Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

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Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc coat of arms
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (France)
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department Haute-Savoie
Arrondissement Bonneville
Canton Le Mont-Blanc
Community association Vallée de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
Coordinates 45 ° 55 '  N , 6 ° 52'  E Coordinates: 45 ° 55 '  N , 6 ° 52'  E
height 995-4,810 m
surface 116.53 km 2
Residents 8,611 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 74 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 74400
INSEE code 74056
Website www.chamonix.fr

View of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (the official name since 1921), usually called Chamonix for short , is a ski resort and center of alpinism in France . The community is located in the department of Haute-Savoie in the region of Auvergne Rhône-Alpes . It gained worldwide fame as the venue for the 1st Olympic Winter Games .

Chamonix was in the context of the Alpine Convention to the Alpine town of the year chosen, 2015.

geography

location

View of the Chamonix valley
Mont-Blanc over Chamonix

Chamonix is ​​the easternmost municipality in the Haute-Savoie department. It is located in the valley of the Arve , which joins the l'Arveyron , the outlet of the Mer de Glace glacier . Directly to the south, the place is dominated by the Mont-Blanc massif , from which the Glacier des Bossons flows down to Chamonix. In the north, the Aiguilles Rouges mountain range ( nature reserve ) borders the valley.

Districts

Chamonix includes several districts or villages such as Les Bossons , Les Praz de Chamonix , Les Tines and Le Lavancher .

The municipality also includes the village of Argentière with the Les Grands Montets ski area and Le Tour in the north of the Chamonix valley.

history

The history of Chamonix can be traced back to the 11th century, when the valley was donated by Count Aimon I of Geneva to the Sacra di San Michele monastery . The first tourist development began in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

traffic

To the northeast, Chamonix is ​​connected to Switzerland via the Col des Montets mountain pass (1461 m) .

Rail transport

Chamonix is on the meter gauge railway line Saint-Gervais-Vallorcine with the station Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet connected. There is a connection to the standard-gauge railway line La Roche-sur-Foron-Saint-Gervais and TGV trains to Paris, as well as the meter-gauge Tramway du Mont-Blanc , a rack railway to the Glacier de Bionnassay .

The meter-gauge Chemin de fer du Montenvers , a cogwheel railway on the 1913 meter high Montenvers , also begins in Chamonix-Montblanc .

Cable car

A cable car leads from the Chamonix-Mont-Blanc valley to the 3842 meter high Aiguille du Midi . The Telepherique d'Aiguille du Midi reaches the mountain station at 3777 meters via an intermediate station on the Plan de l'Aiguille at an altitude of 2310 meters.

tourism

Winter sports

Chamonix is ​​one of the largest and most famous winter sports resorts in France.

The two ski mountains Le Brévent and La Flégère belong to Chamonix . There is a family ski area on the latter, while Le Brévent mainly offers intermediate and very difficult slopes. The two ski areas are linked by a lift (Flégère / Brévent Liaison). The small ski area Les Planards , which mainly serves as a practice area for beginners, is also located directly on the outskirts . Further north at the end of the valley is the extensive Domain de Balme ski area , to which gondolas lead from Le Tour (1480 m) and Vallorcine (1260 m).

The individual ski areas and districts in the Chamonix Valley are connected to one another by a public bus system and some can also be reached via the St. Gervais-Vallorcine railway line. Specifically, there are the following ski areas in the Chamonix Valley:

All of these areas and the Megève / Saint-Gervais-les-Bains ski pass can be used with the "Mont Blanc Unlimited" ski pass, Courmayeur from 2 days and Verbier / 4 Vallées from 6 days .

The Center Nationale du Ski et de l'Alpinisme (National Center for Skiing and Alpinism) is located in Chamonix . The place is also the starting point of the Haute Route , a high alpine ski crossing that lasts several days, which leads through the Valais Alps to Zermatt ( Switzerland ), and the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc , one of the most demanding mountain marathons in the world.

Chamonix is ​​a center for freeriding and extreme skiing . The highest point of the ski area is the Aiguille du Midi at 3842 m, to whose summit the second highest cable car in Europe leads, with one of the starting points for mountaineers who want to conquer Mont Blanc . The Aiguille du Midi is also the starting point for the glacier descent through the Vallée Blanche and over the Mer de Glace .

Chamonix in winter 2012
Number of slopes 69
overall length 152 km
- light 52 km
- medium 70 km
- heavy 30 km
longest run Les Grands Montets , 2.1 km difference in altitude
Snow cannons 54
Lift systems 47
- gondolas 12
- chair lifts 16
- T-bar lifts 19th
season December – April

Mountain sports in summer

Crossing the finish line of the Marathon du Mont Blanc

Chamonix is ​​the starting point for numerous trekking tours, including the Tour du Mont-Blanc . Every year in June the Marathon du Mont Blanc takes place.

It is also possible to legally base jump at Chamonix .

Twin cities

Chamonix has partnerships with:

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Chamonix-Mont-Blanc  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chamonix is ​​the Alpine City of the Year 2015 , www.cittalpina.org, accessed on September 26, 2014
  2. ↑ a b Histoire de Chamonix. In: chamonix.fr. Retrieved January 12, 2017 .
  3. ^ Jean-Yves Marotte: Les origines du prieuré de Chamonix , in: Bibliothèque de l'école des Charts 136 (1978), No. 2, pp. 241-269
  4. ↑ Did rules, not risk, cause Dean Potter's Base jumping death? In: The Guardian May 22, 2015, accessed May 22, 2015