Explore Chamonix Valley France

Welcome to Chamonix France !

Join us for a week of day hikes above and near the Chaminox Valley, home of Mont Blanc.

Logistics:

We will be based in Chamonix, France the entire week.  We hike in the day above the valley and enjoy a group dinner in Chamonix each night.  For lunch we will either eat in a mountain refuge on the hike or pack a lunch. 

The hiking is free but you will need to cover ALL your costs.  All costs are paid by each hiker on their own.  The AOC and trip leader are not paying any costs. This is not an AOC paid event.

We will meet each morning at the downtown Chamonix train station with daypacks and then proceed via train, bus, or foot to the starting point of our hike.  At the end of each days hike we will return to the downtown Chamonix train station.  The order of day hikes may be changed based on weather each day.

The cost for lodging per room per night in Chamonix will range from $100 to $200.  Lodging can be booked online in advance using websites like booking.com, hotels.com, priceline, etc.  Advance lodging reservations are recommended.  I will be staying at the Langley Hotel Gustavia, located next to the downtown Chamonix train station. Please be aware of any cancellation/nonrefundable policies when hotel or airline reservations are made.

The cost for meals may range between $15 to $30.

The cost for transportation may be around $200 which includes the Mont Blanc multi-pass and transport to Italy and Switzerland.

Getting to Chamonix:

Fly to Geneva, Switzerland from mainland europe.

Take an alpy shuttle bus from the Geneva airport to your hotel in Chamonix.

Chamonix is connected to the France and Switzerland rail network which may be convenient if you are in the area.

You will need to arrive in Chamonix no later than Sunday evening, July 22.  Plan on departure no earlier than Sunday morning, July 29.

We will have multiple pre-trip meetings to discuss the trip and answer any questions.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  

Sunday July 22 - Chamonix arrivee

Arrive in Chamonix and check into your hotel.

If your room is not ready plan on leaving your luggage and  exploring Chamonix in the afternoon.  

One option is to take the cable car to Aiguille du Midi, high above the valley.

We will have a group welcome dinner in the city center to meet and discuss the weeks hikes.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Monday July 23 - Glacier Ice Cave & Balcony Trek

We will take the Montenvers incline train to visit the Grotte de Glace (ice cave) in the Mer de Glace glacier. 

Then we will hike the northern balcony route frome Montenvers to Plan de l'Aiguille, taking the gondola back to the valley floor or up to Aiguille du Midi depending on visibility.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  

Tuesday July 24 - Col de la Seigne Italy

We will take a bus to Courmayeur Italy and hike up to Col de la Seigne,  the mountain border between France and Italy (1700 feet up and down - 12 miles).

We will have dinner in Courmayeur Italy before taking the bus back to Chamonix from Courmayeur.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Wednesday July 25 - Col de Tricot

We will hike round trip from Les Houches to Refuge de Miage over the col de Tricot.

(4900 feet up, 4300 feet down - 14 miles).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday July 26 - Emosson Lake Switzerland

We will take a funicular to Emosson lake and then walk to the dinasaur tracks.

Friday July 27 - Lac Blanc

We will hike to Lac Blanc from the valley floor and back  (4500 feet vertical climb and down - 8 miles).  We have an option to take a chairlift part of the way down.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Saturday July 28 - Hikers Choice

The group will choose todays hike based on our newfound knowledge of the Chamonix Valley and our interests 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay another day and hike on your own or check out of your hotel, ending your trip. 

 Getting to Chamonix:

Fly to Geneva, Switzerland from mainland europe.

Take an alpy shuttle bus from the Geneva airport to your hotel in Chamonix.

Chamonix is connected to the France and Switzerland rail network which may be convienent if you are in the are.

The hiking is free but you will need to cover ALL your costs.  All costs are paid by each hiker on their own.  The AOC and trip leader are not paying any costs. This is not an AOC paid event.

This includes, but is not limited to,  transportation to/from Chaminox, hotel, meals, food, beverages, shopping, and transportation including airport transfers, buses, trains, chairlifts, mont blanc weekly multi-pass (valley lift pass). All local prices in France and Italy are in euros.

The Chamonix valley is a resort destination and prices are higher than in the rest of Europe.  International ATM's are available in Chamonix.

FITNESS LEVEL:

To participate in this event you must have an extremely high level of fitness since we will be hiking level D5 hikes 6-10 hours per day, at a high elevation, in the summer heat, with vertical gain and loss of up to 5000 thousand feet each day. We are hiking 6 straight days with no days off to recover. You should know with 100% certainty that you can complete these difficult hikes without any issues. If you have any doubts, this is probably not the trip for you.

You should be a person with a positive attitude who gets along easily with others in a group setting and goes with the flow.  You should be able to easily adapt to and overcome bad weather, bad hotel room, bad food, bad service and plan changes due to weather, trail closings, injury, emergencies, etc.