Read reviews of the best Chamonix activities
No trip to Chamonix should be complete without a visit to the legendary "Mer de Glace", the longest and arguably the most impressive glacier in the Chamonix valley.
Find loads of top tips and local insights in our Chamonix Sights Reviews.
So were back after a slight break from reporting. The snow has well and truely retreated, the first ramblers and mountain-bikers have been spotted, and we are in flip-flop mode. The weather over the last weeks has been somewhat unsettled and whilst the sun has been out this week it is only today that it has been really warm.
It's pretty much a given that a rainy weekend in Chamonix is better than a sunny weekend in the office. Maybe it was partly due to this fact that Sunday's triple-whammy French National Day, Climbing Competition and Beer Festival went off so well. Despite the damp, the firework display was excellent - hearing the explosions of rockets booming around the ampitheatre-like walls of the valley was incredible.
What can you do when it's such a beautiful day but you don't have enough time to go up the mountain? Go for a spin around the cross-country ski tracks in Chamonix!
There’s much more to Chamonix than skiing and snowboarding - there’s also a thriving arts scene with regular exhibitions, workshops, concerts and more.
It seems like we have a pattern forming in Chamonix. For every few days of outstanding sunshine, we get one day of rain as payment for those lovely conditions and on Tuesday afternoon we saw a spectacular amount of rain (and snow up high!) so much so it helped part of the Bossons glacier collapse causing a massive flood in the tunnel du Mont Blanc which has been closed due to this event.
Dragging myself out of bed at 4am and onto a bus at 5:30am goes against every fibre of my being, so there had to be a good reason for putting myself in this situation. Getting to the start line of the OCC is half the battle, in my opinion, so running 55km through the mountains would surely be a breeze after that.
More mixed weather in the valley but the sun is winning the battle over the less frequent showers which have mainly been occurring later on in the afternoon or evening. However this weekend it has been fairly overcast but with no rain, which has been a shame for the opening of Les Houches and made it not so good for the first bit of proper downhill mountain biking of the season.
All you could hear for the last month or so in Chamonix was the background whine of folks complaining about the never ending winter and how wet and cold it was, then, without warning, BAM, summer’s here and now everyone’s complaining it’s too hot.
After much anticipation, the lifts at Le Tour, Flegere and Brevent are finally open for the summer, a big hoorah to that! Add in a spell of incredibly good weather and you have the recipe for a great weekend, so a couple of us headed up with mountain bikes, full face helemts and all the armour to Le Tour to check out what the trails were like after a season of heavy snow.
There is some great weather around the valley at the moment, however it is a lot cooler as soon as the sun goes away and it's beginning to feel a lot like Autumn has arrived. A few more lifts closed this weekend and the last of the main lifts will close this weekend at Les Houches and Flegere.
Well we had another large downpour on Friday with an amazing thunderstorm, and I would recommend coming out to Chamonix just to see one of these storms; much more dramatic when you see bolts of lightning hit the top of the mountain and roar of thunder echo endlessly down the valley, truly outstanding!
Another mixed few days weather wise here in Chamonix but swinging more towards the sunnier side of mixed, with some storms passing through in the afternoon chucking down a lot of rain. The valley is becoming busier as we get closer to the official summer season when the lifts will open, bringing many outdoor enthusiasts here.
More amazing sunny days in Chamonix, with temperatures as high as they have been, the lakes have really started to warm up so it has been a great opportunity to go for a swim and chill out for a day at Lac de Passy. The lake is about a 20minute drive out of the Chamonix valley, has free parking (out of high season) and free to use BBQ's, just bring some coal, meat and some swimwear!
The activities kicked off this weekend with a half-day rock climbing initiation at Les Gaillands. Located on the road between Chamonix town centre and les Bossons, this is a really popular spot with people of all levels and we were put at ease by all the families seeming to have no problems with the climb. The area has a small buvette selling drinks and snacks and there's a very laid back feel with people sunbathing and spectating on the grass below the rock face.
This winter has got off to one of the best starts of the past few years, a week of heavy snow and low cloud has given way to blue skies and fresh powder. Yesterday brought us perfect conditions to get our ski legs back in shape with a mountain skills session hosted by Arc'teryx.
It's not all blue skies, green pastures and snowy peaks up here in Haute Savoie country. Sometimes, for instance, the skies are grey. And sometimes, god forbid, it rains.
This time last year it wasn’t possible to get out on many of the trails. Even in May there was still deep snow and it had been dumping down to the valley floor. What a different story this year where the snow is melting so fast that each day the situation is changing.
I'm often told that one of the most important aspects of long-distance running is nutrition, so I've been paying particular attention to pre and post marathon dining this week. Not that I ran this year, but I felt that I could best show my support by carb-loading before and replacing vital calories afterwards. I'm sure my running friends greatly appreciated my input...