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Chamonix
This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in français. (April 2015) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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The Chamonix valley seen from la Flégère The Chamonix valley seen from la Flégère | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Chamonix Valley is located in France Chamonix Valley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location within Rhône-Alpes region Chamonix Valley is located in Rhône-Alpes Chamonix Valley |
colspan="14" #REDIRECTmw:Help:Magic words#Other This page is a soft redirect. Climate data for Chamonix-Mont-Blanc | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year
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colspan="14" style="text-align:center;font-size:85%" #REDIRECTmw:Help:Magic words#Other This page is a soft redirect.Source: Climate-data.org[6] |
Demography
1793 | 1800 | 1806 | 1821 | 1836 | 1846 | 1856 | 1861 | 1866 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1,830 | 1,925 | 1,949 | 2,232 | 2,528 | 2,304 | 2,308 | 2,304 | 2,415 |
1872 | 1876 | 1881 | 1886 | 1891 | 1896 | 1901 | 1906 | 1911 |
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2,455 | 2,406 | 2,420 | 2,450 | 2,447 | 2,435 | 2,729 | 3,482 | 3,109 |
1921 | 1926 | 1931 | 1936 | 1946 | 1954 | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 |
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3,040 | 3,811 | 4,446 | 4,633 | 5,883 | 5,699 | 7,213 | 7,745 | 8,393 |
1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 | 2008 | - | - | - | - |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
8,746 | 9,701 | 9,829 | 9,195 | 9,042 | - | - | - | - |
Sources : Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 (population without double counting and municipal population from 2006) · [7]
Histogram on demographic change
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Mountain sports
Chamonix is a winter sports resort town. As the highest European mountain west of Russia, Mont Blanc attracts mountain climbers. There is a cable car up to the Script error: No such module "convert". Aiguille du Midi. Constructed in 1955, it was then the highest cable car in the world.[citation needed]
On 12 July 2012, at least nine climbers—three from the United Kingdom, two from Switzerland, two from Germany, and two from Spain—were killed by an avalanche as they attempted a dawn ascent of Mont Maudit. Nine others were injured and flown to hospital, while four remained missing. The avalanche struck at 5am, as the climbers began their climb up one of the most popular, but dangerous, routes on the mountain.[8]
Transportation
Roads
The town of Chamonix is served by French Route Nationale 205 (RN 205), nicknamed the Route blanche,[9] or "white route", due to its snowiness. This is an extension of French autoroute 40 (A40), similarly nicknamed the autoroute blanche, which ends at Le Fayet, a village in the commune of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains.[10] The 11.6-km Mont Blanc Tunnel originates here, linking Chamonix to Courmayeur in Italy.[11] Chamonix is linked to Switzerland by what used to be RN 506a. In 2006, it was converted to a Route Départementale 1506, with a part of it integrated into RN 205. The nearest airport to Chamonix is Geneva Cointrin International and it is Script error: No such module "convert". in distance.
Rail
Chamonix is served by the metre-gauge St Gervais-Vallorcine Line, operated by SNCF. The line from Saint Gervais (on the standard-gauge rail network) to Chamonix opened in 1901; it was extended to Vallorcine in 1908. The line holds the record for the steepest gradient on any standard (i.e. adhesion) railway.
From Vallorcine, the rail route continues over the border into Switzerland, meeting the SBB network at Martigny. This latter section, a metre-gauge cog railway, is operated by Transports de Martigny et Régions SA. The train service from Vallorcine to Martigny is known as the Mont Blanc Express. Timetables on the St Gervais-Vallorcine and Vallorcine-Martigny sections are synchronized.[12]
The 5.1-km Montenvers Railway is a cog railway that provides access to the tourist site of Montenvers. Opened in 1909, its rail station was built next to SNCF's Chamonix station on the St Gervais-Vallorcine Line line. In fact the two stations are directly linked.[13] Montenvers provides further tourist access to middle and high mountain areas.
Cable cars
Chamonix has one of the highest cable cars in the world, which links the town to the summit of the Aiguille du Midi at 3842 m.[14] It is based on an older system built in 1920, rebuilt in the first half of the 1950s over five summer seasons,[15] fully modernized in 1979, and upgraded again in 2008. On the other side of the valley, another cable car links Chamonix to the viewpoint of Planpraz. A second line links Planpraz to the summit of Le Brévent at 2525 m.[16][17] Many other cable cars exist in the valley, and are heavily used by skiers and residents. The ancient Plan Joran chair at the base of Les Grands Montets is due to be replaced by a 10-person gondola for the Winter 2014/15 season.[18]
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Chamonix is twinned with:
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See also
- Communes of the Haute-Savoie department
- Mer de Glace
- Mont Blanc Massif
- Montroc
- The Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt
References
- ^ Template:IPA-fr.
- ^ Template:IPA-fr.
- ^ Sources des données : INSEE – Chamonix: Données générales
- ^ a b The Development of the Appreciation of Mountain Scenery in Modern Times, Walter Woodburn Hyde, Geographical Review, Vol. 3, No. 2 (February 1917), pp. 107–118
- ^ a b c d "Chamonix Valley Website". Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ "Climate: Chamonix-Mont-Blanc". Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ Census of population on 1 January 2006 on the site of Insee.
- ^ Willsher, Kim (12 July 2012). "Mont Blanc Avalanche: Three Britons Among Nine Dead in French Alps". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 12 July 2012.
- ^ Le Comité de préservation du village des Houches – Dossier publié le 12/05/2004 (PDF)
- ^ Site de l'association de défense des usagers de l'A40 et de l'A41 – Revue de presse
- ^ "Chamonix Valley Website". Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ "Mont Blanc Express timetables for 2010" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-02-10. [in French]
- ^ Site de Christophe Jacquet spécialisé sur les trains du Mont-Blanc
- ^ Site de l'Aiguille du Midi – Histoire du téléphérique
- ^ Cable Way to the Top of the Alps. Popular Mechanics, April 1956, pp. 81-84.
- ^ "Map of the Brévent-Flégère area". Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ "Summer timetables for Chamonix gondolas and funicular railways". Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ New for Winter 2014/15 - http://www.skicollection.co.uk/Ski/Chamonix.htm
- ^ Annuaire-Mairie.fr. "Ville d'Aoste" (in French). Retrieved 2013-06-18.
External links
40x40px | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chamonix. |
40x40px | Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Chamonix. |
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