My 6th and final trip to the alps from my time living in London and after my trip to NZ, I had to leave it pretty late in the season to get it done, the prospect of a winter with no snowboarding was too difficult to contemplate. We based ourselves in Courmayeur on the Italian side which is much cheaper than staying in Chamonix with the added benefit of much better food and vibe. Time that should probably have been spent packing my life up, was instead filled with snow, espresso, tunnels and even some tree runs.
After a super early morning flight out of London, we arrived in time to get an afternoon in at Courmayeur, this is the top station gondola, looks like a soviet relic but it does the trick.
The next day the weather looked perfect, so we all piled into a bus (leaves from the Information Centre 45.791103, 6.970960) to take us through the Mont Blanc tunnel to Chamonix.
The trip was worth it as we were greeted with views like this, Chamonix’s terrain is pretty hard to beat too, even at this late stage of the season. The paraglider is just to the left of Aiguille du Midi and Mont Blanc (highest mountain in the Alps) is looking underwhelming two peaks to the right of that.
The beautiful town of Chamonix, I can see why so many outdoor enthusiasts choose to call this place home all year round.
I wouldn’t call this a traditional meal in the Alps but it certainly hit the spot, Chamonix craft beer to wash it down.
Blake and I broke from the crew and headed up Aiguille du Midi which involves several cable cars to get this view of the glacier des Bossons running down into the valley.
Summit at 3,850m. Crazy idea, but let’s put a building on top of this peak.
Room with a view.
The next day, back at Courmayeur the weather packed in but everyone was still stoked to be riding with a bit of fresh snow.
When the visibility packs in where do you go? The trees, with the selfie stick of course. Always some secret stashes to be found.
We took a gamble and chose to stay in Geneva on the way home to catch a super early morning Easyjet flight to be at work on Tuesday morning. Geneva is famous for watches, a lake and fondue, we did two of those. So much cheese.
As if to punish me for being so brazen, the Easyjet flight was cancelled for no apparent reason and we were forced to travel by train to Zurich where we worked for the day from an eye wateringly expensive cafe on tablets and phones before catching a Swiss Air flight back to London that evening. Thanks Easyjet, goodbye Alps!