by This winter Chamonix, the world’s most iconic mountain town, celebrates 100 years of the Winter Olympics, which were first held here in the shadow of Mont Blanc in 1924.
Before the historic event, the town was the world center of the alpine – the lure of climbing some of Europe’s highest, most difficult and most impressive peaks had attracted mountaineers for almost two centuries, with the English aristocracy and members of the Alpine. A leading club among its numbers. Chamonix was also a popular venue for members of the Great Britain Ski Club, led by Sir Henry Lunn, founder of the Lunn Poly travel company.
As snow and ice sports became more popular in the late 19th centuryth century, the International Olympic Committee was persuaded to create a winter version of the Olympic Games and Chamonix was chosen as the first venue for the 11-day event.
There was cross-country skiing, real and speed skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined (ski jumping and cross-country skiing), ski jumping, bobsleigh, curling and military patrols, the forerunner of the modern biathlon – perhaps surprisingly not one down the hill. ski competitions, which were not introduced until 1936.
Hosting the event required the considerable cost of building a ski jump, a 36,000 square meter ice rink and a bobsleigh track – the Mont aux Bossons ski jump is used occasionally today, but the ice rink and bobsleigh track have disappeared long .
Britain came sixth in the medal table, and the Scandinavian countries then, as now, were in charge; France was ninth. And the weather was as unpredictable as it was today – shortly before the Games were due to open, more than 1.5 meters of snow fell in one day, followed by an avalanche that blocked the local railway and turned the Olympian. ice rink into a lake. Fortunately, the cold temperatures returned in time for the opening ceremony, in which 300 athletes from 16 countries took part, watched by 10,000 spectators.
The first Winter Olympics gave Chamonix a great opportunity to market itself as a year-round destination – until now tourists had mostly only visited in the summer, but in the coming years the town and surrounding mountains to be one of the great winters of the world. sports destinations.
Within the Chamonix valley the Brévent cable car was built between 1928-30, followed by a succession of ski lifts and, in 1955, the magnificent Aiguille du Midi Téléphérique, then the highest cable car in the world, rising to an impressive height of 3842m. .
It gave mountaineers quicker and easier access to the Mont Blanc monster, it gave skiers the chance to descend the Vallée Blanche – a thrilling and spectacular 20 kilometer backcountry ski run down the Mer de Glace glacier – and it gave day-trippers the chance to see a great Mont Blanc. close glacial alpine landscape. Further up the valley, the Grands Montets ski area opened in 1963, where some of the most challenging freeride skiing in the world is accessible.
Chamonix has further established itself on the scene with an annual round of the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup, multiple editions of the Kandahar Alpine Skiing World Cup (the latest is scheduled for February 3-4) and, more recently, rounds of the Freeride World. Trip. The town’s influence on winter sports, freeriding in particular, has been well expressed by the American skiing legend Glen Plake, for whom Chamonix is his European base: “Whether it’s the history of the alpine culture, the unusual geography or the access on it, which means Chamonix. it is a pilgrimage.”
This pilgrimage is made by winter sports enthusiasts from all over the world looking to challenge themselves on the area’s ski slopes – along with hardy locals, Brits, Scandinavians, Americans and Aussies galore, with the number of visitors from other countries. .
To accommodate them, Chamonix offers everything from Michelin-starred restaurants to curry houses and burger bars, five-star hotels to bunkhouses, and hipster bars and brewpubs to several nightclubs and casinos. Access is easy thanks to a major road that tunnels under Mont Blanc to Italy and the aforementioned rail line that provides connections to Geneva, Paris and London.
But the “endless snows” of Mont Blanc are changing as quickly as the town below them, as a visit to Mer de Glace shows. In the last 140 years, the glacier has retreated 2km in length and 220m in depth. In Edwardian times, visitors used to take the 5km Montenvers rack-and-pinion railway from Chamonix to access the glacier from the platform at the 1,913-metre Refuge du Montenvers, but in recent years 550 degrees had to be achieved. it (you also have to climb them after skiing the Vallée Blanche – a big slog with your skis slung over your shoulder).
A new gondola will replace the steps later this month, perhaps showing how Chamonix is adapting to climate change. But it also makes you wonder if the town will still be able to host the Winter Olympics, or any winter sports event, in another century…
Fundamentals
The Great Britain Ski Club offers a Chamonix Off Piste Adventure trip from £1,595, for intermediate skiers upwards, on dates during February and March. The price includes seven nights chalet accommodation, six nights chalet board, and five days with mountain guides. Travel is not included.
Visits to Mer de Glace, via the Montainéal railway, cost from €38.50 per adult; €32.70 per child (between five and 14 years old).
