CHAMONIX SKIING PART TWO: SKIING EN PISTE & OFF

Les Hoches, above its namesake village, seems the local favorite either when the fog rolls in and the forest trails both beckon and challenge, or early in the season when frigid winds blast skiers off open slopes. Strong intermediates might try the Piste Verde (Green Run) where the Arberg Kandahar race finds skiers sailing 150 feet over the “goulet.” At a more modest pace this run with its 900 meters of vertical isn’t completely impossible.

Brévent gets my vote on cold, clear, calm days as most of the sunny runs in the area the locals call “the balcony” offer a wonderful view of Chamonix and Mont Blanc. Runs on the Planpraz Plateau average easy to intermediate, but if the snow’s quite perfect, I have go at the Charles Bozon black run and it’s 30 to 40 degree slopes to improse my friends at Lake Tahoe. I don’t tell them that it’s only a blue run in deep powder.

La Flégègere runs face south towards Mont Blanc and seems the warm choice for early season. By March its snow becomes varied and “interesting.” Locals check the temperature and time the melt for first light powder or mid-morning “slushy” runs. The gullies here are also a good place to sample off-piste skiing as they run along groomed trails that can be escape routes – see the note about guides.

Off-piste really defines French Alpine skiing. You need a guide – ski instructors can’t work off-piste – with all the skills of self-rescue American skiers discuss, but rarely master. Guides come in two flavors. La Maison de la Montagne next to the church on the plaza near the excellent tourism office (phone 33-50-53-00-88) runs mostly to local residents. The Association des Guides Independents (phone 33-50-53-27-05) sports more guides from areas outside Chamonix. All guides must go through the six-year Ecole Nationale du Ski Alpine and most guides also own extremely sophisticated mountaineering skills. Many climb in the Himalayas, organize trips to other continents, etc. The average $300 a day a guide charges is your best investment all year if you climb, ski or even hike. They’ve the skills and the local knowledge to take full advantage of the incredible local terrain.

Perhaps the best introduction to off-piste, and certainly the least technically demanding, is the 12 mile long run down from Aiguille du Midi that takes you under the Helbronner Telecabine on the Vallée Blanche glacier to

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