Chamonix & Courmayeur for adventurers (2024)

Considered by many – the best freeride resort in the world, Chamonix offers a lot and different activities. Personally I found the people to be a little uptight, so here some tips and information obtained throughout my stay in January of 2024.

Ski zones

Getting around with buses

Besides using a car, there are buses which are somewhat convenient at least for the nearby ski zones of Brevent, Flegere, Grant Montets, Les Houches and Le Tour (last two are 40mins drive from the Chamonix Sud (aka Gare Routiere). There are several and they differ by the number displayed above the bus’ front window:

Full bus network available in a PDF here.

The Skibus – SKI<N>

Those busses are free of charge with your lift pass:

  • SKI1 (Direct): Le prarion – Les Praz Flegere
  • SKI2 (Direct): Chamonix Sud – Grands Montets
  • SKI3 (Direct): Chamonix Sud – Le tour
  • SKI13: Plain St Jean – Le Prarion
  • SKI14: Le Brevent – Les Planards
  • SKI15: Le Grepon – Le Tour
  • SKI16: Le Prarion – Les Montquarts
  • SKI17: Le Brevent – Les Praz Flegere

The Chamo’nuit (night busses) – N<N> (working from 8:35am till 1:10am local time)

  • N1: Le Prarion – Chamonix Sud
  • N2: Chamonix Sud – Argentiere la Fis
  • N3: Argentiere la Fis – Barberine
  • N4: Les Houches Mairie – Servoz la Cote

Main lines (aka plain numbers displayed)

Lines 1 through 3 are the year-round busses.

5 through 12 are the Proxibus specifically to meet the needs of the hamlets (or nearby resorts)

Hold tight and be prepared for a bit of white-knuckle ride.

Places to eat & drink

La Vallee Blanche

Nearby sights

Skyway

Aguille Du Midi

Helpful tips

Lost Mont Blanc lift pass – Make sure you have a photo of your lift pass (front and back) in case you lose it. It can be re-issued for 28 EUR (3 EUR for the pass + 25 EUR tax) instead of buying a new one.

Helpful resources

Chamonix.net complimenting the „Chamonix“ mobile application (Android and iOS)

Mont Blanc Natural Resort – information for Ski areas and lift passes

YouTube ads uBlock Origin workaround

First step on how to get around „Ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube“ dialog?

Easiest solution for your browser (no matter the OS) is to use a verified extension like uBlock Origin available for:

Second step

Find the extension in the browser’s toolbar, click on it and select the settings icon at the bottom right of the pop-up dialog. Go to „My filters“ tab and paste the following code:

youtube.com##+js(set, yt.config_.openPopupConfig.supportedPopups.adBlockMessageViewModel, false)

youtube.com##+js(set, Object.prototype.adBlocksFound, 0)

youtube.com##+js(set, ytplayer.config.args.raw_player_response.adPlacements, [])

youtube.com##+js(set, Object.prototype.hasAllowedInstreamAd, true)

Click „Apply changes“

Filter credits: Followchain

How to disable hardware media control keys for your browser (Firefox or Chrome)

Lately it’s been really annoying that browsers integrate media controls. Especially if you are sharing screen at the work place, nobody cares if you are listening to Katy Perry or Tyler Cassidy

Firefox

  1. Open firefox
  2. Head to about:config
  3. Accept warning and look for media.hardwaremediakeys.enabled
  4. Set it false
  5. Restart the browser

Chrome

  1. Open Chrome
  2. In the address bar type-in chrome://flags/#hardware-media-key-handling
  3. Set it to „Disabled“
  4. Look for chrome://flags/#global-media-controls-cast-start-stop
  5. Set it to „Disabled“
  6. Restart the browser