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Why Chamonix's "Boring" Resort is Actually Its Best · Phil and H Travel - Is It Worth It? Top Travel Destinations Explored!

• 0:00
  Welcome back to the deep dive. Today we are heading to the
• 0:02
  French Alps, but I want to start with a bit of a mental exercise.
• 0:05
  When I say Shamoni, what is the immediate image that pops into
• 0:09
  your head? Intimidation.
• 0:12
  Honestly, a healthy dose of fear.
• 0:14
  You picture the Aguil de Medi, that needle of rock just
• 0:17
  piercing the sky at what, 3 to 800?
• 0:19
  Meters. Yeah, that crazy Spire.
• 0:20
  And you fix your guys in full gore Tex suits, harnesses, ice
• 0:23
  axes, ropes coiled over their shoulders, and they all look
• 0:27
  extremely serious. Right.
• 0:29
  It's the death defying capital of the world.
• 0:31
  It's where alpinism was born. It's steep, it's glaciated.
• 0:35
  And there's this palpable pressure to perform.
• 0:38
  You go there to prove something right.
• 0:40
  It's all about bragging rights. It is the ego capital of skiing,
• 0:43
  without a doubt. If you aren't scaring yourself,
• 0:45
  you aren't doing it right. At least that's the, you know,
• 0:47
  the prevailing narrative. Exactly.
• 0:50
  But today we are doing something completely different.
• 0:53
  We are turning our backs on the famous peaks, the harnesses and
• 0:57
  and all the bragging rights. We are looking at the resort
• 1:01
  that sits right at the entrance of that valley, the one that
• 1:05
  most of the hardcore crowd drives right past without a
• 1:07
  second glance. Oh yes, we're talking about
• 1:10
  lessees. So-called ugly duckling of the
• 1:12
  Shamani Valley. That's the reputation, isn't it?
• 1:15
  It's often dismissed as a, you know, a low altitude family
• 1:18
  hill, the place you go to teach your toddler to do a pizza plow,
• 1:22
  not where you go to shred, right?
• 1:25
  So the central tension we're exploring today is why?
• 1:28
  Why would a serious skier, someone who wants deep powder
• 1:31
  and adrenaline, waste their time here?
• 1:33
  Because skiing doesn't happen on a spreadsheet or an Instagram
• 1:36
  feed. It happens in the real world
• 1:38
  where weather exists. And if you talk to the locals, I
• 1:41
  mean the mountain guides, the seasonnaires who've lived there
• 1:42
  for 20 years, they don't look at less OSHA as an ugly duckling at
• 1:46
  all. What do they see it as?
• 1:48
  They look at it as a strategic reserve.
• 1:50
  A strategic reserve. I like that phrasing.
• 1:52
  So this isn't just a travel review.
• 1:54
  We're really analyzing a storm strategy.
• 1:56
  We're trying to figure out if this place is a secret weapon
• 1:59
  for when the rest of the valley fails, or if it's just a trap
• 2:03
  where you'll be bored out of your mind skiing Rolling
• 2:06
  Meadows. And to do that we have to look
• 2:08
  at the logistics, the meteorology and the economics in
• 2:12
  a way most travel guides just they don't because there is a
• 2:16
  way to do less hushes that saves you a fortune and gets you the
• 2:19
  best know of your life. And the other way.
• 2:20
  And there is a way to do it where you end up walking three
• 2:23
  miles in ski boots, carrying your gear, miserable and wet,
• 2:27
  and wondering why you didn't just go to Colorado.
• 2:29
  OK, so we're going to cover those specific traps, the ski
• 2:32
  and ski outline, the bus system nightmare and the safety risks
• 2:36
  that are actually quite unique to this specific mountain.
• 2:39
  Well, let's start with the context.
• 2:41
  To understand why Les Hochs even matters, we have to understand
• 2:44
  the problem with the rest of Shimoni.
• 2:46
  Why are the big names like Grands, Montez or Brevant such a
• 2:50
  logistical headache in January and February?
• 2:52
  It all comes down to geography and, well, physics.
• 2:56
  The Shimoni Galley is a deep V shape.
• 2:59
  The famous resorts, the ones you see in all the movies, are what
• 3:01
  we call high Alpine. They sit way, way up in the sky,
• 3:05
  well above the tree line. How high are we talking?
• 3:08
  Gromonte goes up to nearly 3300 meters.
• 3:12
  It is stark, beautiful and completely exposed.
• 3:16
  In January and February are the peak storm months for the Alps.
