A proper welcome back for World Cup Climbing Chamonix style!

The Chamonix leg of the World Cup Climbing tour is back in full effect for 2022 from the 8th to the 10th July! After the rather particular circumstances of the 2021 series (thanks, COVID!), this year, the doors are wide-open, giving spectators access to the all the action, animations, events and sports village – for FREE! Yay!

Chamonix World Cup Climbing – where it happens

The world’s best competition climbers will be back at the Place du Mont Blanc (the big square by the Alpina hotel) for the difficulty and speed events (or ‘lead & speed’ as it’s known in the sports climbing community!).

The Chamonix stop is one of just 12 in the 2022 World Cup series. With other stops as far afield as Jakarta and Japan, this really is a key event for the sporting calendar in Chamonix.

Official World Cup Climbing event series

Organised by Chamonix Sports and overseen by the IFSC (the International Federation of Sport Climbing), it’s an incredible event, with the majestic mountains as the backdrop. Just take a look at those super-high, super-technical climbing walls built just for this competition. There are some seriously tricky overhangs, And as for the speed climbers? Blink and you miss them, as they make that final arm stretch to hit the buzzer at the top.

The world’s best climbers…and more!

And it’s not just about climbing. There will be films on the big screen, events, entertainment for all the family and the world cup village to stroll around, with sports companies showing off their latest gear. Our highlight is the awards and closing ceremony on the Sunday night. It happens after night fall (around 22:30) and generally turns into a good old party!

When it happens

Here’s the full programme of then Chamonix World Cup Climbing competition as it stands:

Friday 8th July 2022

17:00-19:00 : Training World Cup speed climbing
19:00-21:00 : Qualifications World Cup speed climbing
21:00-21:00 : Films as featured at the Chamonix Film Festival on the big screen

Saturday 9th July 2022

10:00-17:00 : Qualifications World Cup difficulty (lead) climbing
19:30-20:00 : Films on the big scree
20:00-21:00 : Live music
21:00-22:00 : Finals of the World Cup speed climbing

Sunday 10th July 2022

10:00-12:30 : Semi-finals of the difficulty (lead) climbing
15:30-18:00 : Speed climbing wall open to all – come and have a go!
20:30-22:30 : World Cup difficulty (lead) finals

If you’re contemplating a summer trip out to Chamonix, early July is a great choice. All the lifts are open for the summer season and all the bars and restaurants are ready to welcome you, but you’ve haven’t yet got the numbers of holidaymakers Chamonix attracts once the school holidays properly kick off.

And of course, as always, we are here to get you to and from Geneva Airport to wherever you’re staying in the Chamonix valley or elsewhere, in comfort. We’re fully operational throughout the World Cup Climbing event, so book your Geneva to Chamonix shared or private transfer now!

All photos : IFSC / Chamonix Sports

Yes, it’s the news you have all been waiting for… the Arc’Teryx Alpine Academy is back, and not only that its celebrating its 10th Anniversary! Mountain Drop-offs are delighted to be involved in the alpine academy that unites the international alpine community over 4 days in our beloved Chamonix.

Taking place on the 1st – 4th July 2021 the Arc’Teryx Alpine Academy is an event where keen outdoor enthusiasts can advance their mountain skills amongst like-minded individuals through  good value guided clinics from some of the top guides and athletes in the world.

The Arc’Teryx Alpine Academy is an immersive and inspiring experience no matter your skill level, there is always something to learn and contribute to the community.

To find out more about the Academy and Chamonix click here.

See you in the mountains!!!

Summer Academy

Down, but not out! Like many of us the Arc’teryx Academy has had to adapt to the current Covid climate. Over three weekends they have a number of clinics and seminars running in the alpine capital of Chamonix to promote safe play and exploration in our beloved mountains. The selection of skill advancing clinics lead by world leading experts in disciplines of mountaineering, climbing and trail running will be running over the following weekends;

• July 24-26, 2020
• August 7-9, 2020
• September 11-13, 2020

To find out more or for booking options please visit Arc’teryx Alpine Academy or email alpineacademy@arcteryx.com

Ski Music Festivals

If you like your spring ski trip to coincide with great music, then there’s no shortage of destinations to choose from for 2020. Conditions across the Alps are looking great with lots of recent snowfall and lots more on the forecast. Better yet, Mountain Drop-offs can take you there!

Plan your time well and you could ski and party from now until the end of the season…

Alpe d’Huez 14-21 March 2020

First of the spring line-up is Tomorrowland Festival in Alpe d’Huez. A firm favourite with dance fans it’s line-up this year includes Armin van Buuren, Martin Garrix, Afrojack and Dimitri Vegas. Originally a summer event, it’s now a regular snow-based one with a range of packages available to cover concert tickets, lifts passes and accommodation.

