Roujon.
Personally we prefer the chair route (weather permitting); although it is considerably slower (and much colder as it’s usually shaded) it’s less of a squeeze as the queues are much fast flowing. It also offers a great ride up through the woods.
The Lognan area is where you need to be for access to the highest runs. From here you can take the Bochard gondola (2765m), the Herse chair (2595m), or even head straight for the very top on the main Grands Montets cable car (There’s an additional charge ‘per ride’ on this one however in 2006/07 access was complimentary with the Mont Blanc Unlimited pass). Traversing high into the Lavancher bowl and heading as far skiers-left as you cam opens up a huge area for you to enjoy.
If you have purchased a Mont Blanc Unlimited ski pass, or you have paid the additional fee to take you up the Grand Montets cable car to the very top then there are a couple of pistes runs that start from the lift station that are definitely worth checking out. The Point de Vue and Pylônes pistes passes close to the Argentiere glacier and gives great views over the area towards Mont Dolent (3823m). As a top tip if you decide to do this run it is best to go early morning as the light reflecting off the séracs is pretty impressive. These runs are marked on the piste map and controlled by the local ‘Security de Pistes’ however they are not groomed and therefore require a good technical standard of skiing. Both runs are also on an area classified as ‘high mountain glacial terrain’ so you need to make sure that you don’t stray from the piste markers unless you are appropriately equipped to do so.
The Marmottons area is accessed by taking either the Tabé or Plan Roujon chairlifts. This is the really the centre of the Grand Montet ski area and from here beginners can get their ski legs and perfect those wide carving turns or the more daring can dip off into the board park which is generally situated here. Around March, this becomes the location for the Boss de Bosses seasonnaire [somebody who works the ski season] competition.
If you are interested in hearing more about our off piste and skiing adventures we can, thanks to a recent bit of website development, now offer you some indication of which months (historically, at least!) have enjoyed bumper snowfall as we have now made our entire archive of Snow reports available for you to read online. Why not spend 5-10 minutes before you come out browsing through the reports to see what conditions were like in seasons gone by. Although we can't guarantee the same weather or conditions, at least you'll be able get a feel for what to expect and if nothing else, it’ll give you plenty reading in the interim until our snow reports kick off when the season starts!! |
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last updated 11-Mar-2008 |
| Les Grands Montets Off Piste |
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Les Grands Montets is always the first ski area in the valley to open and the last to close. Early in the season (December to early January) it’s often quite rocky off piste as it can take several metres of snow before there is a sufficient base. By mid to late January conditions are normally good as the base starts to build. Because the top of this skiing area is on glacial terrain, it can also take a while for the very top cable car to operate because the glacier has many open crevasses which take a while to become covered by the falling snow.
As well as the really obvious stuff between the pistes, there’s plenty more off piste in Chamonix within easy reach for just a little bit of effort. The lifts in the Grands Montets give access to endless exceptional steep and deep off piste powder and glacial terrain, but because it is so easy to get to from the lifts it can tend to get tracked out very quickly on a powder day.
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last updated 21-Nov-2007 |
| Les Grands Montets Steep & Long Vertical Descents |
For one of the best options head to the very top taking both cable cars up from Argentiere. From here there are two marked runs that you can take, either: Point de Vue, which heads around the back of Les Grands Montets and skirts by the side of the Argentiere glacier; or across to the front of Les Grands Montets on Pylones. These runs are graded black and are not bashed so can develop moguls if it hasn’t snowed for a while, coupled with the steep gradient they’re guaranteed to give you a good workout. If you fancy a slightly shorter version of this route you can stop at the cable car mid station at Lognan instead of going to the valley floor. However, it’s worth doing the full descent if you want to make the most out of these runs.
If you follow Point de Vue, you’ll have the bonus of some truly stunning scenery as the run takes you very close to the amazing seracs and crevasses on the ice falls of the Argentiere glacier; sometimes you’ll spot ice climbers going up these vertical walls. As the run briefly flattens out on its way back to Lognan take a right turn onto the red run Variante Hotel. If you are following the Pylones run at the front, just as you get to the top of the Herse chairlift, take a skier’s right onto the black run Blanchots (unbashed but marked) which leads to the Variante Hotel red run and the Chalet Refuge de Lognan.
You’ll notice the Chalet Refuge de Lognan (on old stone building that serves fantastically good lunches) on your right, just above the tree line. It’s a good place to stop to rest those weary legs, but if you’re feeling strong carry on down the Variante Hotel run, which is similarly unbashed and again can be home to huge moguls. This run through the trees leads onto the Pierre a Ric, which is the final run down to Argentiere. Pierre a Ric is normally well groomed and will allow you to let rip for the last part of the descent. When you reach the bottom you’ll have clocked up just over 2000 metres of vertical.
