Argentière or Chamonix: one valley, so choose your end of it
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Argentière and Chamonix are not really two resorts. They are two bases in one valley under Mont Blanc, on the same lift pass, with the same season, December to May, and the same airport, Geneva. Measured from the run geometry, the skiing around each even tops out at the same point, 3,222 metres.
So you are not choosing a ski area. You are choosing where to sleep, and which part of the valley's skiing you want closest to you: the serious skier's corner of the valley, or the real working town. The two are more different than one lift pass suggests. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Argentière | Chamonix |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,252 m | 1,035 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 3,222 m | 3,222 m, the same top |
| Linked ski area | On the same Mont Blanc pass as Chamonix | Separate areas along the valley, joined by bus and train; quoted at 170 km, not checked by us |
| Piste we measure around the village | 44 km | 102.5 km |
| Green and blue | 13.4 km, 30% of the piste | 41.7 km, 41% of the piste |
| Black | 14.7 km | 22.9 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 9 km | 44.3 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 59% | 39% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 17% | 27% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 83% | 70% |
| Season | December to May | December to May |
| Nearest airport | Geneva | Geneva |
One caution on reading it. Our measurements of the piste around each village overlap, because both reach the same top, so the two piste totals should not be added together.
The skiing: Argentière is the steepest piste we measure
Of the piste we measure around Argentière, 59 percent is steeper than one in four. That is the biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover. Chamonix is steep too, at 39 percent, joint sixth of the 55 we cover, but Argentière is in a league of its own. At the other end, only 17 percent of Argentière's piste is gentler than 15 percent, and only one of the 55 resorts we cover has less.
13 km green and blue 30%16 km red 37%15 km black 33%
42 km green and blue 41%38 km red 37%23 km black 22%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Argentière 9 km, Chamonix 44 km.
The gradients agree. They are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how the week feels rather than a verdict on any one run. Argentière's reds average 28.9 percent, the second steepest of the 55 resorts we cover; Chamonix's average 27.0, the fifth steepest. Both are well above the French average for a red, 24.3.
Both grade the French way, so the colour shares compare fairly. Argentière splits almost exactly into thirds: 30 percent easy, 37 red and 33 black. Chamonix is 41, 37 and 22. On our measure of how evenly a resort's piste divides between easy, red and black, Argentière is the most even of the 55 resorts we cover and Chamonix the second.
Size: Chamonix has more than twice the piste
Around Chamonix we measure 102.5 kilometres of piste, about 58 more than the 44 around Argentière. It has about 28 kilometres more green and blue, 41.7 against 13.4, and 8.2 more of black, 22.9 against 14.7.
The gap is widest off the piste. Chamonix has 44.3 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary, the most of the 17 French resorts we cover and the third most of the 55 we cover. Argentière has 9. The longest of Chamonix's is the Vallée Blanche, a glacier descent from the Aiguille du Midi to ski only with a qualified guide.
Chamonix's skiing comes as separate areas strung along the valley, joined by a free ski bus and a little train rather than by lifts: the Grands Montets, the highest; Brévent and Flégère, facing Mont Blanc; and the gentler Les Houches and Balme. The whole valley is quoted at 170 kilometres, a figure we have not checked. Whichever base you choose, the pass covers the lot.
Altitude: Argentière sits higher, the top is shared
Argentière's village is at 1,252 metres, 217 above Chamonix's 1,035. The top of the skiing is the same 3,222 metres at both, the Grands Montets. Chamonix's famous higher lift, the Aiguille du Midi, is a mountaineering cable car rather than the top of any piste.
In between, Argentière's piste sits higher. Of what we measure, 83 percent is at or above 1,800 metres against 70 percent at Chamonix, and 54 percent is above 2,000 metres against 43. Half of Argentière's piste is above 2,025 metres; half of Chamonix's is above 1,960.
Argentière passes our snow sure test comfortably. The test asks for more than half the piste at or above 1,800 metres and skiing that reaches 2,500, and 83 percent of Argentière's piste is above 1,800 metres, up to 3,222 metres, the fourth biggest share of the 17 French resorts we cover. Chamonix's piste reaches lower, to 999 metres against 1,059, and has 70 percent above 1,800 metres, up to the same 3,222 metre top. Nobody can promise snow in either.
Who each one actually suits
Argentière suits experts, off piste skiers and anyone who wants a quiet base. It is low key and serious, the serious skier's corner of the Chamonix valley, and its piste is the steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. A group of strong skiers who want to ski hard all day from a quiet base will be very happy there. A beginner has much less to work with.
Chamonix suits almost everyone else, and plenty of experts too. It is a real town under the biggest mountain in western Europe, with proper restaurants, Savoyard cooking, one of the liveliest nightlife scenes in the Alps, and a mountaineering culture you feel in every gear shop. Non skiers can ride the Aiguille du Midi, take the Montenvers railway up to the Mer de Glace, or simply enjoy the town. Families and improvers have Les Houches and Balme. Multi generational groups do well, with the strong skiers off to the steep areas by day and everyone back together for dinner. It hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1924, and it still feels like a place that takes mountains seriously.
The bit nobody tells you
Argentière's easy third is not that easy. On the map, 30 percent of its piste is green or blue, a respectable share. But that is only 13.4 kilometres, and only one of the 55 resorts we cover has less. And its blues average a gradient of 18.4 percent, the third steepest of the 55 resorts we cover, against 16.5 at Chamonix and a French average of 16.2.
So a confident intermediate based in Argentière will find even the blues ask something of them. A true beginner or a nervous improver will want to spend the week on the valley's gentler areas, Les Houches and Balme, rather than on the piste we measure around Argentière. If your group has one of those in it, book with that in mind.
So, which one
everyone in the group is a strong skier, the steepest piste we measure is the point of the trip, and you would rather have a quiet base than a big night out. Also if you want more of your skiing high.
the group is mixed, someone will not ski every day, you want the town, the food and the nightlife, or you want the most marked off piste of the French resorts we cover and the Vallée Blanche with a guide.
You are on the same pass and reach the same top either way, and Chamonix puts more of the valley's skiing around you, more of it gentle for those who need it, and a town that gives the whole group something to do. Argentière is the right answer for a group of experts who know exactly why they want it.