Chamonix

Balme 

This area is less well known for great freeriding as other areas in Chamonix, and as such some of the less obvious areas will survive being tracked out for longer. 

From the first chairlift you take once you get up to the area, you’ll spot plenty of nice easy gulleys and terrain directly under the Autannes chairlift, and it’s a similar experience across the whole of the front face of the area.

If you enjoy tree shredding, then head down the esserts pistes where you can fill your boots all the way back to the Vallorcine chair.

One of the classic runs to explore if you know what you’re doing is in the Combes de la Vormaine, which is accessed off the top of the Autannes chairlift. It's not obvious where to head, so you’ll need a guide or local to show you where to go, there’s a whole stack of chutes you can choose from, and it eventually ends up back at the beginner area of Vormaine 

Grand Montets

The Grand Montets area is recognised as the freeride jewel in Europe's freeride jewel of Chamonix, despite the fact that you can no longer access a large chunk of it. The Grand Montets cable-car has been out of action since a fire back in 2018, it is scheduled to be replaced but you won’t be able to access its 3275m peak until 2026.

There are stacks of terrain off the La Herese & Bochard lifts, but it does get ridden out very quickly, so you’ll need to get here quickly. You’ll find plenty of gulleys and drops in this area, but it does need a pretty decent base as it's very rocky underneath. From the top of the Bochard you can head into the Combe de la Pendant for something a little steeper, you can head into the woods a little towards the end but make sure you end up back on the retour pendant chair or you’re going to be a bit stuffed. If you’ve still got some energy in your legs then you can have quite a bit of fun off the side of the Pierre a Ric piste on your way back down to the base.

Brévent-Flégère

In the Flégère area accessed via Les Praz, you can endlessly lap the index chair and constantly find new lines. Pretty much everything is accessible on the main face and then head up the Trappe chair and do it all again. If you head further up the Floria t-bar then there is even more terrain to be had. Back on the Index chair, you can head the other way into Lachenal bowl for some serious steeps but just make sure you don’t miss the Evettes chair. There’s a small bit of fun to be had under the Trappe chair, the top bit isn’t steep enough but once under the trees there’s a bit of fun to be had.

In Brévent you’ll find some serious off-piste accessed via a short hike from the Bozon piste, but make sure you’re properly equipped and with others that know the routes before you head there.

Vallée Blanche

The Vallée Blanche is synonymous with Chamonix and has a justly reputation of a must do and probably the first thing anyone will ask you when you say you’ve been to Chamonix, especially if they’ve never been there themselves. 

It takes 4-6hrs, involves taking the Aiguille du Midi cable car ( additional cost unless you have the unlimited pass ), a few uphill sections and sphincter-testing ridge walk. Although the 20km descent isn't the most challenging of terrain, the surrounding ice and scenery are fantastic. The hardest part of it is the ever increasing number of steps, currently 500, to climb out at the end to Montenvers to get the train back to Chamonix. Occasionally if the snow gods are smiling at you, it might be possible to snowboard all the way back, but it's pretty rare these days. Although there is nothing stopping you from going on your own, it's wise to stump up for a guide as there are crevasses and dodgy ice bridges that might be the end of you. You’ll have no trouble getting a guide though, but to stop it being a procession, it's best to do it early on a weekday when it's less crowded.

Chamonix isn’t renowned for its man-made freestyle terrain, especially given how amazing its natural terrain is, but it does build a little. Balme has a park, called the summit park, located alongside the Col lift. It’s a bit questionable about their long term commitment to it, but up until 2022 it was well stocked with features and tended to come to life from mid-January.

Pistes in Chamonix really just exist to get you to the next freeriding spot, but having said that with 110km of pistes spread over the 4 main areas there should be enough variety to satisfy most, but probably not for a whole week. 

Most of the black runs are generally left unpisted, so do get very moguled. However the best known is the La Verte des Houches home to the Kandahar, a favorite on the FIS world cup tour.

Beginners are surprisingly well catered for in Chamonix. Each of the areas does have a dedicated beginner area, and you’ll also find some additional areas just for beginners.

The Planards ( www.planards.fr/en ) area is walkable from Chamonix and has a 2drag-lifts as well as a single chairlift, you pass the area when you take the train up to Montenvers to visit the Grotte de Glace. Day tickets cost 29euros for adults which compares to 67euros for a regular lift-pass at peak-time of the season.

At the foot of Le Tour, there is another dedicated beginner area called Vormaine ( www.lavormaine.com ). It has 4 drag-lifts which isn’t ideal for total beginners, but the gradients are super mellow, so should be okay, there’s also a short magic-carpet lift. A day pass here costs 23euros, the pistes are nice and wide and there’s even a small freestyle area.

The final dedicated beginner area is Le Savoy ski area, a short distance from the lift to the Brévent ski area. You can buy a dedicated pass for the day to this area for 22euros, or it is covered in the débutant soleil lift pass which is available only from a ticket office.

The Grand Montets area isn’t really known for its beginner terrain, but it does have a few beginner lifts servicing a small area, and some nice blues. Total beginners should probably head elsewhere though, as the only way to currently access it is via the Plan Joran gondola from the base, and then a blue piste connects you to them.

Balme is well suited to beginners with a little experience behind them. There is a good number of easy slopes, but it’s recommended to avoid the plan des Reines t-bar lift as its pretty lethal for newbies.

Flégère has an excellent beginner area located right at the top of the Flégère gondola from Les Praz. The beginner area has 2 main runs both super mellow. The top run has a narrow start but quickly opens out into a nice wide piste with a perfect gradient for first timers. The lower run has a slighter steeper start, but has a few basic boxes that you can get your first slide over. Between both runs is usually a small boardercross course as well. At the bottom of the beginners section is the modern Trappe chairlift that takes you back to the start again. The only slight issue with this area is some fast traffic from other riders, but they usually are good enough to give beginners plenty of space.