Chamonix or St Anton: two expert mountains, and only one of them is a town
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Chamonix and St Anton are where strong skiers go when they want a week that asks something of them. Of the 55 resorts we cover, St Anton has the most marked off piste itinerary and Chamonix the third most, and both have far more steep piste than most. In our data, St Anton is the closest match to Chamonix of any resort we cover. So the skiing is not really the question.
The question is what sits at the bottom of the lifts. Chamonix is a working town under Mont Blanc, with its ski areas strung out along a valley. St Anton is a ski village where the lifts join up across the Arlberg, with one of the loudest afternoons in the Alps. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Chamonix | St. Anton |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,035 m | 1,304 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 3,222 m, the Grands Montets | 2,799 m |
| Linked ski area | Separate areas along the valley, joined by bus and train rather than lift | The Arlberg, linked by lift to Lech and Zürs. Size not yet classified by us |
| Piste we measure around the village | 102.5 km | 155 km |
| Easy piste | 42 km green and blue, 41% of the piste | 66 km blue and easier, 42% of the piste |
| Black | 23 km | 24 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 44 km | 70 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 39% | 43% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 27% | 24% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 70% | 71% |
| Season | December to May | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Geneva | Innsbruck or Zurich |
Read across and St Anton wins most rows by a little, and the piste and itinerary rows by a lot. Chamonix wins two that matter: the height of the top, and the month of May.
Size: St Anton has more, and it all joins up
We measure 155 kilometres of piste around St Anton and 102.5 around Chamonix, about 53 kilometres more at St Anton on the same ruler, against 116 at a typical resort we cover. The Arlberg carries on by lift to Lech and Zürs, but we have not yet classified its size, so we compare on what we measure.
How the skiing joins up matters as much as the total. At St Anton you walk out to the lifts, Galzig, Gampen and Kapall connect above the village, and Rendl faces them across the valley. Chamonix is not one ski area. The Grands Montets sit above Argentière, Brévent and Flégère face Mont Blanc, Les Houches is down the valley and Balme is up at Le Tour, and you move between them on the free ski bus or the little valley train. Variety, yes. Lift to lift all week, no.
Off the piste, St Anton leads again: 70 kilometres of marked itinerary, 26 more than Chamonix's 44. Chamonix's is still the most of the 17 French resorts we cover, and it includes the Vallée Blanche, a glacier descent from the Aiguille du Midi that you ski with a mountain guide or not at all.
Altitude: Chamonix has the higher top, St Anton more of its skiing up high
St Anton's village sits at 1,304 metres, 269 above Chamonix's 1,035. At the top it flips. Our measured top of the skiing at Chamonix is 3,222 metres, on the Grands Montets, the joint second highest of the 17 French resorts we cover, against 2,799 at St Anton, a gap of 423 metres. The Aiguille du Midi cable car climbs higher still, but it is a mountaineering lift, and its top is not a piste.
42 km blue and easier 41%38 km red 37%23 km black 22%
66 km blue and easier 42%65 km red 42%24 km black 15%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Chamonix 44 km, St. Anton 70 km.
Look at where the piste actually sits and the picture evens out. St Anton has the larger share of its piste above every height line we measure, not only 1,800 metres. Chamonix's runs also reach further down: the lowest piste we measure there ends at 999 metres, against 1,282 at St Anton. So Chamonix has the high point, and St Anton has more of the week's skiing well clear of the valley.
St Anton is snow sure on our measure: 71 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,799 metres. At Chamonix it is 70 percent, with the piste reaching 3,222 metres, and there we would rather show you the figures than make the call. Nobody can promise snow, and on that line the two are level. Chamonix's edge is the calendar: its season runs into May, St Anton's ends in April.
The skiing: both steep, steep in different places
Both are expert mountains, and the measuring agrees. At St Anton, 43 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the joint second highest share of the 55 resorts we cover. At Chamonix it is 39 percent, joint sixth. A typical resort we cover has 26. France and Austria grade their runs differently, so this, not the colour on the map, is the fair test across the border.
42 km blue and easier 41%38 km red 37%23 km black 22%
66 km blue and easier 42%65 km red 42%24 km black 15%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Chamonix 44 km, St. Anton 70 km.
The measured gradients show where each keeps its steep. 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. St Anton's blacks average 34.1 percent, the eighth steepest of the 55, against 28.5 at Chamonix. Its blues are steeper too, 17.5 against 16.5. Black kilometres are close, 24 against 23, both in the top ten of the 55 resorts we cover.
Neither is generous at the easy end. Chamonix has 42 kilometres of green and blue, less than any of the 17 French resorts we cover bar one. St Anton has 66 kilometres of blue and easier, but only 24 percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent, one of the five smallest shares of the 55. Improvers get by on Les Houches and Balme at Chamonix, and on Nasserein and Rendl at St Anton, but neither is a place to learn in comfort.
Who each one actually suits
Chamonix suits strong skiers who want a town as well as a mountain, and groups where not everyone skis every day. A non skier has a real week here: the Aiguille du Midi cable car, the Montenvers railway up to the Mer de Glace, a pool and an ice rink, paragliding off Brévent for the brave. Families can split up by day, the strong skiers to the Grands Montets and the younger ones to Les Houches. The evenings are a town's, pubs and wine bars that go late, but you go home and change first. It suits a nervous first timer least.
St Anton suits confident skiers and groups of friends who want big days and loud afternoons. Mooserwirt and Krazy Kanguruh sit on the piste above the village, and the last run of the day goes past them on the way home. The village is compact and walkable, and the railway station is in it. Families do fine with a base in Nasserein or St Jakob, which are quieter, but the whole place leans towards strong skiers and a party.
The bit nobody tells you
At Chamonix, the reds are where it bites. They average 27.0 percent, the fifth steepest reds of the 55 resorts we cover, well above the 24.3 of a typical French red, and only a shade gentler than Chamonix's own blacks at 28.5. St Anton's reds average 25.8, steep too, but its blacks are a clear step up at 34.1.
So a confident intermediate who lives on red will find Chamonix's reds tougher than the label suggests, and its blacks not much tougher again. At St Anton the colours mean more: the reds are steep, and the blacks are where the real steep is. If someone in your group is solid on red and no further, that matters more than either resort's name.
So, which one
you want a real town under a big mountain, someone in the party will not ski every day, or you want the higher top, the Vallée Blanche with a guide and a season that runs into May. Also if Geneva is your airport.
the skiing is the whole point: the most marked off piste of any resort we cover, more steep piste from the door, everything joined by lift, and an afternoon that ends in a bar on the piste above the village.
It gives a group of good skiers more piste, more off piste and more of the steep, all of it linked. Chamonix is the right answer when the town and Mont Blanc are what you are going for.