• 3:19
  Correct. You get these massive low
• 3:21
  pressure systems rolling off the Atlantic Ocean.
• 3:23
  They travel across France and they just they slam into the
• 3:26
  Alps because the Mont Blanc Bass if is the highest barrier in
• 3:29
  Western Europe. It acts like a wall that catches
• 3:32
  everything. So when you say storm, we aren't
• 3:34
  just talking about lovely falling snowflakes and, you
• 3:37
  know, hot cocoa weather. No, no, we're talking about
• 3:39
  wind, violent wind. We regularly see gusts of a
• 3:42
  hundred, 120, even 150 kilometers per hour at the
• 3:45
  summit stations. When that happens, the lift
• 3:48
  operators have zero choice. They shut it down.
• 3:51
  They go on wind hold. Explain wind hold for someone
• 3:53
  who hasn't been stuck in it. Is it just like it?
• 3:55
  Over the top safety precaution. Not at all.
• 3:58
  It's physics. The cable cars, the big trams,
• 4:01
  are suspended on these massive cables.
• 4:03
  If the wind is too high, the cabin starts to swing like a
• 4:06
  pendulum. Exactly.
• 4:07
  And if it swings too much, it can hit the pylon, that is.
• 4:10
  That's a catastrophic event. So they shut down the top lifts.
• 4:14
  They absolutely. Have to.
• 4:14
  And then there's the visibility issue.
• 4:16
  Right. If you are above the tree line
• 4:18
  in a storm, you are inside a ping pong ball.
• 4:22
  I mean white sky, white ground. You get Vertigo because your
• 4:24
  eyes have no reference point. You don't know if you're moving
• 4:27
  or standing still. You literally cannot tell which
• 4:29
  way is down. It's incredibly disorienting.
• 4:32
  So picture the scene. You've spent thousands on this
• 4:35
  trip. It's Tuesday morning.
• 4:36
  It's dumping snow. You're excited.
• 4:38
  You get to the lift station at Grand the Montez.
• 4:40
  And the lights are red closed, or even worse, they only open
• 4:45
  the very bottom left, which is usually just a tiny beginner
• 4:48
  chair that goes nowhere. Now imagine 15,000 skiers in the
• 4:52
  valley all trying to funnel in to the 20% of terrain that is
• 4:56
  actually open. It becomes a mosh pit.
• 4:58
  It's carnage. 2 hour lift lines are standard in that scenario.
• 5:02
  I've seen fights break out in the queue.
• 5:04
  Seriously. Yeah, people get very tense.
• 5:06
  And that fresh snow, everyone is chasing that beautiful powder.
• 5:10
  It's tracked out in 45 minutes. It turns into a mogul field
• 5:13
  instantly. It's a miserable, miserable,
• 5:16
  expensive experience. Enter the Les Houses solution.
• 5:19
  How is the geography different here and why does it solve this
• 5:22
  very specific problem? So Les Houses sits at the very
• 5:25
  entrance of the valley and crucially it is lower.
• 5:28
  The skiing is mostly between 1000 meters and 1900 meters, but
• 5:32
  the single most important factor is the vegetation.
• 5:36
  The trees. It is covered top to bottom in
• 5:38
  dense pine forests. So the trees are the technology
• 5:41
  here. They're the solution.
• 5:43
  The trees are your reference points.
• 5:44
  They're your safety net. When you're in a storm, the
• 5:47
  trees provide contrast. You can see the dark trunks
• 5:50
  against the white snow. That allows your brain to map
• 5:53
  the terrain. You can see the bumps, the
• 5:55
  hollows. You can actually ski with
• 5:57
  confidence because you can see where you are going.
• 5:59
  So while the cool kids are sitting in a cafe in Shamoni
• 6:02
  Doom scrolling on their phones and complaining about the wind
• 6:05
  hold, the people in less houses are actually skiing.
• 6:09
  They're having the time of their lives.
• 6:11
  Less houses, often the only place in the entire valley that
• 6:14
  stays fully open during a storm cycle.
• 6:17
  The wind doesn't shut down the lower drag lifts or the gondolas
• 6:20
  because they're protected by the forest.
• 6:22
  The wind just goes right over the top.
• 6:24
  But we have to manage expectations here.
• 6:26
  You aren't getting 45° spines or cliffs to jump off right?
• 6:30
  This isn't an extreme skiing movie location.
• 6:33
  No, absolutely not. If you go there expecting to
• 6:35
  film your next Red Bull segment, you will be disappointed.
