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At the beginning...
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The ski resorts were established between the two world wars. This period, the "big bang" of the winter sports, ended with the creation of a renowned resort in Haute Savoie just after 1945. This resort was an achievment of the baroness of Rotschild to challenge the neighbouring Swiss alpine resorts. |
At the beginning, most resorts were called “inserted”, (i.e. buildings in harmony with landscapes). However, the architecture does not always respect the traditional style of the mountain in the region.
Between the 70’s and the 80’s, a new generation of resorts was established with constructions style, which respects the architectural style of the Alpine Valley (woods, stones and louses). Montchavin is part of this new generation.
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At first, Montchavin was a little village basically living from farming and agriculture. At the beginning of the 70’s, there were only 12 inhabitants in the village. Indeed, young inhabitants flew the valley because of the drop of agricultural and industrial activities in Tarentaise.
To remedy this rural exodus, Auguste Mudry, the commune’s mayor, decided on a renovation and development plan for the village. He asked the SAP (The company in charge of the development of La Plagne resort) to invest in Montchavin. This request was accepted on condition to create at least five hundred tourist beds for the installation of the first ski lift and 1500 tourist beds for a link with La Plagne.
The architect Michel Bezançon was in charge of the renovation of the village. The new buildings were built near the village centre (next to the slopes), the centre of the village is renovated and all shops established.
The bed capacity reached 1500 in Montchavin in 1973. The SAP built the chair lift “Arpette” and the “Dos Rond” and “Salla” chair lifts were built too. There is also a link with the La Plagne ski area.
