Chamonix

Chamonix -Mont- Blanc, Chamonix mostly for short, is a ski resort and center of mountaineering in France. It is located in the Rhône-Alpes region in the Haute- Savoie. 1924 took place the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix. The town has 8927 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) and is more of a tourist town in which you take into account the entire valley of Chamonix, staying at peak times more than 60,000 guests.

Geography

Chamonix is located in the Chamonix valley and is surrounded by many high mountains. Directly to the south it is overlooked by Mont Blanc, from which flows down the Glacier des Bossons Chamonix. In the north of the mountain range of the Aiguilles Rouges limited ( nature reserve) of the Chamonix Valley. Through the valley flows the Arve, which are combined at Chamonix with its inlet l' Arveyron from the Mer de Glace. To commune Chamonix include several districts or villages such as Les Bossons, Les Praz de Chamonix, Les Tines and Lavancher. This includes also the place with the ski Argentière Les Grands Montets and Le Tour in the north of the valley of Chamonix. Also in the north gives the mountain pass Col des Montets ( 1461 m) the transition to the northeast in the direction of Switzerland.

Ski resort

Chamonix is a center for freeride and extreme skiing. The highest point of the ski resort is the Aiguille du Midi 3842 m, on whose summit the second highest cable car in Europe leads, with one of the starting points for the climbers who want the overlying Mont Blanc climb. It is also the starting point of the glacier run Vallée Blanche on the Mer de Glace. There are also the two mountains Le Brevent and La Flégère. The latter area is a family ski area while Le Brevent mainly from moderate to very severe slopes there. The two ski areas are linked by a connecting lift technically (Flégère / Brevent Liaison ). Just out of town is also the small ski Planards that is mostly used as a training area for beginners. Further north end of the valley you will find the ski resorts and Domain de Balme to the Le Tour (1480 m) and from Vallorcine ( 1260m ) lead gondolas. The individual ski areas and districts in the Chamonix Valley are being linked together by a public bus system and some are also accessible by the railway line St Gervais- Vallorcine. There is between the individual areas that can be traveled with the lift pass " Mont Blanc " ( a total of 700 km of slopes), no elevator composite. In Chamonix, the Centre National du Ski et de l' Alpinisme is (National Centre for skiing and mountaineering ). The town is also the starting point of the Haute Route, a high alpine multi-day Skidurchquerung that leads through the Valais Alps to Zermatt ( Switzerland ), and the Ultra-Trail du Mont- Blanc, one of the most challenging mountain marathons worldwide.

2.1 km altitude difference

Sister cities

Chamonix has partnerships with the German Garmisch -Partenkirchen, the Italian Courmayeur, the French Cilaos, the Davos, Switzerland, the U.S. and Aspen with the Japanese Fujiyoshida.

Personalities

Sons and daughters:

  • Michel -Gabriel Paccard (1757-1827), physician and mountaineer
  • Jacques Balmat (1762-1834), mountain guide, climber and crystal viewfinder
  • Michel Croz (1830-1865), mountain guide, first ascent of the Matterhorn
  • Georgette Thiollière (* 1920), alpine skier
  • James Couttet (1921-1997), alpine skier
  • Lucienne Schmith (1926-1997), alpine skier
  • Charles Bozon (1932-1964), alpine skier
  • Françoise Bozon (* 1963), alpine skier
  • Delphyne Burlet (* 1966), biathlete
  • January Henri Ducroz (* 1971), curler
  • Thomas Dufour (born 1973 ), curler
  • January Guryca ( b. 1982 ), professional ice hockey goaltender
  • Richard Ducroz (* 1983), curler
  • Guillermo Fayed ( born 1985 ), skier
  • Anthony Obert (* 1985), skier
  • Jonathan Félisaz (* 1985), Nordic combined ski jumpers &
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