• 6:39
  The terrain is it's rolling. Remember, historically this is
• 6:43
  ancient pasture land. For cows.
• 6:44
  For cows, exactly. It's bumpy, it's playful.
• 6:47
  Think of it like a natural skate park.
• 6:48
  May have snow, little pillows to jump off, weird little gullies,
• 6:52
  wind lips. It's fun, but it's not extreme.
• 6:55
  Narnia, like in the term I saw in one of the reviews.
• 6:58
  That feels evocative. It fits perfectly on a snowy
• 7:02
  day. It feels enclosed and magical.
• 7:04
  And here is the strategic kicker.
• 7:07
  Because the pros ignore it, the snow in the trees stays fresh.
• 7:11
  Oh, that's a great. Point in Grands Montes, the
• 7:13
  powder is gone by 9:30 AM. It's a feeding frenzy in
• 7:17
  Lahoushes because there are fewer people skiing off.
• 7:20
  Pissed. You could often find fresh lines
• 7:22
  at 2:00 in the afternoon. That's a massive difference in
• 7:25
  the quality of experience. You're trading vertical drop and
• 7:28
  steepness for snow quality and a lack of crowds.
• 7:31
  Precisely. It's a trade off.
• 7:32
  You are sacrificing adrenaline for joy on a bad weather day.
• 7:36
  It is the only winning move on the chess board.
• 7:38
  Let's talk about the vibe of the place because Shimani Town is,
• 7:41
  well, it's intense, it's busy, it's loud, it's full of traffic.
• 7:45
  It feels like a city. Shimani is a city in the
• 7:47
  mountains. It has rush hour.
• 7:49
  It smells of diesel, fondue, cheese and expensive perfume.
• 7:52
  It's high energy, high stress. It's.
• 7:55
  A complete sensory shift. The moment you get off the
• 7:58
  train, which by the way is barely a platform, just a slab
• 8:01
  of concrete near an underpass, the first thing you notice is
• 8:04
  the silence. Really that noticeable?
• 8:07
  Oh, absolutely. It's quiet and it smells
• 8:10
  different. It smells like wood smoke and
• 8:11
  pine needles. It feels more agricultural.
• 8:14
  Because it is. There are working farms right
• 8:17
  next to the ski chalets. You'll see a tractor driving
• 8:20
  down the road. It feels like a place where real
• 8:22
  people live, not just a tourist factory designed to extract your
• 8:26
  money as efficiently as possible.
• 8:28
  And the view is interesting, usually when you're right under
• 8:31
  a mountain and you can't really see it, you're too close.
• 8:33
  It's the front row at the Cinema Problem and Shawnee.
• 8:36
  You're craning your neck to see the summits, but Lahosha sits
• 8:40
  back a bit, just at the mouth of the valley.
• 8:43
  So you get the full picture. You have this panoramic
• 8:45
  widescreen view of the entire Mont Blanc massif.
• 8:49
  You see the Uggu Dumidi, the Dom de Gute Mont Blanc itself.
• 8:53
  It puts the whole valley into perspective.
• 8:55
  It's arguably the best view in the valley because you can truly
• 8:58
  see the scale of it all. But let's not romanticize the
• 9:00
  town layout too much. It's not exactly a cute
• 9:03
  gingerbread Swiss village with cobblestones, is it?
• 9:05
  No, and travelers need to know this so they aren't disappointed
• 9:09
  Lahauscha suffers from what urban planners call ribbon
• 9:12
  development. Meaning.
• 9:14
  The town just stretches along the main road for kilometers.
• 9:18
  There isn't really a compact walkable center with a square
• 9:21
  and a clock tower. It's very spread out.
• 9:23
  Which impacts the vibe. It doesn't have that, a press
• 9:26
  key buzz where everyone spills out into the street.
• 9:28
  Not at all. It's sleepy.
• 9:30
  You go there to ski and sleep, not to party.
• 9:33
  And the infrastructure on the mountain reflect that old school
• 9:37
  French vibe too. We're talking about the lifts.
• 9:39
  Oh yes, expect drag lifts. Lots of them.
• 9:43
  And these aren't the gentle button lifts you find on
• 9:44
  beginner slopes. These are the steep, jerky
• 9:47
  French tire fesses, which literally means butt pullers
• 9:52
  that launch you into the air at the start.
• 9:53
  So hard on snowboarders. If you are a snowboarder, you
• 9:56
  might find yourself coosing quite a bit.
• 9:58
  There are flat spots where you have to unstrap and skate.
• 10:01
  It's a workout. It's not the seamless heated
• 10:03
  seat bubble cover experience you get in, say, Austria.
