Chamonix, town (1990 pop. 10,062), Haute-Savoie dept., E France, at the foot of Mont Blanc. The principal base for climbing Mont Blanc and for visiting the Mer de Glace, it is a popular summer and winter resort. The Chamonix valley was the site of the 1924 Winter Olympics. It has the world's highest (12,605 ft/3,842 m) aerial cable car and is linked by tunnel (7.5 mi/12.1 km) with Courmayeur, Italy.

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc or, more commonly, Chamonix (in French) is a town and commune in eastern France, in the Haute-Savoie département, at the foot of Mont Blanc. At the census of 1999 it had a population of 9,830 inhabitants and a land area of 116.53 km² (44.99 sq mi). The town lies at an altitude of 1,035 metres. The 1924 Winter Olympics were held at Chamonix.

Geography

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc is located at . The Chamonix valley runs from northeast to southwest, and is watered by the Arve, which rises in Le Tour. The Arve is joined by the torrent l'Arveyron, which rises in the famous Mer de Glace just above Chamonix. On the southeast towers the snowclad summit of Mont Blanc (4808m), and on the northwest the less lofty, but rugged chain of Le Brévent (2525m) and of the Aiguilles Rouges. A number of villages and hamlets stretched out along the valley belong to the commune including Les Bossons (1012m), Les Praz (1060m), Argentière (1252m) and Le Tour (1462m). The valley is connected via the Col de Montets (1461m) to Martigny (Switzerland) in the Rhône Valley.

Mountain sports

Chamonix is a popular winter sports resort in France. The 1924 Winter Olympics were held here. As the highest European mountain west of Russia, Mont Blanc holds a special allure for mountain climbers, and Jon Krakauer, in an essay in his collection Eiger Dreams, described the town as "the death-sport capital of the world" because Chamonix serves as an ideal playground for almost all types of outdoor activity, especially in their more extreme variants, such as ice climbing, rock climbing, extreme skiing, paragliding, rafting, canyoning.

Chamonix is famous for its spectacular cable car up to the Aiguille du Midi (3842m). Constructed in 1955 it was then the highest cable car in the world. Together with a cable car system going up to the Point Helbronner (3462m) from Entréves in the Aosta Valley (Italy) it is possible to cross the entire Mont Blanc Massif by cable car.

In the summer months Chamonix is a mecca for alpine mountaineers, drawn to the area by challenges like the north face of the Dru, the Frendo Spur on the Aiguille du Midi, traversing the Alps on the legendary GR 5 footpath or more accessible challenges like summitting Mont Blanc (by a number of possible routes).

Apart from high-mountain summer sports, Chamonix is also a destination for the hardcore mountain biker. As well as the obvious lift-assisted areas for Freeriders there are hundreds of kilometres of challenging hidden singletrack trails - often only found with the help of guides.

Chamonix is also a haven for advanced skiing and snowboarding. The Vallée Blanche glacier runs down from below Mont Blanc du Tacul and the Aiguille du Midi to the valley. This spectacular route can be skied or snowboarded, though care should be exercised due to crevasses. Aside from that, the valley has about six separate ski areas, including Le Brévent (a short but steep walk from the town centre), La Flégère (at Les Praz), Les Planards (ski area for beginners and early intermediates), Les Grands Montets (at Argentière) and Domaine de Balme (at Le Tours). Many of these provide challenging terrain, especially off-piste, with runs down to Switzerland.

There is also a ski resort at Les Houches.

History

The valley was first mentioned in 1091, when it was granted by the Count of the Genevois to the great Benedictine house of St. Michel de la Cluse, near Turin, which by the early 13th century had established a priory there. However, in 1786 the inhabitants bought their freedom from the canons of Sallanches, to whom the priory had been transferred in 1519.

In 1530, the inhabitants obtained from the Count of the Genevois the privilege of holding two fairs a year, while the valley was often visited by the civil officials and by the bishops of Geneva (first recorded visit in 1411, while St. Francis de Sales came there in 1606). But travellers for pleasure were very rare.

