La Forêt February 21st, 2008
If looking at the soaring peaks surrounding Les Praz gives you a thirst to climb, there is no better place in the world than Chamonix. For those aspiring to routes like The Dru or the Aiguille Verte - “the Alpine summit that turns you from a climber into a true mountaineer”, Icicle Climbing can arrange flexible itineraries and guiding. For those who aren’t quite yet ready for those heights, they also offer climbing courses at all levels. In winter, there’s the exhilaration of ice climbing to try, too.
La Forêt February 5th, 2008
This is the piste map for Brevent and Flegere this year - click thumbnail for larger version. I hope you find it useful!
La Forêt December 13th, 2007
La Forêt November 2nd, 2007
The blazing colours of the Alpine sunsets are caused by the natural phenomena of Alpenglow.
La Forêt April 14th, 2007
The spectacular spike of the Aiguille du Dru , or Aiguilles des Drus, dominates the sky above Les Praz. Its 38 pitches are legendary amongst climbers and many routes are etched deep into mountaineering history.
Mountaineering information and some lovely photos of the Dru
Many of the hikes around the area give wonderful views of the mountain, and one of the loveliest is from the Montenvers railway, making it accessible to anyone.
La Forêt April 14th, 2007
The Téléphérique La Flégère takes you from the 1030 m altitude of the village to the 1900 m midstation. In winter it accesses the Flégère ski area, with sunny, south-facing slopes and a wide variety of pistes for all levels, with wonderful views of the Mer De Glace glacier.
Flegere also has excellent off-piste skiing and snowboarding, and it’s well worth getting a guide for the day to experience it at its best.
Real Time lift opening information from chamonix.com
In summer, the lift takes you to the start of beautiful mountain walks like the Lac Blanc and challenging mountain bike trails.
La Forêt April 14th, 2007
I keep meaning to try paragliding (the French is ‘parapente’). Chamonix Parapente is a paragliding school, open all year round for tandem flights, personalised courses, hikes and trips, FFVL affiliated. They’re based in Les Praz, in the same building as Mandrillon Sports.
La Forêt April 14th, 2007
Les Praz has its own train station on the route of the Mont-Blanc Express and the trains are modern, new and comfortable with huge picture windows so you can admire the scenery. They have plenty of room for skis etc, and large areas for mountain bikes. It’s one of the nicest ways to get around the valley.
They go at rather irregular times so check the Mont Blanc Express train timetable before you leave for the station, but are very reliable and almost always punctual.
The line goes from St. Gervais in France via Chamonix to Martigny in Switzerland and you could fill several days just exploring the villages along its beautiful route. It connects into the main networks of both France and Switzerland - there’s a fast train to Paris from St Gervais. The Swiss site is much better if you want to explore the rail connections further - SBB
Travel between Servoz and Vallorcine is free with the lift pass or Carte d’Hote (which you will normally be given on arrival).
If you don’t have either of these for any reason, or if you want to go further afield, you need to buy a ticket, which you can’t do at Les Praz as it’s not staffed - find the conductor and buy it on the train.
Mont Blanc Express train timetable (PDF)
Route of the Mont-Blanc Express:
Complete route with details of lifts etc along the way, from the timetable above.
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Swiss side, with connections
Very pretty map showing the Swiss side of the Mont Blanc Express (Les Praz isn’t marked on here for some reason) , and the St Bernard Express, from the rail company.
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