Courmayeur: Courmayeur offers skiing for all standards, including famous runs such as the resort's World Cup Downhill and the International, a 6 km (4 mile) run which drops 1000 metres (3300 feet) as it descends. Many runs are covered by snowmaking and the resort has a very good snow record. There are two main ski areas. The largest, Checrouit - Val Veny, is directly above the resort, and is largely suited to beginners and intermediates, although there are some challenging off-piste descents from top to bottom which may be undertaken with the assistance of a guide. The Guide Society was established in 1850 as a free association of Alpine professionals. La Thuile: La Thuile has 18 fast and advanced lifts that prevent people from long waiting; particularly, two of them, the gondola DMC and the four-seater chair lift Bosco Express, ensure a capacity of 5400 p/h. The same number of lifts is installed in La Rosière and since 2004/2005 two completely new chair lifts, Roches Noires and Eucherts, are running with a capacity of 4800 p/h, ensuring a fast access to the Espace San Bernardo, from France towards Italy.To ski in La Thuile means skiing on more than 150 km of slopes, always perfectly groomed and surrounded by one of the most beautiful valleys in the Alpine region. On one side, the legendary Mont Blanc and the majestic Mount Rutor on the other accompany the skier everywhere. Travelling down any slope, these two marvellous mountains make their presence felt.
Chamonix: One of the few serious contenders for the title of "world's most famous ski resort," Chamonix Mont Blanc has the world's biggest lift-served vertical drop of 2807 metres (9209 feet ) and one of the world's longest runs through the Vallée Blanche at 22 km (13.7 miles). Chamonix hosted the world's first Winter Olympic Games in 1924. Beyond these spectacular statistics is Chamonix's rarely disputed status as the world's mountain sports capital, the subject of endless (and often witless) ski magazine reports from writers wishing to prove they descended between the glacial crevasses and lived to brag about it.