UKC

Hi there,

Considering relocating  to Chamonix area from Bristol and looking for some tips and heads up from people who live there and know the area a bit.

Me and Mrs are climbers and skiers and just had our daughter a year ago. So looking for some family place to bring our daughter up, while not cut down on climbing and skiing but the opposite to have easy oportunities all year around

We do not need to work there as I am working on rotations all over the place on rigs and wind turbines and Mrs works remotely. I have EU passport and my Mrs is French so legally that should not be a problem.

Obviously everything is mega expensive and Cham as such is out of question but maybe we can manage to scrape some cash to buy something a bit down the road. Maybe just a plot and build as that seems cheaper.

Anyone dome something similar, lives there and can share their experiences and opinions.

Many thanx.

Pete

... From friends who moved to the Annecy area; this seems to be cheaper, Chamonix is reasonably close, as are climbing areas for early and late season... And skiing as well. And a lake should the child be so inclined. 

look at Servoz. pleasant village.Down the valley but on the autoroute and the railway. In the opposite direction towards Switzerland Vallorcine. 

Servoz is sunny and just inside the Chamonix council area, so you can get a residents pass allowing free travel in the valley and cheap (relatively) ski passes.

Steve

As an alternative, does it have to be the Mt Blanc area ? - there are  many other areas which although not Chamonix do have other advantages such as better weather & cheaper housing

Well I think we would Cham area as its quite international, close to Geneva airport, have some friends near Geneva. And then I personaly like the idea of the cable car going to 3800m. I am hoping for nice place for our family, but still have the option for big adventure without spending time driving, walking in for skitouring or mountaneering. I am working half of my time away from my family. So cannot justify spending more for going on climbing trips. Near Cham I would be able to drop my daughter to school, jump on the cable car do some decent ski descent and be back in the afternoon. That might be just my imagination but was hoping its possible. Plus my wife is staying alone when I am working and Cham has some internal community. Even tough she is french we prefer a bit of a mix.