I am a skint student who wants to skiing this winter and am considering camping to save on cost. Has anyone tried it, if so what is it like, any advice. I will probabaly be going to chamonix or the espace killy.

I spent a couple weeks car camping under the midi in Chamonix before I found a place to live, that was January ‘07 .  There is a small gravel parking lot, about a block behind the Tram dock and directly under the lift line, you’ll find a few dozen people doing the same thing.  Never hassled, met lots of great people who showed me around.  I was coming from Alaska so the cold wasn’t really an issue.

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I’ve heard of a quite a few people getting campavans and just rocking up at ski resorts and then moving on and following the snow. If you mean with a tent though, I’m not quite as sure thats a good idea!

Yep did in a couple of resorts in Wisconsin USA for a couple of days.  Didnt have any problems.  If you are not used to the cold or dont have the equipment I dont recommend it.  People looked at me quite wierd brewing coffee on a camp stove while they pulled in from a warm night in a Hotel.  But oh well.  Good Luck

Hey Newbie, My buddy camped out for a whole season in 1999/2000.
He spent part of the season in chamonix and the other part in meribelle where i worked in a hotel. He bivouacked (small 1 person tent) for the winter and hitch hicked around. If you contact me direct at i’ll put you in touch.
Before you set off though you should think hard about what you want…
Do you want to live it up in the bars and be a “ski bum” in which case just get a job and live the life or do you want to spend lonely nights stinking and hiking up to the higher lifts to avoid paying for lift passes or are you thinking of backcountry skiing, touring from hut to hut, staying in snow caves and becoming a man of the mountains? Do you have any skills or training to do this? Not saying that you have to… Be a pioneer like into the wild or my buddy chappy.
Good luck!

Mongo:  where in Wisconsin?  I’m from the Midwest myself and agree a camping tour of the various ski areas would be quite simple, you just may be the first person I’ve ever met who thought it’d be worth while.  Epic!

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I actually stayed out at Whitecap Mountain (Wisconsin) and Blackjack Ski Resort in the UP Michigan.  I have also did it Bohemia Mountain for several nights.  The reason I did it is I got done at the bars and didnt really want to spend the money for a motel and I was by myself so I didnt have to worry about anyone.  You can do a week long tour from resort to resort in the Upper Northwest Part of Wisconsin and Upper Penisula of Michigan easily.  Probably could ski 10-12 mountains not including on a good year all the places that know one talks about.

Awesome!  Sounds like you did it right with Bohemia.  I grew up in Michigan skiing the land fills, so when I first read that I pictured some southern tour of the worst ski areas.  The UP is a great place, thanks for bringing me some good memories!

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Please be aware that Chamonix is becoming more and more full of ‘rich tossers’ and generally less tolerant of camping ski bums. That used to not at all be the case - this was the town for serious skiers and not only for the privileged ‘with all the bling, still not knowing a thing’. If campers cause trouble partying, breaking bottles, leaving trash etc. they will find police bothering them regularly and asking them to leave. Also the camping under the Aiguille du Midi at the Grepon is now officially forbidden - campers are asked to use official campgrounds which have showers and toilets (and are still much cheaper than renting apartments). Some people used to camp in vans at the carpark at Les Gaillands but it has strong avalanche danger and last year they used snow ploughs to create large mounds preventing vehicles from even entering that car park in winter.

On the other hand, rentals are insanely expensive now with most properties that are of decent quality going up for weekly rentals to make the owners more money to pay their insanely high mortgages ... so the town knows that they must tolerate some level of camping in order to retain restaurant and hotel workers. You will probably be more welcomed if you do get a seasonal job of some sort and can show the work contract - thus the gendarmes find that you are at least contributing to the local economy that way and may be more sympathetic.

I would be happy to see more poor ski bums in town (but wish they could still find affordable housing and not be forced to camp since a lot of them sh*t, piss and leave garbage all over the place, making it pretty damned disgusting and not mountain or enviromentally friendly!). So - please if you come, do be sure to occaisionally harass the rich tossers who frequent trendy upscale bars like ‘Le Priviledge’ or ‘No Escape’ by puking on them as they leave the establishment or the like :-) ... and definitely clean up after yourselves properly and do not destroy the area where you are camping.

BTW - it is generally more common to see seasonaires here camping in tricked out vans, proper camper vans or army surplus vehicles than in a tent ... it can get pretty cold, and it’s difficult to lock up your skis, board or other belongings if all you have is a tent. Petty theft is pretty common in winter in Chamonix.

So - please if you come, do be sure to occaisionally harass the rich tossers who frequent trendy upscale bars like ‘Le Priviledge’ or ‘No Escape’ by puking on them as they leave the establishment or the like

I loved this part Firechick.  Sad to hear the midi camping is no more.

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Hay im pritty sure that me and a few mates are camping in Les deux Alpes this winter, i have a realy old caravan which ive been trying to make warm!! so if your in the area ill put you up for a few nights or point you in the right direction!