UCPA Chamonix — Hotel in Bonneville

This was my second trip with UCPA. I had a great experience with them in Tignes last year. Chamonix was a little different but still good. I loved Chamonix as a town and the multiple areas to ski. I have been quite spoilt elsewhere in that anywhere I have previously skied was more or less on the pistes. Chamonix is right down in the valley so you must get a bus to the different ski areas. UCPA were great as for the lesson days, private buses drop you and your group to the ski area. This takes a little getting used to and longer to get going as even when you arrive at destination you then take 1-2 lifts to get up to the powdery stuff but its fine. Some people grossly over or under exaggerate the time the bus takes. On the private bus as it is express it is 15-20 mins, on the public buses that have a few stops it takes a bit longer, if travelling at a peak time 30 mins max.||The other thing that I did differently was that I went on a specific solo holiday. Last year in Tignes I just picked a week and went along. I enjoyed the latter more. Being assigned a whats app group and feeling you have to link in with a certain group of people just wasn't really for me, I found I spent more time with the lovely girls from my room, some of whom had travelled alone and people from my ski instruction group. So if you are travelling alone UCPA is a fantastic place to go, but if a week that has a specific solo tour doesn't suit, don't panic, you'll be sure to meet other solo travellers whatever week you choose ( see next paragraph about hols).||You have to be aware of school holiday times in UK and France as UCPA is popular for school tours and you don't want to arrive up and be with a load of teenagers. I am 29 and find if you pick a week outside hols people are generally aged in the late twenties to late thirties bracket. Holidays are zoned in both France and UK so can span most of february/ March and or April depending on how late Easter is so just google this beforehand.||A few tips for getting the most out of your trip to Chamonix UCPA:||Do full-time instruction, you will get so much more out of it than half time or none. I am in the expert group as I have skied for years and I loved it, you can always do with a little tightening up on technique plus instructors are open to suggestions, we did alot of off piste and jumps!! :)|||Consider the Évasion package. You can take trips to Courmayer in Italy and ski in Switzerland.||Consider the l'aiguille de midi vallée blanche. For very competent skiers only. A guide is obligatory. Costs aprox 300 euro but will take up to 6 people so cost can be split. Takes a few hours. Watch videos to see level. Its serious enough.||Fly to Geneva, its super close!||Bring a plugboard, the centres rooms are quite dated and seriously lacking in power outlets.||Do the stretching classes in the evening!||Go to an ice hockey match. Chamonix's local team often have games in the sports centre (5-10 min walk from centre)||I am a skier so don't take my word for it but Chamonix and its surrounding areas was mainly skiers, very few boarders but perhaps that was justvthe week that...

This was my second trip with UCPA. I had a great experience with them in Tignes last year. Chamonix was a little different but still good. I loved Chamonix as a town and the multiple areas to ski. I have been quite spoilt elsewhere in that anywhere I have previously skied was more or less on the pistes. Chamonix is right down in the valley so you must get a bus to the different ski areas. UCPA were great as for the lesson days, private buses drop you and your group to the ski area. This takes a little getting used to and longer to get going as even when you arrive at destination you then take 1-2 lifts to get up to the powdery stuff but its fine. Some people grossly over or under exaggerate the time the bus takes. On the private bus as it is express it is 15-20 mins, on the public buses that have a few stops it takes a bit longer, if travelling at a peak time 30 mins max.||The other thing that I did differently was that I went on a specific solo holiday. Last year in Tignes I just picked a week and went along. I enjoyed the latter more. Being assigned a whats app group and feeling you have to link in with a certain group of people just wasn't really for me, I found I spent more time with the lovely girls from my room, some of whom had travelled alone and people from my ski instruction group. So if you are travelling alone UCPA is a fantastic place to go, but if a week that has a specific solo tour doesn't suit, don't panic, you'll be sure to meet other solo travellers whatever week you choose ( see next paragraph about hols).||You have to be aware of school holiday times in UK and France as UCPA is popular for school tours and you don't want to arrive up and be with a load of teenagers. I am 29 and find if you pick a week outside hols people are generally aged in the late twenties to late thirties bracket. Holidays are zoned in both France and UK so can span most of february/ March and or April depending on how late Easter is so just google this beforehand.||A few tips for getting the most out of your trip to Chamonix UCPA:||Do full-time instruction, you will get so much more out of it than half time or none. I am in the expert group as I have skied for years and I loved it, you can always do with a little tightening up on technique plus instructors are open to suggestions, we did alot of off piste and jumps!! :)|||Consider the Évasion package. You can take trips to Courmayer in Italy and ski in Switzerland.||Consider the l'aiguille de midi vallée blanche. For very competent skiers only. A guide is obligatory. Costs aprox 300 euro but will take up to 6 people so cost can be split. Takes a few hours. Watch videos to see level. Its serious enough.||Fly to Geneva, its super close!||Bring a plugboard, the centres rooms are quite dated and seriously lacking in power outlets.||Do the stretching classes in the evening!||Go to an ice hockey match. Chamonix's local team often have games in the sports centre (5-10 min walk from centre)||I am a skier so don't take my word for it but Chamonix and its surrounding areas was mainly skiers, very few boarders but perhaps that was justvthe week that...

This was the first time I had ever skied solo. I was pretty apprehensive about going on my own but after two years of lockdown I was so desperate to get to the mountains that I decided to take the plunge! It was honestly one of the best ski weeks I’ve ever had. It was so great to just focus on my skiing and meet likeminded people from around the world. |I did the ski touring trip which was challenging for sure but such an amazing experience. The views were breathtaking, the tuition great - I felt like I learned loads and the group was really friendly and supportive. |The centre itself is fairly basic but a good central location close to the rest of Chamonix. It’s really international and a mix of ages. It’s useful if you can speak some French as a lot of the holidaymakers are French speaking, but it’s not essential and the centre is used to catering for non-French speakers. There were people there from the UK, Sweden, USA, Israel, Germany and there were loads of solo travellers. I’m 39 and I was put in a room with women of similar ages who all spoke English. We got on really well and I’ve even stayed in touch with some of them. |I thought it was amazing value, with the instruction, kit and evening activities all organised on site and the team running it were friendly and knowledgeable. The food wasn’t fine dining but really decent for the price and the meal times were really sociable. You have to muck in a little bit E.g. sort your own bed out/ clear your plate after dinner, so if you’re looking for a fancy chalet this isn’t the trip for you. But if you’re happy with fairly simple living arrangements while you focus on skiing and socialising then this is a brilliant set up. I’ve already booked another UCPA trip for...