Chamonix or Verbier: the steeper mountain or the higher one
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Chamonix and Verbier are the two names people reach for when they say they want serious skiing. Both fly from Geneva, both have a reputation for off piste that arrives before you do, and both draw strong skiers from all over. On the face of it, this is a coin toss between France and Switzerland.
It is not, because the two are serious in quite different ways. Measured, one is far steeper on the piste and the other is higher at every point you check. So the real question is what your group skis when it is not following a guide, and whether you want a town or a scene in the evening. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Chamonix | Verbier |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,035 m | 1,500 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 3,222 m | 3,283 m |
| Linked ski area | Separate areas along the valley, joined by bus and train | The Four Valleys. The 410 km you see is the pass, not Verbier's skiing |
| Piste we measure around the village | 102.5 km | 97 km |
| Easy piste | 42 km green and blue, 41% of the piste | 39 km blue and easier, 40% of the piste |
| Black | 23 km | 11 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 44 km | 26 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 39% | 19% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 27% | 48% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 70% | 84% |
| Season | December to May | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Geneva | Geneva |
The rows that look level are the size and the easy kilometres. The rows that are nowhere near level are the steep ones, and they point the opposite way to most people's guess.
Altitude: Verbier is higher wherever you measure it
Verbier's village sits on its sunny shelf at 1,500 metres, 465 above Chamonix's 1,035 on the valley floor. Its skiing tops out a little higher as well, at 3,283 metres by our measure, the third highest of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, against 3,222 on Chamonix's Grands Montets. Chamonix's Aiguille du Midi cable car goes higher than either, but it is a mountaineering lift, not a piste.
The bigger difference is lower down. At Verbier, 84 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 3,283. At Chamonix it is 70 percent, with the piste up to 3,222 on the Grands Montets. Nobody can promise snow, but Verbier has more of its skiing well up the hill: 65 percent above 2,000 metres against 43. Its lowest piste ends at 1,529 metres. Chamonix's comes down to 999.
Chamonix gets one thing back. Its season runs into May, where Verbier's closes in April.
Size: the same on the ground, whatever you read
Ignore the big numbers. The 410 kilometres you will see next to Verbier is the Four Valleys lift pass, and Verbier's own domain is about 97 kilometres of piste by our measurement. We have not classified Chamonix's area either, so we measure the piste around the town: 102.5 kilometres, about 5 more. Both sit a little under the 116 of a typical resort we cover.
How it fits together is different. From Verbier the Médran gondola climbs to Les Ruinettes and Attelas and the mountain fans out from there, with the gentler, sunnier Savoleyres on the other side and the Four Valleys carrying on towards Nendaz, Veysonnaz and Thyon. Chamonix is a string of separate areas, the Grands Montets, Brévent and Flégère, Les Houches and Balme, joined by the free ski bus and the valley train rather than by lift.
Verbier also has the long runs. The longest piste we measure there is a red of 7.3 kilometres with 1,055 metres of vertical. Chamonix's longest is a 2.9 kilometre black.
The skiing: Chamonix is steep on the piste, Verbier is not
This is the row that surprises people. At Chamonix, 39 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 26 at a typical resort we cover. At Verbier it is 19 percent. Grade labels are set differently in France and Switzerland, so the measured steepness, not the colour on the map, is the fair comparison.
42 km blue and easier 41%38 km red 37%23 km black 22%
39 km blue and easier 40%48 km red 49%11 km black 11%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Chamonix 44 km, Verbier 26 km.
The gradients tell the same story. They are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so treat them as a guide to how the week feels rather than to any single run. Chamonix's reds average 27.0 percent, the fifth steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. Verbier's average 20.2. Chamonix also has 12 kilometres more black, 23 against 11. Where the two meet is the blacks themselves: they average 28.5 percent at Chamonix and 29.0 at Verbier, so Verbier's blacks are no softer. There are simply fewer of them.
Off the piste, Chamonix has the bigger marked total too: 44 kilometres of itinerary, the most of the 17 French resorts we cover, against Verbier's 26, which is still the second most of the 15 Swiss resorts. What none of our figures counts is Verbier's freeride beyond the markers: the couloirs along the Attelas ridge, the open faces above the treeline, and the Bec des Rosses, where the Freeride World Tour holds its finale. At both resorts, the best of it means a guide.
Who each one actually suits
Chamonix suits strong skiers who want the piste to be hard work as well as the off piste, and groups who like a real town at the end of the day. It is a place to be in, not only to ski from: the Aiguille du Midi and the Montenvers railway for anyone taking a day off, bars that go late, and the Vallée Blanche with a guide for the adventurous intermediate. It is a stretch for the nervous, and the bus between areas is part of the week.
Verbier suits groups who want big days, a lively evening and a mountain that looks after everyone in between. The après starts on the hill and carries on in the village into the small hours, and it is the more glamorous scene of the two. Families with older children do well, and younger ones spend their days on Savoleyres. Strong skiers get the most from it with a guide, because its edge is off the marked runs.
The bit nobody tells you
On the piste map, the easy ends look level: 42 kilometres of green and blue at Chamonix, 39 kilometres of blue and easier at Verbier, about 40 percent of each. On the ground they are not close. Verbier's blues average 11.5 percent, the gentlest of all 55 resorts we cover, against 16.5 at Chamonix. And 48 percent of Verbier's piste is gentler than 15 percent, the joint highest share of any resort we cover, level with Les Arcs, against 27 at Chamonix.
So the resort with the fierce name is the kinder one, and the nervous member of your group will feel it on day one. At Chamonix, the colours undersell the slope.
So, which one
your group skis well and wants the piste to test it: the steeper share, more black, more marked itinerary, a real town for the days off, a season into May and the shorter run from Geneva.
the group is mixed, the evenings matter as much as the skiing, or snow at altitude is your worry. Higher village, more of the piste above 1,800 metres, the gentlest blues of the 55 we cover, and a freeride name earned off the marked runs.
People weighing these two are usually there for the skiing, and on the steep share, the black and the itinerary, Chamonix gives more of it. Verbier is the right answer when not everyone in the party wants that, and in most groups somebody does not.