Tourism Takes Hold: The Valley Transformed

The arrival of the railway in 1901 transformed Chamonix from seasonal destination to year-round resort. What had taken days by diligence now took hours by train. Hotels multiplied, from grand palaces to modest pensions. The permanent population doubled, then tripled, as opportunities in construction, hospitality, and services attracted workers from across France and beyond.

Winter tourism, beginning with the first Winter Olympics in 1924, added another season to the tourist calendar. The games brought international attention and infrastructure investment. Ski lifts sprouted on slopes where cattle once grazed. Hotels installed central heating. The valley began its transformation into a modern resort.

Yet modernization brought tensions. Traditional farming families found their lands suddenly valuable for development. Young people abandoned agricultural work for better-paying jobs in tourism. The Savoyard dialect began disappearing as French—and increasingly, English—dominated commercial interactions.

"My grandmother went from milking cows to managing a hotel in one generation," recounts Sylvie Charlet. "She never forgot the farming calendar, still talked about weather in terms of hay harvests. But she made sure all her children learned English and accounting instead of farming."