Where should you ski?

A useful holiday base when you want to learn in one area, then keep your first longer ski day on the same side of the mountain.

Getting there. By rail, arrive at Le Fayet, then take Le Valléen to town and L’Alpin to Le Bettex. Ride Bettex–Mont d’Arbois to the separate Marmottons practice area, with a covered carpet and drag lift.

Before you go. Le Fayet, Saint-Gervais town and Le Bettex are three different places. Match your hotel and lesson to the right one.

Choose this for a mountain learning area without making the ski descent to the village part of your first lessons.

Getting there. Make your morning route end at Solaise gondola on the village snow front. Olympique goes to a different mountain. Take Solaise gondola up to Pim Pam Poum’s dedicated carpet-served learning area.

Before you go. Ask the school which beginner pass and meeting point fit your lesson before buying a full-area pass.

Keep the first days small: repeat a familiar learning slope, stop nearby and leave the bigger mountain for another day.

Getting there. Use the village shuttle to Les Esserts and follow your school’s meeting instructions. Start on the practice carpet. The longer button-lift slope is a separate next step.

Before you go. Esserts is blue; Planards–Esserts is red. A similar name does not make them the same learning slope.

A learning option above town with Mont Blanc across the valley. It suits a trip planned around one specific ski area, rather than a tour of Chamonix’s separate mountains.

Getting there. Take Planpraz gondola, then Funi 2000 to Plateau 2000. The extra Brévent summit cable car is not part of this day. Use Plateau 2000’s green practice slopes with your instructor.

Before you go. The beginner fare has a lesson-proof condition. Confirm the pass with your school; Chamonix’s other learning areas have different access.

Start beside the village, around the ice rink and the village lifts. You can practise, stop for a break and finish on foot without a mountain descent.

Getting there. For a Swiss Ski School lesson, use its meeting-point map near the ice rink and Spielboden/Plattjen valley station. Adults, children and snowboard groups have different meeting spots.

Before you go. Ask for the Saas-Fee village-lift pass. Lessons and lift tickets are separate; your instructor can advise whether you need a wider pass later.

Practise beside the covered carpet lift in Les Bruyères and finish where you started.

Getting there. Use the separate learning area in Les Bruyères. The carpet and Bruyères 1 gondola are different starting points.

Before you go. The operator marks the Bruyères carpet as free. Confirm your school’s meeting place before travelling between quarters.