Nip Lance

Nip Lance

A glance at Chamonix Mont Blanc

Located in the shadow of Mont Blanc - the highest mountain in Europe at 4807m, Chamonix lives and breathes mountain history. Chamonix has long been hailed as a mecca for climbing and mountain climbing, bearded men in the rigor of the Alps battered arts seen walking around town and delighting the audience with tales of unfortunate cracks jumping, dodging fallen rocks and climbing peaks. There Mont Blanc who joined the north face of Les Drus to be addressed Les Grandes Jorasses and inspire. In fact, Chamonix for the first time to prominence as a summer resort in the 19th century and the cable first opened in Le Brevant summer for hikers.

Chamonix is now equally famous for its winter activities as one of the most challenging ski resorts in the world, including the famous Vallée Blanche - better known outside Chamonix track adventure. From the Aigille du Midi, one of the most visited and amazing panoramic views in the world - with the services of a guide, you can ski a 22 km uninterrupted past blue ice formations, glaciers, yawning crevasses and jumping. A drop 2.8 km vertical through some of the most incredible landscapes of the Alps. Then, of course, Les Grands Montets with the legendary track and glacial variations, the Aiguilles Rouges and Chevre De Pas.

But perhaps the reputation of Chamonix and deserves a rethink. Of course, there is still a bewildering variety of increasingly extreme sports to attempt new routes for hiking, skiing cool ravines, but Chamonix ski combines its internationally renowned with an elegant, bustling cosmopolitan city. With cobblestone streets, stately old buildings, rich heritage and open spaces Chamonix is more than a ski resort and has retained much of its original charm Mountain and retains a very French, very friendly and very alpine environment. In fact, Chamonix is quietly transforming an enclave of climbers and skiers in a wrinkled much more international, stylish and varied.

Yes, climbers still flock to Chamonix in the summer and bustle unwashed skiers to be the first to the mountain to carve your footprints in the snow, but now Chamonix attracts a much more eclectic. You're as likely to find the channel opening a store front local scale to the local spit and sawdust transformed into an elegant restaurant. That does not mean local French smoky bars packed to the rafters with mountaineers are not big, it's just that now are competing for attention with a mixed clientele.

There is a huge range of activities for visitors to enjoy. With an impressive swimming and sports complex, beauty salons, spas, golf, ice skating, skiing, paragliding, husky sledding museum snowshoe tour, film, casino and the weekly market with fresh local produce and a large number of shops, designer boutiques, bars, restaurants, cafes terraces and nightclubs, Chamonix offers a combination of skiing, old town charm, after skiing and shopping, which uses few can match.

There are also plenty of options when it comes to dining out. All tastes and budgets are met because of hamburgers Poco Loco mandatory for savoyarde traditional fondue L'Atmosphere and nine courses of gastronomic delights in the two strategic Michelin Albert Premier. Or, within 20 minutes, you can cut in the massif of Mont Blanc via Mont Blanc tunnel and get to Courmayeur in Italy, with its own special regional varieties. And if you tire of shopping and resorts, salami and knives then Annecy is just an hour away - the Venice of the Alps - with its beautiful old town and the sparkling lake. And did I mention shopping?

This is not to mention the breathtaking landscapes of high mountain glaciers falling, the rise in Needles, hire one of Europe's highest cable - the Aiguille du Midi at 3842m - the Mer de Glace, the natural park arbre Merlet and adventure for children and families and a mountain town, beautiful and traditional mountain villages and hamlets scattered through the valley of Chamonix. Whether you are looking for a ski or snowboard holiday in Chamonix, or a summer alpine mountain bike, canyoning, hiking, climbing and more Chamonix has the answers.

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