SkiWeekends Adds Two New Argentière Chalets as Grands Montets Prepares to Reopen Its Long-Awaited New Lift

UK-based ski holiday specialist SkiWeekends has expanded its Chamonix Valley portfolio with two new ski-in/ski-out catered chalets in Argentière, timed to open for winter 2026/27 — a season that also marks a milestone moment for the Grands Montets ski area itself, as the first phase of a long-delayed, high-profile lift rebuild finally comes online.

The new chalets

SkiWeekends, which bills itself as the UK's largest provider of short-break catered chalet holidays and has specialised in flexible ski trips for more than 35 years, has added Chalet Hideaway 1 and Chalet Hideaway 2 to its Argentière lineup, both positioned at the foot of the Grands Montets ski area. Chalet Hideaway 1 sleeps six to eight guests across three bedrooms and comes with an outdoor hot tub looking out over the surrounding peaks. Chalet Hideaway 2, the larger of the pair, sleeps 10 to 14 guests across five bedrooms and adds an outdoor jacuzzi, indoor sauna and plunge pool to the offering.

Both properties can be booked either by the room or for sole occupancy, with flexible stay lengths of three, four, six or seven nights — a hallmark of SkiWeekends' broader short-break model. Prices start from £432 per person for three nights, including the company's Classic chalet board and shared return Geneva airport transfers. As an introductory offer, guests who book either chalet for sole occupancy can receive half-price lift passes for the whole party, subject to booking conditions.

Location is central to the pitch: both chalets sit within a short walk of Argentière's shops, bars and restaurants, and directly next to the Panda Club children's ski area, making them a practical option for families skiing with younger children as well as for groups prioritising direct, minimal-hassle access to the slopes.

Why the timing matters: Grands Montets' rebirth

The new chalets arrive at a genuinely significant moment for the ski area they serve. Grands Montets — long regarded as one of the most storied, steep-and-deep terrain areas in the Alps, with a reputation as something of a freestyle and off-piste mecca — has been running on reduced lift access since September 2018, when a fire destroyed the mid-station at Lognan and knocked out the historic cable car that carried skiers to the resort's dramatic 3,275-metre summit beneath the Aiguille Verte. In the years since, access to the upper mountain has been limited to those willing to skin up from the Bochard or Herse lifts, with the rest of the ski area served only via the Plan Joran gondola from the valley floor.

That is now, finally, changing. Led by the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc and designed by Renzo Piano's architecture firm RPBW, a roughly €155 million redevelopment project is bringing the resort back to life in stages. This winter marks the opening of the project's first phase: a new 10-seater Doppelmayr gondola linking Argentière directly to the Lognan plateau, alongside a revamped beginner area and the reopening of the Lognan restaurant. The full transformation — including a dramatic 3S cable car that will carry skiers all the way back up to the 3,275-metre summit — is not due to be completed until winter 2027/28, meaning this season's opening represents a meaningful, if partial, return to form for a ski area that has spent seven years operating at a fraction of its historic capacity.

For chalet operators like SkiWeekends, the restored lift access gives fresh commercial logic to expanding in Argentière specifically: a location that has spent nearly a decade as a slightly compromised base for accessing Grands Montets is, this winter, once again a direct gateway to one of the Chamonix Valley's signature ski areas — a point likely to feature prominently in how the new Hideaway chalets are marketed to UK skiers over the coming season.

A broader UK short-break market

The expansion also reflects a competitive UK chalet holiday market that continues to lean into flexible, short-stay formats. SkiWeekends has built its position specifically around three-, four-, six- and seven-night packages rather than the traditional Saturday-to-Saturday week, catering to guests — solo travellers, weekend groups and families alike — who want mountain time without committing to a full week away. With two new, well-specified chalets at the base of a ski area entering its most significant infrastructure milestone in years, the addition positions the company to capture renewed interest in Argentière just as Grands Montets starts to look, once again, like the mountain skiers remember before the 2018 fire.