Once again, the CMB are offering early deals of up to 40% off a season pass, including Les Houches, Courmayeur and Verbier (with the full 4 valleys this year). So if you’re planning to go for three weeks, or more than one visit, it’s well worth doing, especially as it includes three days in a selection of other local areas like Megeve, St Gervais and Les Contamines.
It’s that time of year already! The Boss des Bosses is the biggest inter-resort mogul competition, with a great atmosphere and all the neon you can eat. Snowboards, telemarks, monoskis, anything goes….
Zermatt keeps on winning but Chamonix has a great team so we’ll be cheering them on. There are always some special guests, and we’re promised extra music this year with the fantastic local companyBlack Crows Skis sponsoring a weekend of live music. More on the Black Weekend as we hear it.
Snowfix coverage of last year’s event to give you an idea…
Once again the unfortunately named but hugely successful Talents Aiguilles will be held in Chamonix this January! Further details have yet to be announced but no doubt it will be the usual mix of good discounts in restaurants, bars and shops, free Vin Chaud on the mountain, parties and music, events from ice sculpture to snowshoe walks, free gear tests and most importantly of all, the free lift passes for every woman.The weather was superb last time, with thick snow on the first day giving way to perfect blue skies on the second – let’s hope for the same this year!More details will be announced on this site nearer the timehttp://www.talents-aiguilles.com/
The Russian Christmas falls on the 6th of January, and there will be a week of events with films, Russian Christmas dinners in restaurants including a special evening at Montenvers, a photo exhibition, slalom competition and more – should be lots of interesting things going on and I am especially looking forward to the food!
The Coupe du Monde d’Escalade sets up once again at Chamonix Sports centre – the last day of this coincides with the Chamonix Beer Festival opposite so it’s a great occasion! Watching these amazing climbers move over impossibly overhung faces is an incredible thing to see, the tension is enormous for both the elegance and strength of the”Difficulty” section and the intense acrobatics of the “Speed” section. Here’s a video from a couple of years ago to give you a flavour:
For 2008, the MBC will be hosting the Chamonix beer festival once again! The road will be closed for partying, beers and barbecueing of the legendary MBC burgers, with the party continuing outdoors until 2 am – then it’s all back to the MBC until 4am! This will also be the last day of the World Climbing Championships and the day before Bastille Day, so it should be a fantastic party….
We’ll be running the Mont Blanc Cross this year – 21 km of uphill – from Chamonix to Argentiere and then on to Brevent. I suspect we’ll be walking a lot of it but it’s a great spectacle – you can usually see the runners streaming along the track by the river, if you stand on the balcony of the chalet. It’s worth going for a walk along the course though, as there’s generally a good atmosphere, drinks and barbecues and so on.
The marathon runners take a long and amazingly scenic route around the Chamonix valley:
The course profile shows how much climbing there is for the 21km cross course –
Teams of resort workers from Chamonix, Zermatt, Val d’Isere, Meribel, Corchevel, Verbier, Engelberg, Val Thorens and for the first time in ten years, Verbier will settle who’s this years king of the bumps.
Always a brilliant event with DJs, barbecue and parties afterwards. Last year Zermatt took home the honours so Chamonix has something to prove for this year!
This freeride and freestyle contest for 12-18 year olds aims to encourage young skiers, with the prize of a contract with North Face on offer at the final. The freestyle will be held at the Grands Montets terrain park and should be spectacular viewing! Open to all, with entries taken the day before.