Chamonix Activity Report: 10th September 2012

Fear not though, there is still plenty to do both up in the mountains and down in the valley. The Brevent/Flegere lifts are open until the end of next weekend, Bellevue in Les Houches doesn't close until the 23rd and the Montenvers train is open until 7th October (the Aiguille du Midi cablecar is always open except for a couple of weeks in November when it shuts down for pre-winter safety checks). See here for all lift opening/closing dates >>

We headed up Le Tour yesterday for one last hike before the lifts close; you can still hike up from the car park though, it only adds about another half-hour or so onto your time and isn't too steep. Once up there are a few trails that you can follow, either go for a gentle meander round the grazing pastures of the Col de Balme or slog it out up to the Aiguillette des Posettes - it's worth it for the incredible views you get from this rocky pinnacle. If you want to get up close to a glacier without having to get roped up and kitted out you can hike up to the Refuge Albert Premier, where the last part of the path takes you right alongside the jagged blue ice and scary bottomless crevasses of the Glacier du Tour. If you need a bit more motivation then the refuge also does splendid cakes...

The weather yesterday was perfect for hiking; hot and sunny with a cool, slightly autumnal breeze. The colours of the mountains are just starting to change now as the meadow flowers are dying off - bright green leaves and colourful petals are giving way to red berries and a deep rusty hazy carpet of pink and purple heather. Despite this, it's still warm enough for shorts and t-shirts and perfect weather for a picnic! If you're hiking of a weekend then squeeze in time on Saturday morning to head to the market and stock up on local cheeses and funny looking sausages to take up the mountain with you, they'll make your backpack smell a bit but it's all part of the authentic Alpine experience.

The Vallorcine/Le Tour end of the valley is a good option for hiking without lifts; there are the flat trails either side of the Col des Montets that take you on a short but very pretty amble around the foot of the Aiguille Rouges nature reserve. You can carry on from here along an easy path all the way to Le Buet, from where you can take a short hike up to the Cascade de Berard waterfall or continue on to the Refuge de Berard which is at the end of a very beautiful valley. Or you can hike from Le Buet on to Vallorcine, which is more or less flat all the way and takes you through tranquil meadows of grazing cows, strewn with massive boulders that tumbled down from the heavens once upon a time. This end of the valley is much narrower than the other end and so the mountains to either side seem much steeper and dramatic as they loom overhead.

The weather forecast for the rest of the week is looking quite good, warm and sunny for the next few days with the occassional thundery shower towards the end of the week, so get out there and make the most of the Brevent and Flegere lifts before they close. You can either walk from one lift station to the other in either direction, which is a beautiful scenic hike, or you can use them at the start/end points for hikes such as Brevent to/from Aiguillette des Houches or Flegere to/from Tre-le-Champ via Lac Blanc.

If you are staying in Chamonix this winter and are a fan of ice hockey then make sure you go to this Tuesday's game, not only will it be a great match between Chamonix and local rivals Morzine but it's also the last date that you can get a discounted season ticket - €120 instead of €150. If you're only here for this match then entry is €12 for adults and €10 for kids, the game kicks off (or whatever the ice hockey equivalent is) at 8:30pm.

All upcoming Chamonix events can be found on our What's On calendar