• 10:07
  Not at all. It feels utilitarian.
• 10:09
  And then you have the Bellevue cable car.
• 10:11
  That thing is essentially an aerial cattle truck.
• 10:13
  It's vintage. And at the top you cross the
• 10:16
  tracks of the Tramway du Mont Blanc.
• 10:18
  It looks like a scene from the 1920s.
• 10:20
  It has charm, but it's not efficient.
• 10:23
  It's slow travel applied to skiing.
• 10:26
  If you are a type A personality and need high speed quads
• 10:29
  everywhere, you will hate it. If you can appreciate the
• 10:32
  nostalgia, it's lovely. Let's move on to the economics.
• 10:35
  This is where the strategy really pays off for the wallet.
• 10:37
  There is a specific trap with the Lyft passes that catches
• 10:41
  almost everyone, isn't there? This is the financial aha
• 10:44
  moment. This is huge.
• 10:46
  When you go to Shamoni, the marketing machine pushes you
• 10:48
  aggressively toward the Mont Blanc Unlimited.
• 10:51
  Pass the NBU. They all access pass.
• 10:54
  Right, they sell it as the ultimate freedom.
• 10:55
  What does that cover exactly? Everything.
• 10:57
  It covers all the Shamoni resorts, La Shouche at the top
• 11:01
  of the Ague Dumiti, sightseeing the train to the glacier, even
• 11:04
  over into Italy and Cormier. Sounds great.
• 11:07
  Costs about 75 to €80 a day. And people buy it because they
• 11:13
  have FOMO. They don't want to be limited.
• 11:15
  They think I've come all this way.
• 11:17
  I want to ski everything. Right, but here is the storm
• 11:20
  strategy. If you were going for a short
• 11:23
  trip, say a long weekend, and the forecast looks bad, do not
• 11:27
  buy the MBU. Why not walk us through the
• 11:30
  math? Because if the weather is bad,
• 11:33
  the high resorts that justify the MBU's price, grands, Montes,
• 11:37
  the MIDI cable car will be closed.
• 11:40
  You are paying a premium for access that doesn't physically
• 11:43
  exist that day. You are paying for a closed
• 11:46
  door. So what do you do in step?
• 11:48
  You buy the less house's local pass.
• 11:50
  It's roughly 50 to €55. You buy it day by day.
• 11:52
  You save about €25 per person per day.
• 11:55
  If you're a family of four, that's €100 a day.
• 11:58
  Over a four day weekend, that's €400.
• 12:00
  Exactly, that pays for all your lunches and dinners, and since
• 12:03
  less houches is likely the only place open anyway, you weren't
• 12:06
  missing out on anything. You're just not paying for
• 12:09
  clothes lifts. Now the caveat obviously is if
• 12:11
  you're there for a week. Yeah, if you're there for six or
• 12:13
  seven days, get the MBU. You will want to ski the big
• 12:17
  mountains when the sun finally comes out, but for a short
• 12:20
  stormy trip, the local pass is the smart play.
• 12:24
  It's a no brainer. What about accommodation?
• 12:27
  Is it actually cheaper or just less expensive?
• 12:30
  It is significantly cheaper than the tiny apartments in Chamoni.
• 12:34
  In Chamoni, you often pay a lot for what I call a shoebox, a 20
• 12:38
  square meter studio where the bed folds out of the wall and
• 12:40
  you can touch the stove from the shower.
• 12:42
  I know those places. We all do in Las Oshas.
• 12:44
  For the same price you can get a proper chalet apartment.
• 12:47
  We're talking 250 to €300 a night for four people.
• 12:52
  That's 75A head for a place with a living room and separate
• 12:56
  bedrooms. That brings us to food.
• 12:58
  I've heard rumors that the on mountain food in La Hoshes is
• 13:01
  surprisingly good, which is, you know, rare for a ski resort.
• 13:05
  It's one of the best kept secrets.
• 13:06
  The Shamani Valley generally is notorious for terrible,
• 13:09
  overpriced mountain food. It's a captive market.
• 13:13
  Any of the drill, €25 for spaghetti that tastes like
• 13:15
  cardboard and the lukewarm Coke served in a plastic tray.
• 13:18
  It's insulting, frankly. It is but endless houses.
• 13:21
  Remember those farms I mentioned?
• 13:22
  The restaurants are often converted farmhouses that have
• 13:25
  been in the same family for generations.
• 13:27
  They actually care about the food.
• 13:29
  Any specific names we should drop for the foodies?
