Planning a Trip to Chamonix, France Part 1 

Ski hut somewhere in Austrian Alps Photo courtesy Lisa Seaman

Let me tell you, planning an international ski vacation is not for the faint of heart. I don’t even have kids or a wife to worry about. But I do love to ski, and love even more skiing high quality conditions in beautiful, historic places. So I recently made the big decision to go to Chamonix, France for a very big deal trip. I hope it will not be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, but I am taking things seriously, and doing the best I can to work out every detail I can before I go. 

Chamonix has been on my wish list for at least 35 years, which is most of my life. You see, I don’t come from a skiing family. I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, not far from ski resorts, but not exactly a hotbed of skiing passion. I went on a school trip when I was 11 and fell in love with everything that was part of the deal of “going skiing”. Over the next couple years, I devoured everything skiing that I could find, and eventually came across some ski movies that showcased the French mountain town of Chamonix. 

High ridge in Austria/Italy Photo courtesy Lisa Seaman

Then came “Blizzard of Aahhhs” and a changing point in my life. Seeing Glen Plake, Scot Schmidt, and Mike Hattrup ski terrain so steep, that one fall in the wrong place, and yes, you could die, was everything me as a young athlete and adrenaline junkie could ever want. Rappelling from the bridge under the Aiguille du Midi tram, then skiing a 50º slope, (which really took me a while to truly understand how steep this was. Great cinematography by the way Stump and crew.), was everything I wanted out of life. 

Chamonix became my spirit animal for the next stages of my life. Onto the current time frame, and I’m going. But it wasn’t without inner turmoil and some stress. Even though I’m totally single, with no connections of any kind, not even a dog, I am 52 years old, and Type 1 Diabetic. Also going on this trip solo, which brings its own kind of stress. I don’t know anyone over there, and even though I make friends quickly, again, I’m 52, and just not into the things I was into when I was 22. But here I am. I did it, I bought the plane tickets, I’m going. 

Gotta earn your turns. Photo courtesy Lisa Seaman

This leads me to my next point of discussion: When to go, and when to purchase plane tickets? For someone like me, I want the best snow I can get, I’m not just going to ski the bunny slopes, take some Instagram shots and call it good. I’ve lived in Breckenridge, CO for over 25 years, I moved out here to ski. I traveled all over the American West and skied in Europe a few times. I’ve skied legendary blower pow in some of the best ski resorts and backcountry locations many times. I’ve also skied complete garbage and moved on to see another day. I am an Expert Plus skier and am comfortable in uncomfortable places. I’m just trying to give you a little idea of who I am, and what I want when I pay hard earned money to go on a ski vacation. I want the best. I also am completely aware that going to the central Alps, planning months ahead, might not be the best thing to gamble on. But hey, I’ve wanted to go my entire life, so I’m going. 

You gotta make the decision to go, and then when. Then start researching airfare and what’s the best for you. We’re all different, I’ve covered that, but I came up with late January/early February as the best time for me, and after a few weeks of looking, I found a killer deal on plane tickets to Geneva. GVA is the closest major airport to Chamonix, with quick and common transfers between the two locations. Yes, there are many choices for where to fly into, and how to get into Cham, but Geneva was the best for me. So I booked it. (If you must know, Denver > GVA, with 2 stops, one checked bag and one carry on (ski bag) was about $750. Deals come and go, this story is not about finding the absolute best, smoking deal. But do look around, you might be surprised. I bought about three months in advance.)

Skiing, my happy place. Photo courtesy Lisa Seaman