NEW SKI LINK! Chamonix - St Gervais | Le Valleen Gondola

[@simonorr594]

Definitely going to take a ride on this. thx. On the US East Coast it's already getting cold from the La Nina event in the Pacific. Lots of apples and the trees are turning early, plus the bears are out en force. In upstate NY on Sunday it won't be much above freezing in the am. Europe gets this weather too, so fingers crossed for skiing.

[@christianwestling2019]

Looks great. I like that the station on the top actully looks like a train station.

[@Sh1tfaceMagee-db3px]

Thanks for the review, this took me by utter surprise, seems like they were blessed by the planning & the geography to have minimised environmental damage very well, ..you may know what i'm going to ask next!? ...what's the word on the the meadow around planards area where the snow making type cement block sections were back in may / june ...seems like the right time to bug you on that one ;) as to what's going on.

[@chamonixskibum]

I honestly don't know, there has not been any announcements about it. They already had snow cannons there so I don't think it was that, plus they have done a serious amount of groundwork for what would presumably just need a single trench and water pipe. My guess is that it is some kind of slope stabilisation

[@Sh1tfaceMagee-db3px]

@@chamonixskibum which is far more than I knew before, I wish i'd taken some pics of the actual blocks (piping is piping) but that's how it go's, I did a google search to try & research the likelihood of suspicions being correct, but nothing obvious to link together, Itis still wait & see for a while longer (or email the mayor who never replies) which is why I have not as yet. I have never seen those snow makers nor snow blowers in operation at planards (in over 24 years) ..so am I just myopic or are they in essence a shut down area in essence, the whole planards thing as to why it is what it is but not seemingly actively used close to town for tots is (unless people can tell me otherwise) wasted, ..no-one ever pointed us to it back in the day when we had a gnomic sized person, nor today, so it seems to be a wasted resource as it stands, ..i'd enjoy someone correcting me there if i'm wrong, a potential crowd puller in a resort that isn't known for being particularly visiting kid friendly as to beginner access.

[@chamonixskibum]

@@Sh1tfaceMagee-db3px there is so much more they could do with planards but dont... bikepark in summer for starters, and tobbogan in winter... but that said it does get used for begginer lessons, allot. but mainly on the lower drag lifts. i guess by the time the kids are able to use the chairlift they get taken elsewhere. as for the snow cannons, they have used them at the start of every season i have been here (5 years), but inevitably most of that snow gets washed away again before january and they dont bother to try again.

[@Sh1tfaceMagee-db3px]

@@chamonixskibum pre covid we were generally in Cham or verbier for xmas, yet I never have yet seen any toddlers out there, took my own gnomic-person over to the summer grazing meadow below flegere / brevent lift to use the magic carpet there. obviously popular access & use.

[@philrunshills154]

Interesting video, looking forward to trying this new lift out this season. You mentioned that the train from Chamonix is free with a ski pass - are you sure about this? I've seen ticket inspectors telling people that the ski pass isn't valid on the train only on the bus. We have 'carte secondaires' which give us free travel on the train but only as far as Servos! I hope you're right and it would certainly make sense if they want to properly integrate the areas and discourage cars.

[@chamonixskibum]

Yes I am sure. But it is only valid between chamonix and le fayet. There is nothing to stop you saying you are going to le fayet and then jumping off in les houches of course, unless you plan on coming back and it's the same conductor... But you can't use it to go from argentiere to les bossons for example.

[@philrunshills154]

@chamonixskibum that's great, thanks for explaining. I can use my carte secondarie I to Chamonix then the ski pass on to le fayet. Looking forward to trying it out this winter- its slower than driving (especially with the 10 min stop in Chamonix) but much more relaxing than driving

[@anguscovoflyer95]

Is there a map somewhere that shows the path of both gondola stages?

[@chamonixskibum]

I don't think so yet, but it will definitely be on the new piste maps this winter. I'm sure if you Google it you could find something from the planning stage

[@anguscovoflyer95]

@@chamonixskibum im sorry another question. was there any point last ski season whereby the home runs of prevent and flegere were open?

[@chamonixskibum]

@@anguscovoflyer95 no i dont think so. they are very rarely 'open' as when there is actually snow there is avalanche risk... but you can usually ski them unpisted for a few weeks here and there

[@Benzknees]

This seems to open up the attraction of the resort, which I'm not sure is a good or bad thing! Too many powder hounds already. How long does it take to get from Cham to St.Gervais? Also, has the Grands Montets cable car been rebuilt yet? The fire very much diminished the attraction of Cham in my eyes.

[@chamonixskibum]

SG will still always be much quieter than chamonix. it will mostly be tourists and families making thew most of this i imagine, the diehard cham freeriders will still stick to cham on a powder day.

[@chamonixskibum]

and the new GM cable car is under construction, but it wont be finished for a couple of years i imagine. we locals have mixed feelings about this, as it was nice having the top of the mountain to ourselves! it was one of the few places 'in bounds' where you could still find powder after 10am!

[@Benzknees]

@@chamonixskibum - Haha, must be great without the crowds. But there's the odd run or two of couloirs either side of the glacier! And I can't believe it's going to have been 8yrs+ before the fire damage to the Grands Montets is finally made good. And I understand with similar v.annoying capacity constraints to the old top section.

[@anguscovoflyer95]

@@Benzknees I think it won’t open till the 2026/27 ski season

[@Benzknees]

@@anguscovoflyer95 - Okay, thanks. I'll be giving Cham a wide berth till I see it's definitely in place & running.

[@skifast1356]

The new lift is good to get up to SG village from Le Fayet and onto Bettex, but unless they re-vamp the old tele-cabin from Bettex to Freddy, there will simply be a bottle neck at Bettex, if it does attract more folk in. The mayor is however brilliantly progressive, with new lifts and infrastructure projects every year, so I am sure this will come. It will however be a shame if Saint Gervais gets over commercialised.

[@chamonixskibum]

@@skifast1356 I wouldn't be surprised if that was on the plans for next year. They have replaced the lower bettex, so why do that if they are not going to do the top?

[@Sh1tfaceMagee-db3px]

PS, more environmental videos please, having finally got our hands on a hire ev there is a lot to say about that set up in the immediate area, the chargers we used in cham & sallanches, plus the PET (personal electric transport) chargers for bikes & e-scooters is impressive, people need to pit stop & charge before going the last miles up the valley, crescendo at carrefour is great, good & cheap for a travel tired packed like sardines vehicle, ...worth stopping for the good coffee's, pudds & cheap bavette steaks done at lunchtime, ...it is & has been for a long time part of our routine, if you have a carrefour loyalty card the 22kWh charger is free for an hour, & considering (ioniq 6) the car we had, was set on level 2 motor regen from the brakes, a trip DOWN the valley from cham centre accrued enough power to get us back up the hill, 0 kWh expenditure, & the return to geneva where the hire ev had to have 80% upon return, we put 34kwh in the battery in Sallanches which did it nicely, (it does help that we are long term ev drivers & that car is very mileage efficient (just saying) But yes, more eco based area topics & project detail appreciated, I don't want to destroy the valley, merely revel in it.

[@simonorr594]

Thanks for this top tip!

[@riccardoct8692]

THIS REGION IS OVERCROWDED OVERTOURISTIC OVER DEVASTETED OVER BUILT 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