Portes du Soleil 15-20 March 2020

Meanwhile, over in the Portes du Soleil there’s the week-long FREE open-air Rock the Pistes festival.  Straddling France and Switzerland it offers a mix of rock gigs up on the slopes, DJ sets as well as lots of gifs going on around the resort too. The only thing you need to access this massive party is your lift pass!

Avoriaz 21-28 March 2020

Andy C, Annie Mac and DJ Ez are topping the bill at this firm favourite in the Avoriaz calendar – Snowboxx.  There’s Apres, there’s the secret igloo the XX Club and the Downtown to choose from. Check out the full line up of DJ sets, terrace parties and club nights.

Chamonix 31 March – 5 April 2020

With an enduring promise to ski, party, repeat! Unlimited Festival is next up. A week-long extravaganza of electronica, it boasts gigs in iconic locations that include: the top station of the Aiguille du Midi lift, sunset at Plan Praz and the Skyway Monte Bianco in Courmayeur to name just three.

The A-Z of artists starts with Agoria and runs to Volvox via Laurent Garnier in a line-up too long to list. So, check out the full programme.  You can book everything you need for Unlimited Festival via their website – passes, accommodation and even your Mountain Drop-offs airport transfer complete with promo code.

Val Thorens – 10-13 April 2020

If jazz is more your style, then Jazz à Val Thorens is the festival for you. From midday until midnight this event includes live concerts, Apéro jazz sessions and Après-ski options too. Here are all the details.

Zermatt – 14-19 April 2020

If acoustic is your thing, then Zermatt Unplugged is the place to go. There’s music in Zermatt village as well as on the slopes and this year’s line up includes Dido, Ronnie Scott’s All Stars with Curtis Stigers and Gerard Depardieu. Music and the Matterhorn as a backdrop, what more could you want.

Tignes 21-23 April 2020

Three days of artists and DJs are promised for this year’s Live in Tignes event by Francofolies. Sun, ski and music in Tignes and what’s more it’s also completely FREE. This end of season special also comes complete with great offers on everything from accommodation to lift passes.

Related pages you may be interested in: Chamonix Transfers – Chamonix Restaurants On The Mountain – Geneva Transfers

When in Chamonix, Choose Cheese!

No trip to this area of France is complete without discovering the truly comforting delights of classic Savoyarde cookery. The Haute Savoie is famed for the multiple ways in which a mix of potatoes, cheese and bacon are served. This is comfort food at its very best and a must at the end of a cold day’s skiing in Chamonix.

Discover these classic cheese dishes

Raclette – essentially a hot cheese sharing platter, traditional raclette uses lait cru Savoyard cheese. This is participation food; you get to heat your cheese and pour the resulting molten loveliness over the potatoes that accompany it. Better yet, there will also be cured meat, crispy cornichons and pickled silverskin onions on offer too. Some serve it with a salad and others without

Tartiflette – in Tartiflette we trust, well certainly those who live in the Haute Savoie. Reblochon cheese is the crowning glory to this dish. A combination of onions, smoked lardons and potatoes (and some other variants depending on your chef) which is cooked in the oven. It’s all topped with a covering of Reblochon with the crust side up. The result is a rich potato dish into which the cheese has melted, complete with a crispy topping. It’s always served with a salad and we find wine’s great with it too!

Fondue – the most widely recognised of the cheese favourites, there’s more to this classic melting pot than the main ingredient alone. It needs wine, it needs care and, depending on your tastes, it might also need mushrooms. Depending on the restaurant, you’ll find fondue served with bread, cured meats and potatoes amongst other things.

Croziflette – another deep-dive into Reblochon loveliness, think Tartiflette but instead of potatoes, this oven-baked dish uses buckwheat ‘crozi’ pasta instead. It’s all just a matter of personal preference.

Croûte au Fromage – a delight from the oven, this cheesy offering includes French bread cooked with wine and cheese. Variants include cooked ham, mushrooms and even an egg on top.

Cheese-free Savoyarde Specialities

In most specialist Savoyarde restaurants, you’ll normally find some cheese-free regional specialities too, including:

Pierrade – fun food whichever way you come at this. A giant hot stone on which to cook your choice of beef, pork or chicken all served with baked potatoes and a variety of accompaniments.

Braserade – just like the Pierrade, but using the heat of a table-top barbeque rather than a stone.