• 13:32
  VA luge is the gold standard. It's an old farmhouse,
• 13:36
  incredibly cozy wood everywhere. You're eating Farson, which is
• 13:41
  this local potato dish with bacon, cream and dried fruit and
• 13:45
  great Rebelechon cheese. It costs about the same as the
• 13:48
  bad food elsewhere, maybe 20 to €25.00, but the quality is light
• 13:53
  years ahead. So you actually want to sit
• 13:55
  there for an hour? You don't want to leave and for
• 13:57
  dinner, since there isn't a big Town Center, where do people go?
• 14:00
  Good question. There's a spot called the Kitch
• 14:02
  Inn near the Bellevue Lift. It's British run, great burgers,
• 14:07
  local beers, live music. It captures the vibe of the
• 14:10
  place. It's completely unpretentious.
• 14:12
  That word unpretentious seems to be the theme here.
• 14:15
  It really is. You look around the room in less
• 14:17
  hooch and you see families, You see budget conscious groups of
• 14:20
  friends. You do not see the fur coat
• 14:22
  crowd you find in Korschevel or Meshev.
• 14:25
  No one is posing for photos with a magnet of champagne.
• 14:29
  It's just real. It's refreshing.
• 14:32
  However, we have to talk about the traps because if you go in
• 14:35
  blind thinking it's just a simpler resort, less uses can be
• 14:39
  a logistical nightmare. There are three big ones we need
• 14:42
  to flag. These are the things that ruin
• 14:43
  vacations if you are prepared. I call them the patients
• 14:46
  testers. OK, trap #1 the ski and seek out
• 14:50
  lie. Oh this is a classic Airbnb
• 14:53
  problem. You'll see listings claiming ski
• 14:55
  kill and ski kout. In LA sushis that term is used,
• 14:59
  let's just say, creatively. Define creative.
• 15:01
  Skiing might mean you can ski to within 500 meters of the house,
• 15:04
  but then you have to take your skis off, cross a muddy field,
• 15:06
  dodge tractor, cross a busy road, and maybe jump a fence.
• 15:10
  And doing that in ski boots is miserable.
• 15:12
  It's the comp of shame. And remember, Les Houches is on
• 15:16
  the side of a steep valley. The roads are icy and uphill.
• 15:20
  Walking a kilometer in ski boots there is a serious workout.
• 15:23
  It ruins the start and end of your day.
• 15:25
  So how do you avoid this trap? Don't trust the listing blindly.
• 15:30
  Open up a satellite map. Unless the place is literally on
• 15:33
  the allowed peast. It's the blue run that goes to
• 15:35
  the bottom or right next to the Pervigorian gondola.
• 15:38
  Just assume you are walking. And if you aren't right on the
• 15:41
  peast, what's the fix? Rental locker.
• 15:44
  There are heated lockers at the Pervarian List station.
• 15:47
  It's cheap. Leave your skis and boots there
• 15:49
  overnight. Walk to the lift in your
• 15:51
  comfortable sneakers. It changes your life.
• 15:53
  Trap #2 the bus system. I've heard horror stories about
• 15:57
  Line 1. This is the one that breaks
• 15:58
  people. On paper, the Chamonix bus
• 16:00
  system is great. It's free with your lift pass
• 16:03
  line. One runs the whole length of the
• 16:04
  valley, connecting less houses to the other resorts.
• 16:07
  Sounds perfect on paper. Being the operative phrase.
• 16:10
  In reality, between 8:30 and 9:30 in the morning, that bus is
• 16:14
  a rolling sardine can. It starts in less houses.
• 16:18
  By the time it gets to the third or fourth stop, it is full.
• 16:22
  Physically full. So the driver just drives past.
• 16:25
  He doesn't even slow down. I've seen families standing
• 16:28
  there in the freezing cold watching 3 buses in a row drive
• 16:31
  right past them without stopping.
• 16:33
  They're missing their ski lesson.
• 16:34
  The kids are crying, the parents are furious.
• 16:36
  It's incredibly stressful. So what is the strategy?
• 16:39
  If you stay in Lesausche, ski in Lesausche.
• 16:42
  That's the simple answer. Don't try to commute to Grand
• 16:45
  Montes every day on the bus. It's just too unreliable.
• 16:48
  If you must go to Shumani, there's another way.
• 16:50
  Take the train. It's slower, but it runs on a
• 16:52
  schedule and you will actually get on.
• 16:54
  It's the secret weapon for reliable transport.
