Chamonix off piste day by day itinerary
The program may be modified depending on conditions on the ground and the fitness level of the participants.
Day 0 :
Phone appointment with your guide for a program briefing, gear check, and to confirm the meeting time in the morning of day 1.
Your guide will bring the gear you may have requested from us on day 1.
Night at a 3* hotel in shared twin room on a bed & breakfast base. Dinner is at your charge.
Day 1 :
The “Grands Montets” is one of the most well-known off-piste skiing spots in the world, and today, you will discover the most beautiful off-piste runs either on the Argentière Glacier, the north face through the Pendant glacier or the Lavancher vale. Lunch in the mountains. For the upcoming 3 years the top cable car will be closed, offering us the opportunity to discover this famous spot with only a 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 techniques that you must have to master this activity. During the descent, the focus will be on the off-piste techniques in different types of snow.
Night & breakfast at the hotel Pointe Isabelle*** in Chamonix.

Day 2:
The famous Vallée Blanche is on the menu today. Taking the Aiguille du Midi cable car and walking down the ridge, we enjoy some off piste ski on the glacier until we reach the bottom of the Combe Maudite. Time to put our skins on to head towards the Helbronner spike and the Flambeaux mountain pass for a an hour-and-a-half-long hike. The tremendous Combe de la Vierge will be our playground for the day, skiing down the Vallée Noire to join the classic itinerary of the Vallée Blanche through the Tacul glacier at the bottom of the Requin hut. This is an incredible day in the heart of the glacier, surrounded by seracs and by many famous peaks. We reach Chamonix by ski or the Montenvers train depending on the snow conditions. Night & breakfast at the hotel Pointe Isabelle*** in Chamonix.
Time going up : 2 hours
Elevation gain/loss : +300 m / - 300 m

Day 3:
Time to put in practice the lessons from the previous days 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 will then put our skins on to reach the “lac Cornu” and the Cornu pass. From the top of the pass 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 beautiful tour in Chamonix valley ; depending on the group's shape and energy we can also aim to the top of Mont Buet at 3000 m. Night & breakfast at the hotel Pointe Isabelle*** in Chamonix.
Duration : 5 -7 hours
Elevation gain/loss : + 1041 m/ - 1672 m

Day 4:
Back to the Grands Montets ski area for a beautiful day skiing and climbing the Passon pass (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 on the group's physical ability, we may 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, usually featuring 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...
Duration : 5 - 7 hours
Elevation gain/loss : +1030 m / - 2100 m

Note and extensions :
If you want to add 2 more days to this program and make it a full week of skiing, please let us know as there are many off piste and ski touring possibilities around the Chamonix valley.
If you wish to tackle our "Haute-Route Chamonix to Zermatt", this program can be an excellent preparation to improve your technique and your fitness.
Keep on enjoying what you have learned with our Haute-Route Chamonix-Zermatt, a mythical ski mountaineering course linking the two famous alpine capital cities !