a longstanding partner of ski professionals – I am shadowing Mehdi Valentin, one of Chamonix’s senior ski patrollers. At 35, he is the head of pistes at Balme Le Tour, with 10 years of experience.

Few ski resorts are as evocative as Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. Set in the sawtooth-sided valley beneath the north face of Europe’s highest peak, the town has a strong claim to be the birthplace not ...