• 16:56
  OK. Trap #3 the French lunch
• 16:58
  shutdown. This is a cultural quirk that
• 17:01
  catches Americans and Brits off guard constantly.
• 17:04
  You have to respect the lunch break in the US or UK.
• 17:07
  We expect commerce to happen 24/7 in rural France between
• 17:12
  12:30 PM and 2:30 PM. The world just It stops
• 17:18
  pharmacies, bakeries, grocery shops, hardware stores if you
• 17:22
  hurt your knee and the ibuprofen at 1:00 PM.
• 17:26
  Bad luck if you ran out of bread for sandwiches.
• 17:29
  Bad luck. The shopkeeper is eating lunch
• 17:32
  with their family, as they should.
• 17:33
  So plan your logistics. Do your shopping before noon or
• 17:36
  after 3:00 PM. Exactly, don't fight the
• 17:39
  culture, just adapt to it. It's actually quite nice once
• 17:42
  you get used to it. It forces you to slow down a
• 17:44
  bit. OK, let's get serious for a
• 17:45
  moment. We've talked a lot about less
• 17:47
  Houches being a family resort, which implies it's safe, it's
• 17:50
  gentle. There's a dark side to that
• 17:53
  assumption, isn't there? There is, and the danger
• 17:56
  actually comes from that assumption.
• 17:58
  It's a psychological trap. We call it complacency.
• 18:00
  Because it looks like a park, you treat it like a park.
• 18:03
  Right. You don't see the massive
• 18:04
  crevasses you see on the glaciers, so you let your guard
• 18:07
  down. You ski faster than you should,
• 18:09
  you pay less attention. But there are specific hazards
• 18:12
  here that will hurt you if you aren't paying attention.
• 18:15
  The first one is the summer farm factor.
• 18:17
  We mentioned the cows earlier. Right in the summer, these
• 18:20
  slopes are pastures To keep the cows in, farmers use fences,
• 18:25
  often barbed wire fences. And in winter?
• 18:28
  The fences stay there, they don't take them down, they just
• 18:30
  get buried. But here's the thing.
• 18:32
  In a low snow year or an early season, they might only be
• 18:36
  buried by 30 or 40 centimeters of snow just under the surface.
• 18:40
  That is a terrifying thought. It is, you see, a beautiful
• 18:44
  untouched field of powder between two pissed.
• 18:46
  It looks perfect. You think I'm going to RIP that?
• 18:49
  You dive in at speed. And your Steve finds the wire.
• 18:51
  Or your leg finds the wire. Yeah, I've heard horror stories
• 18:54
  of people ripping $1000 gore Tex pants or worse needing stitches
• 18:58
  because they snagged a bar while turning.
• 19:00
  It's the faux powder field trap. You have to know the terrain.
• 19:04
  If you see a line of fence post sticking out, assume there is
• 19:06
  wire connecting them under the snow.
• 19:08
  Do not cross it. Wow.
• 19:10
  OK. The second hazard is unique to
• 19:12
  the forest tree wells. This is basic physics, but
• 19:15
  people forget it. Pine trees have big dense
• 19:18
  branches that catch the snow. So the snow doesn't pile up
• 19:21
  tightly around the trunk, it piles up further out.
• 19:24
  This creates a hollow loose space right around the base of
• 19:28
  the tree. A.
• 19:29
  Well, if you. Fall.
• 19:30
  If you fall head first into that, well, you are effectively
• 19:33
  pinned. Your skis are in the air.
• 19:35
  You can't leverage yourself out because the snow around you is
• 19:38
  loose sugar. It acts like quicksand.
• 19:40
  It is a genuine suffocation hazard.
• 19:42
  And happen silently. That's the scary part.
• 19:44
  You just disappear. Which is why the golden rule of
• 19:46
  tree skiing is never, ever ski the trees alone.
• 19:50
  Always have a buddy who is watching you and stays within
• 19:53
  shouting distance. No exceptions.
• 19:56
  And the third hazard is the ice. We talked about how low altitude
• 19:59
  is good for visibility, but it has a downside for snow quality.
• 20:03
  It's the melt free cycle. The sun hits these lower slopes
• 20:06
  during the day, The top layer melts just a little bit, the sun
• 20:09
  goes down, temperatures drop, and that wet layer freezes into
• 20:13
  a solid sheet of ice. The Kandahar run is famous for
• 20:16
  this. The Verti Hooch It's a World Cup
• 20:19
  downhill course. It is steep and in the morning
• 20:23
  it can be bulletproof. I mean, we're talking blue ice
• 20:26
  that you can see your reflection in.