For a truly local eating experience and all things cheese dining, then check out the following…

In central Chamonix chose from the La Calèche, Le Monchu, La Moraine, La Fer à Cheval, Le Sérac, Le Bivouac, La Tablée or Chez Constant.

Discover Restaurant La Robinson in the woods on the way to les Praz or Le Tremplin at the base of the ski jump in les Bossons. In Les Houches there’s Le Basilic or La Chavanne.

Related pages you may be interested in: Geneva to Chamonix Transfers – Best fast-food in town – Airport transfers Geneva 

UTMB®

The big week of the UTWT circuit everybody’s been waiting for is finally here! The UTMB®, one of the biggest events in trail running is taking place from 26th August – 1st September 2019 as well as TDS® and CCC®.

The UTMB® is one of the most iconic events in trail running. To do this race, it requires very good training and the ability to run in different weather conditions, including sometimes in high altitude.

Since the first edition, this race quickly became “the” race everybody wants to do. Therefore, it is now limited to 2 300 people.

Runners have 46h30 to finish this beautiful race of 170 km and 10 000 M+. Athletes run around the impressive Mont Blanc, the highest peak of the Alpes.

The big champions of the UTBM are the French François D’Haene and Xavier Thévenard and the Spanish Kilian Jornet. All three have won the UTMB three times already.

The title holder, Xavier, will be back this year to defend his title! But he has strong contenders such as Pau Capell, the UTWT world champion, the American Hayden Hawks and Tim Tollefson, who finished in third position in 2017. We will also see Robert Hajnal who finished second last year, Zach Miller, Marcin Swierc, Tom Owens, Diego Pazos, Andris Ronimoiss, Germain Grangier, Harry Jones, Janosch Kowalczyk and many more.

For the womens race, title holder is Francesca Canepa who will be returning this year to defend her title. And this year, Nuria Picas, who won the race in 2017 will be competing also. There will also be the impressive Courtney Dauwalter, the Chinese Miao Yao and Fuzhao Xiang, Mimmi Kotka, Katie Schide, Maite Maiora, Kaytlyn Gerbin, Kellie Emmerson, Magdalena Laczak, Fernanda Maciel, Sylvaine Cussot, Sally McRae and other great runners!

‍♂️ 170 km

️ 10 000 M+

Chamonix, France

August 30th

TDS®

The TDS® is a technical race. And this year, it becomes even more technical because some important changes have been made: it is now 145 km and 9 100 M+! A new TDS® awaits us!

The race starts at Courmayeur, in Italy, and finishes at Chamonix, in France. During the run, athletes will discover the beautiful landscapes of the Beaufortain.

For this new version of TDS, we are expecting the title older Audrey Tanguy, the Russian Dmitry Mityaev, who finished third last year. We will also see Tofol Castaner, fourth last year as well as Kathrin Götz, Thomas Evans, Jordi Gamito, Ernest Ausiro, Antoine Guillon and more.

‍♂️ 145 km

️ 9 100 M+

Courmayeur, Italy

August 28th

CCC®

The CCC® used to be called the “little sister of the UTMB®” but it’s now recognized as a unique race. The race uses a lot of different path of the “Grande Randonnée du Tour du Mont-Blanc”.

For this 101 km and 6 100 M+ race, athletes from different parts of the world will be present.

The Americans Cody Reed and Timothy Feriks will be there, as well as Jiasheng Shen and the Spanish Cristofer Clemente.
There will be a great panel of women athletes as well. Will be there : the Spanish Azara Garcia and Gemma Arenas, Lucinda Bartholomew, the American Kelly Wolf and Amanda Basham, Ajda Radinja and many more.

‍♂️ 101 km

️ 6 100 M+

Courmayeur, Italy

August 30th

Volvic launches a 8L bottle 100% recycled and recyclable*!

Concerned about the problem of plastic, our partner Volvic has launched a bottle of 8L 100% recycled and recyclable*! The brand has put in place a circular process to manufacture new 100% recyclable bottles from recycled bottles to avoid the overproduction of plastic. The new 8L bottle offers families a more environmentally friendly solution to take home the purity and unique taste of Volvic natural mineral water. Designed especially for families with young children, it is also easy to transport and compact when empty.
This new bottle perfectly illustrates Volvic’s desire to offer natural mineral water in formats adapted to each person and for all occasions of the day. Thanks to the experience of hydration combining respect for the environment and ease of use that it offers, the bottle Volvic 8L will certainly find its place in homes.
This practical and family format is available in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany.

* Except for the stopper and the tap: the Volvic teams are currently working on this

For more information, visit the UTMB website

Book your transfer to Chamonix for UTMB | Alpine Lakes