The place
Chamonix held the first Winter Olympics in 1924, and its cable car to the Aiguille du Midi was the world's highest when it opened in 1955. In 2010 Antoine Montant, who founded speed riding with François Bon, flew down the Midi's north face and slid along the cable of the old Glaciers lift on the way, a first.
Is it legal? Banned from or near the Midi and Brévent lifts by municipal decree since 2021.
- 6exits to start
- 2more to find
- 9cross-country goals
- 3race tasks
The exits and launches
6 exits you know from the start. 2 more are out there for whoever walks the rim and looks.
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Aiguille du Midi
■■■■■The classic: off the summit rocks, over the Pèlerins and the Plan de l'Aiguille, 2,800 m down to the valley.
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Midi arête
■■■■■Out of the ice tunnel onto the arête, a few steps down the snow, and run it off the north side: the Pèlerins glacier, the Plan de l'Aiguille, the forest, the valley 2,700 m down.
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Plan de l'Aiguille
■■■■■The mid-station shoulder at 2,300 m: grass and scree to run, the forest below, the valley 1,200 m down.
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Planpraz
■■■■■The valley's main launch, by the Brévent lift's mid-station, 2,027 m (2,032), facing the Mont Blanc range.
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Plaine Joux
■■■■■Passy's drive-up launch, 1,404 m (1,360), due south, facing Mont Blanc: busy all year, afternoon thermals, not in a strong west wind.
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Varan
■■■■■Above Plaine Joux under the Aiguille de Varan, on open ground at 1,773 m, facing south over the Arve.
Cross-country goals
Planpraz to Argentière · Plaine Joux to the Brévent · Chamonix–Argentière–Chamonix · Planpraz to Varan · Planpraz to Col de Balme · Planpraz to Emosson (the Cheval Blanc) · Plaine Joux to Mont Joly · Planpraz to the Pointe Percée · The Chamonix triangle