• 20:27
  So if you bring your fat dull rock bashing skis that you use
• 20:32
  for powder. You're going to slide for 500
• 20:34
  meters, absolutely terrified. You need sharp edges.
• 20:38
  You need to be able to carve. Don't underestimate the morning
• 20:40
  ice here. It demands respect.
• 20:42
  Despite the risks, the barbed wire, the ice, the tree wells,
• 20:47
  there is a reason people keep coming back.
• 20:49
  There are these moments where it all just clicks.
• 20:52
  The Narnia moments. I want to paint that picture for
• 20:54
  the listener because we've talked a lot about logistics and
• 20:56
  warnings. What does it feel like when you
• 20:58
  get it right? OK, imagine it's a Tuesday in
• 21:02
  late January. The rest of the valley is
• 21:04
  completely shut down. The wind is howling up high.
• 21:06
  You can hear it roaring over the peaks.
• 21:08
  This distant freight train sound.
• 21:10
  But down unless Houches, it's calm.
• 21:12
  You take the Prairie and gondola up.
• 21:14
  You get out, the visibility is maybe 20 meters.
• 21:17
  It's snowing hard, these big fat flakes.
• 21:19
  You drop off the back towards the table to orientation.
• 21:22
  You slip into the trees. And the world changes.
• 21:25
  Instantly the wind stops completely.
• 21:27
  It's dead silent. The only sound is your own
• 21:30
  breathing and the warmth of snow compressing under your skis.
• 21:34
  The trees are heavy with snow, bending over like arches.
• 21:37
  You're in knee deep untracked powder.
• 21:39
  And there's no one else there. No one.
• 21:41
  You're weaving through these ancient pine trees.
• 21:43
  It feels like a secret garden. You get into a rhythm.
• 21:45
  Turn, bounce, turn, bounce. It's not about speed or danger,
• 21:48
  It's about flow. It feels safe and wild at the
• 21:51
  same time. That sounds incredible.
• 21:53
  That is the soul of the resort when you catch it on a day like
• 21:56
  that. Honestly, it beats waiting in
• 21:58
  line for the Egg El de Mitty any day of the week.
• 22:01
  But to be fair, we have to talk about the disappointments too.
• 22:04
  It's not always Narnia. No, this strategy is highly
• 22:08
  weather dependent. If you go in March or during a
• 22:11
  warm spell, the magic dies very, very fast.
• 22:14
  Because it's low altitude. If it's 5 or 6°C, the bottom of
• 22:18
  the resort turns to brown slush or mud.
• 22:21
  You end up skiing through puddles, it ruins your gear and
• 22:23
  it's dangerous for your knees. And you end up having to
• 22:26
  download on the gondola because you can't ski to the bottom.
• 22:30
  It's sad, it feels like the mountain is giving up.
• 22:33
  If the snow is bad and less houses, it's really bad.
• 22:36
  So check the forecast. Do not book less houses for a
• 22:39
  late April spring skiing trip. You'll be disappointed.
• 22:42
  If less houses doesn't sound like the right fit, maybe it's
• 22:44
  too quiet or you're worried about the snow quality, what are
• 22:48
  the alternatives in the area? If you like the idea of trees
• 22:52
  and a cute village but want something a bit more upscale,
• 22:55
  look at such a way. It's just around the corner.
• 22:57
  In fact, it shares the ski area with without just via the
• 23:00
  tramway. But the town is different.
• 23:02
  Very different. It's a proper spa town.
• 23:04
  It has grand old hotels from the turn of the century, thermal
• 23:08
  baths, beautiful historic center.
• 23:10
  It feels a bit more bourgeois, bit more chic.
• 23:13
  And if you just want to ski hard and you don't care about charm
• 23:16
  or silence. Then you go to the opposite end
• 23:18
  of the spectrum, Argentiere, that is the base for Legro
• 23:22
  Amante. Describe the vibe there.
• 23:24
  It's the polar opposite of Lithosh.
• 23:26
  It sits in the shadow of the mountain, so it's cold and dark
• 23:29
  in the mornings. It's steep.
• 23:30
  It's full of ski bones living in vans.
• 23:33
  It's gritty. That is where you go for
• 23:35
  technical terrain and steep lines, but don't expect farm to
• 23:38
  table dining or polite lifties. It's raw.
• 23:41
  So we've put together a suggested safari itinerary for
• 23:45
  someone who wants to do this right.
