The 2020 summer Season in Chamonix is going to be very different to normal. Firstly, All the major sporting events are cancelled. No Marathon du Mont-Blanc, No climbing championships and no UTMB (Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc) to name just a few. Although this might be very annoying for the thousands of people who were planning to come and run one of the events (myself included), it could prove to be catastrophic for some of the local businesses who rely heavily on these busy periods to get through the summer.
Travel restrictions and travel concernes are also going to effect the tourist industry in Chamonix either through an inability to travel or a reluctance for people to travel. At the time of writing the UK have just introduced a 14 day quarantine to all travelers arriving in the UK, France have returned the move, so…until we hear more there will be very little travel between these two counties.
How can any of this be good news, well, for those people that manage to jump through all the hoops and actually make it here to Chamonix it’s largely business as usual. Bars and restaurants are open or opening with little or no restrictions. Hotels are opening and offering great deals to try and fill up their empty rooms. The Chamonix ”Golf” is open, Montenvers mountain railway, L’Aguille du Midi télécabine and most importantly the mountains haven’t gone anywhere. In fact the mountains are empty, very few visitors mean only locals are able to appreciate the valley trails.
The local bus services are starting their regular services over the next few weeks and of course our taxi service is available for anyone needing to get around so in many ways there has never been a better time to visit Chamonix or indeed anywhere in the Alps, provided you can get here!
