Saint-Gervais-les-Bains

The Mont Blanc massif viewed from the locality of the "Pierre Platte"

St Gervais les Bains (also referred to as St Gervais or St Gervais Mont Blanc) is a traditional French market and spa town, not a recently purpose built resort, and so has a significant year round population, rather than just seasonal and is full of historical buildings giving it the traditional charm much sought after in the Alps.^[4]

In winter, the main draw is of course snow sports, and the resort has a multi-national client base. It is increasing in popularity among British holiday-makers. The summer sees tourists arrive from around the world to explore the fair weather alpine activities available such as mountain biking, climbing, hiking, paragliding, and rafting. Visitors also make use of the all year thermal spa 'Les Thermes' which sits within the 'Parc Thermal' in the lower village of Le Fayet.

There are no major tour operators bringing the mass market to the town and the majority of owner operated chalet operators that were offering catered accommodation to guests have now stopped whilst the remaining ones are independent "owner-run" chalets, whilst some new luxury chalets have been built and more are planned. Therefore, the town and the ski area, which is the 3rd largest in France with 445 km of piste and includes Megeve, Combloux, Les Contamines and La Giettaz avoid the heavy congestion of some of this resort's neighbours. Investment in the ski area in terms of new lifts and snow cannons is high with 5 new 6 person express chair lifts in the last 10 years with the latest for the 2019/20 season. The STBMA, has been reappointed as Operator of the Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc Ski Area for the next 30 years with an investment program of €157,000,000 including €48,000,000 between 2019 and 2026.^[5] 2 additional new lifts are planned at present, one to link the thermal park to the town and the other to reduce traffic coming to the main cable car as it will link the mainline station in le Fayet to the main cable car and received the backing of the region in a visit in July 2020.

Property prices are generally less than that of some nearby resorts and demand for property is very high both for main homes and second homes.

The main railway station for Saint-Gervais is the Gare de Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet. The Mont Blanc Tramway departs from the forecourt of Le Fayet station and reaches the Nid d'Aigle station at the Bionnassay glacier at an altitude of 2,372 m (7,782 ft). The Saint-Gervais–Vallorcine railway, a metre gauge line, departs from Le Fayet station and takes you to Chamonix and across the Swiss border to Martigny. Numerous other destinations throughout France (including direct trains to Paris) can be accessed from the main SNCF station at Le Fayet, and the main resort is just a 10-minute descent to the nearby A40 Peage motorway to Geneva, Lyon, Paris and connecting to the rest of the French motorway network.

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Saint-Gervais–Vallorcine railway

Saint-Gervais–Vallorcine railway

The Saint-Gervais–Vallorcine railway, also known as the Saint-Gervais–Vallorcine Line, is a single-track 36.5 km (22.7 mi) long metre gauge railway in France connecting the SNCF's Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet station with Vallorcine station and the border with Switzerland through Chamonix. Opened in stages between 1901 and 1908 by the Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM), it is part of the main SNCF network as far as Vallorcine. To Le Châtelard is run by the Swiss company Transports de Martigny et Régions (TMR), which also operates the Martigny–Châtelard Railway.

Chamonix

Chamonix

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had a population of 8,640.

Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located at the confluence of Western, Central and Southern Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.

Martigny

Martigny

Martigny is the capital city of the district of Martigny, canton of Valais, Switzerland. It lies at an elevation of 471 meters (1,545 ft), and its population is approximately 15000 inhabitants. It is a junction of roads joining Italy, France and Switzerland. One road links it over the Great St. Bernard Pass to Aosta (Italy), and the other over the col de la Forclaz to Chamonix (France). In winter, Martigny is known for its numerous nearby Alp ski resorts such as Verbier.

The French ski jumper Marie Hoyau is a native of St. Gervais.^[7]

During the night of 11 July 1892, an underground water pocket burst out of the Tête Rousse Glacier on the slopes of the mountains above the town. It flooded the immediate valley, passing through the hamlet of Bionnay where the local school and other buildings survived, it by passed the town of St Gervais and flooded the Thermal establishment which was a residential establishment at the time in the parc Thermal in Le Fayet, killing 200 people in its path. In 2010, the rediscovery of a large water pocket deep within the glacier caused alarm as it had the potential to threaten another outburst flood. Melt-water pumping, formal evacuation plans and installation of a siren alarm system in 2010 have all been implemented to reduce the threat to life. The risk zone was considerably reduced in 2017 thanks to the measures taken notable that the level of the glacial lake is controlled and pumped out if the water level rises, so reducing the threat to life and to property.^[8][9][10]