Le Tour Domaine de Balme Skiing - Pistes of Chamonix

This is a great resort that caters well for beginners and intermediates as it has a large selection of wide blue pistes.

At the bottom of Le tour there is also a well equipped nursery slope which is great to start off on to gain your confidence if you are new to skiing or boarding. Click on La Vormaine for more information on this area. 

To get to Le Tour from Chamonix, you can either drive yourself, (if you have a car) and park in the large free car park that is situated at the base of the ski area, or can also take a frequent bus from the town centre that makes pick ups along the way including stops in Le Bois, Les Praz and Argentiere.

The buses are free in the valley with your ski pass. You can also take a train that stops in Vallocine, this is a picturesque journey through the mountains, which takes you directly onto the back side of Le Tour on the France/Swiss boarder.

The train is free with a carte d’hote and you should be able to pick up one of these cards where you are staying.

On a good weather day Le Tour is a great spot as it is always sunny and has some great views over the valley.

If the weather is bad its not the best area to visit as the area is so exposed it is really hard to see anything. For a beginner on a bad weather day, you would be ok at the bottom in the La Vormaine area, or if you would still like to ski a mountain, then head over to Les Houches where there are more tree lined runs.

If you are an experienced skier/ boarder then there is a lot of fun stuff to do in Le Tour, especially from the top of the Tete de Balme chairlift. There is plenty of off piste to be had on either the right or left of the piste. Both with some fun drops, natural kickers and lots of powder! Then head for what the locals call the ‘magic forest’ which is a skiers playground and full of powder even a week or so after the last snowfall! The route ends at the start of the Tete de Balme chair lift and is probably the place to go in Le Tour bad weather as you get protection from the trees.

There are a few good restaurants to choose from in Le Tour for lunch. They have two at the bottom which is a great place to meet for lunch if meeting up with friends and family who have different levels of skiing ability, (and can be less expensive than those up the mountain). The restaurants here are Le Pechu, which is a small, family run restaurant, serving some traditional Savoyard dishes. The other is a larger restaurant with a big sunny terrace over looking the nursery slope called La Olympique Hotel. At the top of the gondola in le Tour, there is a popular mid station restaurant called Chalet de Charamillon. This is a self service restaurant where you can get a hot meal or a snack and is another great meeting point with a large sunny terrace.

Over all Le Tour is a great area for families due to the fact that it is not as steep as its neighbour Le Grand Montets. It also has a great selection of Blues for all the family to enjoy. The large selection of off Piste also means that it is great fun for advanced skiers and boarders, and is an area best skied on a sunny day

La Tour Ski Pass Prices 2013/2014

Consecutive days	Reduced 04-15 & 65-74 Year olds	Adult
1 Day	€37.00	€43.50
2 Days	€70.60	€83.00
3 Days	€102.90	€121.00
4 Days	€136.00	€160.00
5 Days	€169.20	€199.00
6 Days	€185.30	€218.00