CNBC Business | Off The Beaten Piste

Off The Beaten Piste

Carlton Reid leaves his skis at home to experience a different side of the French resort of Chamonix

In the shadow of Mont-Blanc, the highest mountain in western Europe, and 86kms from Geneva via the Autoroute Blanche, Chamonix is a town with a colour complex. Famed for its whiteness, it wants to be green. 

In the summer, this is a high-altitude playground for hikers, climbers and mountain bikers; in the winter it attracts skiers, boarders, and ice-climbers. But Chamonix is not being touted as just another “hardcore” Alpine sports resort; instead, the local tourism office is promoting the valley with earthy graphics and eco slogans. The current campaign is emblazoned with the words ‘Fragile’ and ‘Sensitive’. As the marketing blurb cedes: “Like all tourism-based economies, Chamonix is very conscious of the stakes in years to come… Our most precious asset has been given to us by nature. Today, our economy depends upon our natural resource: the Mont Blanc mountain chain.” 

At peak times the number of visitors outnumbers residents by ten to one, and to ensure that downtown is not choked with traffic, out-of-towners have long received free travel on ‘Les Mulets’ shuttles and free short-hops on the SNCF railway. However, what tourists do once they are in Chamonix is the focus of this PR drive for ‘responsible tourism’. 

British outfit Tracks and Trails (www.tracks-trails.com) is popularising snowshoe tours from Chamonix. Snowshoes give walking boots a bigger footprint in the white stuff, but a next-to-zero carbon footprint. While the skiing area of Chamonix is considered to have world-class off-piste skiing — including the 24km Vallée Blanche, the longest off-piste ski descent in Europe — this relies on ski lifts. Snowshoeing is an out-of-the-back-door-and-up-the-slope activity, powered by cornflakes.  

There are many valley-based firms specialising in a self-propelled activities — such Chamonix Parapente’s (www.chamonix-parapente.fr) year-round paragliding, or Cham Aventures (www.cham-aventures.com) offers rafting, canyoning, or hydroglisse-guided swimming trips down the River Arve with just a helmet, flippers and a plastic float. 

In the summer, self-supported hiking and cycle touring are becoming more popular. Several holiday companies use Chamonix as a base for five-day mountain-bike tours of Mont Blanc, taking in France, Switzerland and Italy. These trips are based on the classic walker’s route around the mountain, which takes about a week and involves some ice scrambles. There are also spring and summer multi-day road bike tours. 

www.chamonix.com  