• 23:47
  How would you structure A1 week trip to get the best of both
• 23:50
  worlds? I would actually base myself in
• 23:52
  this house to save money and get that quiet sleep.
• 23:55
  That's key. OK, day one and two.
• 23:57
  Use the first couple of days, especially if a storm is rolling
• 24:00
  in, to ski the lasochas trees. Get your legs back, enjoy the
• 24:04
  powder, avoid the crowds, let the storm pass while you were in
• 24:08
  the safety and silence of the forest.
• 24:09
  Then the weather clears day three or 4.
• 24:12
  Now you switch strategies. The sun is out.
• 24:15
  Use your MBU pass, take the train into Shamoni, hire a
• 24:18
  guide. And you absolutely must hire a
• 24:20
  guide for this. Go up the Aguili MIDI and ski
• 24:23
  the Valley Blanche. That's the famous 20 kilometer
• 24:25
  glacier run. Exactly.
• 24:26
  You get the high Alpine glory, the views, the crevasses, the
• 24:29
  adrenaline. Then you take the train back to
• 24:31
  your quiet chalet in Lasoche at the end of the day.
• 24:34
  And how do you end the week? Your legs will be destroyed.
• 24:36
  Go to the QC term, a spot in Shamani, sit in the outdoor
• 24:40
  pool, look at the glacier you just skied and relax.
• 24:44
  That is the perfect blend of strategy and luxury that.
• 24:47
  Sounds like a solid plan. Let's wrap this up with our
• 24:50
  final verdict. We call this the decision
• 24:53
  Matrix. Is Les Hausch is worth it for
• 24:55
  you? Let's break it down by traveler
• 24:57
  type. First up, the backpacker.
• 24:59
  Verdict No A hard no Why logistics It is too hard to get
• 25:05
  around without a car and the accommodation is mostly chalet
• 25:08
  is designed for groups. If you are solo and on a budget,
• 25:11
  go to a hospital in Shamani SUAD.
• 25:13
  You'll meet people, you can walk to the lifts.
• 25:15
  Let's know she's too lonely and spread out for a solo
• 25:17
  backpacker. Next, the mid range couple.
• 25:20
  Verdict Yes, absolutely. It's romantic, it's quiet.
• 25:23
  If you rent a car it's a great base.
• 25:24
  You can have those nice farm dinners without the chaos of the
• 25:27
  main town. It feels like a real retreat.
• 25:29
  The family absolute yes. This is who the resort was built
• 25:32
  for. The ski schools?
• 25:33
  Excellent. The slopes are safe and your
• 25:36
  kids won't get lost because all the runs funnel back to the same
• 25:39
  places. It's a no brainer.
• 25:41
  The luxury traveler. No, go to Meshev if you want
• 25:45
  concierge service, ski valets, Michelin stars and designer
• 25:48
  shopping. You won't find it in the
• 25:50
  Lanoches. It's too rustic.
• 25:52
  Jeff is just down the road and that is where the luxury is.
• 25:56
  And finally, our target listener, the hardcore free
• 25:59
  rider, the person we started this deep dive with.
• 26:01
  This is a conditional. Yes.
• 26:03
  What are the conditions? You must know a storm is coming.
• 26:07
  That's condition number one. If it's sunny and hasn't snowed
• 26:10
  in a week, you will be bored stiff.
• 26:13
  But if the forecast says heavy snow, high winds, then Las
• 26:17
  Hachas becomes the best spot in the entire valley.
• 26:20
  It is your safety net. It sounds like Las Hachas is
• 26:22
  basically the insurance policy of the Shimoni Valley.
• 26:25
  That's the perfect description. It guarantees you good skiing
• 26:28
  when the big names fail. It's not the flashy option, but
• 26:31
  it's the smart option. I think this leads us to an
• 26:33
  interesting closing thought about how we travel in general.
• 26:37
  We often let Instagram or the hype dictate where we go.
• 26:41
  We want the highest peak, the steepest run, the most famous
• 26:44
  name on the map. We chase the superlatives, we
• 26:47
  want the photo at the top of the world.
• 26:49
  But often the best experiences are the quiet ones, the ones
• 26:53
  that happen in the trees away from the crowds while everyone
• 26:56
  else is fighting for position in a lift line.
• 26:58
  It's about looking for that ugly duckling in your next
• 27:01
  destination, the place the locals go and the weather turns
• 27:04
  bad because usually they know something you don't.
• 27:07
  Strategy beats hype every single time.
• 27:09
  That's all for this deep dive. Check the snow forecast, watch
• 27:12
  out for the barbed wire, and we'll see you next time.