Another favourite of ours at Les Grands Montets when we want something steep and fast is the Chamois piste in the Combe de la Pendant. This run begins just off the top of the Bochard gondola; take a left after the top narrow section and head along the cat track and you’ll be standing at the top of the piste. What we love about this run is that it’s often pretty deserted and well groomed so you can really fly down it without too many distractions from other skiers and boarders. The run has one or two quite steep sections that can be a little icy so you’ll need to keep your wits about you. You may find a few moguled sections on this run too to keep you on your toes. Lower down you have two options, either: head under the bridge back to Plan Joran; or carry on in the Combe de la Pendant to Retour Pendant. If you do this run down to the bottom of the Retour Pendant chairlift you need to head onto the blue run Arolles, but if this is too flat for you then head straight down the off piste moguls that you’ll find between this zigzagging piste. If you head under the bridge, keep your speed up as this flat connecting section can leave you walking to the bridge if you don’t go full speed. All in all it’s not as long a descent as the one from the top of Les Grands Montets, but still it’s one the most testing runs in the valley! |
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last updated 3-Mar-2008 |
| Les Grands Montets in Bad Weather |
When it’s snowing heavily we head to the Dream Forest at Les Grands Montets, and with some fresh snow this place really lives up to its name! Here the trees help to give some definition and reduce the whiteout that normally accompanies heavy snowfall. This means we can ride some fantastic snow while everyone else is either indoors or struggling with visibility. Located in a triangle between the Retour Pendant and Plan Roujon chairlifts this hidden spot can require a short hike out along the cat track that joins the bottom stations of the two lifts, but it’s without doubt worth the effort to get access to some superb powder and tree runs. Mostly this area takes a while to get tracked out and because the short walk seems to deter many people it can have fresh powder days after a snowfall.
From the top of Retour Pendant we head straight down into the open to skier’s left of the blue Coqs piste then enter the wooded section. There are lots of rocks to drop here and with a fresh fall of snow they form the perfect pillow line, with each drop comes an explosion of powder. Lower down the trees become tighter requiring some commitment to turning accurately, although with a little searching it’s easy to find open sections where it’s possible to pull fast, sweeping turns. The gradient here is fairly steep in places, which means even in deep snow it’s difficult to bogged down. If you're in this area yourselves, unless you really know what you’re doing, be careful not to pass over the cat track (marked by a dotted black line on the lift map). If you do you’ll be in the animal wintering zone and some very avalanche-prone, steep couloirs heading down to the bottom of the valley. We then follow the cat track, and depending on how far we've traversed left or right decide whether to start hiking either to the Retour Pendant or Plan Roujon chair. After a few runs it’s easy to work out which one’s closer to reduce the amount of hiking. As this is off-piste, if you go, make sure you at least have a transceiver and shovel and know how to use them (see our Avalanche section).
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last updated 11-Mar-2008 |
| Les Grands Montets Backcountry Routes |
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Some of the world's best backcountry terrain is to be found in Chamonix, especially high up on the glaciers accessed from the Aiguille du Midi and Grands Montets cable cars (Argentiere). These offer kilometres of high mountain powder with even more if you like to hike for fresh lines.
There are several excellent guidebooks with descriptions of the many possible routes both within and beyond the lift areas. There are two published by Vamos called Mont-Blanc Ski tours (ISBN 2910672085) and Chamonix Hors pistes-Off piste (ISBN 2910672107); these books are bilingual, in English and French. An even more extensive guidebook with more difficult routes is Mont-Blanc et Aiguilles Rouges à ski (ISBN 2960025520), written by Anselme Baud and published by Nevicata; it’s only available in French but is worth struggling through even if your French isn’t so good as it gives very accurate descriptions and has good explanatory photos. But remember, in the backcountry there are many dangers not least from crevasses, seracs, cliffs and avalanches so you should always hire a mountain guide. If hiking isn’t your thing but you love powder then heli-skiing/boarding could be for you. Whilst helicopter drop-offs of this nature are illegal in France (as you land on National park), Chamonix is well located with plenty of companies offering heli-drops on the Mont-Blanc massif just over the border in either Switzerland or Italy.
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last updated 11-Mar-2008 |
| Les Grands Montets for Beginners |
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If you’re staying in Argentiere there’s the Les Chosalets beginners’ slope (1252m). You’ll find it at the lower end of Argentiere just up from the turning for the Grands Montets car park. From the Chosalets bus stop, walk uphill on the narrow lane through the houses to get to the slope. It’s surrounded by trees and has a small snack hut at the bottom of the lifts. It is served by two draglifts one very short and slow, one much longer and slightly faster. This north-facing shady area normally has good snow for those making their first turns. There are two slopes. One is very short and flat with its own draglift for those putting on skis or a board for the very first time. The adjacent slope is much longer and wider, and just as gentle lower down but steepens nearer the top making it a good slope for progressing on. From here you can see the Grands Montets cable car taking skiers up to the higher runs above, in no time you’ll be ready to ride it too. |
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last updated 11-Oct-2007 |
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