The first party to publish (1744) an account of their visit was that of Dr. Richard Pococke, Mr. William Windham and other Englishmen who visited the Mer de Glace in 1741. In 1742 came P. Martel and several other Genevese, in 1760 H.B. de Saussure, and rather later Marc Th. Bourrit.

The growth of tourism in the early 19th century led to the formation of the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix in 1821, to regulate access to the mountain slopes (which were communally or co-operatively owned), and this association held a monopoly of guiding from the town until it was broken by French government action in 1892; thereafter guides were required to hold a diploma issued by a commission dominated by civil servants and members of the French Alpine Club rather than local residents.

From the late 19th century on, tourist development was dominated by national and international initiatives rather than local entrepreneurs, though the local community was increasingly dependent upon and active in the tourist industry.

The commune successfully lobbied to change its name from Chamonix to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc in 1916. However, following the loss of its monopoly, the Compagnie reformed as an association of local guides, and retained an important role in local society; it provided the services of a friendly society to its members, and in the 20th century many of them were noted mountaineers and popularisers of mountain tourism, for example the novelist Roger Frison-Roche, the first member of the Compagnie not to be born in Chamonix.

The holding of the first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix in 1924 further raised Chamonix's profile as an international tourist destination.

By the 1960s, agriculture had been reduced to a marginal activity, while the number of tourist beds available rose to around 60,000 by the end of the 20th century, with about 5 million visitors a year.

Sightseeing

• Montenvers Railway (Cog railway from Chamonix to Montenvers, above the Mer de Glace)
• Mont Blanc Tramway (Cog railway from St. Gervais to Nid d'Aigle at Mont Blanc)
• Telepherique d'Aiguille du Midi
• Panoramic restaurant at the top station of the Brévent cable car (impressing view to the Mont Blanc Massif)
• Alpine Museum Chamonix
• Statue Horace Bénédict de Saussure (initiator of the first ascent of Mont Blanc)
• Statue Michel-Gabriel Paccard (together with J. Balmat he was the first who ascended the Mont Bla-du-Midi Telepherique into
• The closest international airport to Chamonix is Geneva Airport. Travellers can best reach Chamonix by taking www.Alpybus.com a daily regular service.

Facts and figures

• The valley is mentioned in Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, as the scene of an encounter between the doctor and his monster.
• James Salter's novel "Solo Faces", based on the life of climber Gary Hemming is set in Chamonix.
• English author Jonathan Trigell lives in Chamonix; the setting for his second novel Cham.
• The valley is the set of the Alias episode "After Six". Sydney and Vaughan need to break into a chalet in Chamonix by getting through a lethal response system built by Toni Cummings, played by Vivica A. Fox.
• Chamonix is a snow track on Sony's Gran Turismo 4.
• Chamonix is a Chilean ice-cream brand, owned by Nestlé
• Twin towns with Aspen (Colorado), Cilaos (La Reunion), Courmayeur (Italy), Davos (Switzerland), Fujiyoshida (at the foot of Mount Fuji in Japan) and Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany).
• Chamonix shares Mont Blanc with the Italian comune of Courmayeur.
• Chamonix is the stage name of Kurtis Mantronik for the Kurtis Mantronik Presents Chamonix EP 'How Did You Know' (2003)
• The town and surrounding area is where The World Is Not Enough skiing scenes were filmed, and where the cast and crew stayed.
• Ray Smuckles has his Mastercard on file with the government of Chamonix.

See also

• The Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt
• Mont Blanc Massif
• Mont Blanc Tunnel
• Montroc

In Fiction

Ian Fleming, when writing the fictional biography of James Bond, mentioned that Bond's parents were killed in a mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges near Chamonix, when the future secret agent was eleven-year-old.

External links

• Official site of the city of Chamonix Mont-Blanc