Les Houches
| Les Houches | ||
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Les Houches: the village centre
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 Les Houches
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Location within Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
Les Houches
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| Coordinates: 45°53′27″N 6°47′57″E / 45.8908°N 6.7992°ECoordinates: 45°53′27″N 6°47′57″E / 45.8908°N 6.7992°E | ||
| Country | France | |
| Region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | |
| Department | Haute-Savoie | |
| Arrondissement | Bonneville | |
| Canton | Chamonix-Mont-Blanc | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor (2014–2020) | Xavier Roseren | |
| Area1 | 43.07 km2 (16.63 sq mi) | |
| Population (2014)2 | 2,942 | |
| • Density | 68/km2 (180/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 74143 / 74310 | |
| Elevation | 796–4,280 m (2,612–14,042 ft) (avg. 1,008 m or 3,307 ft) |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Les Houches is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France.
Les Houches, located 6 kilometres from Chamonix, is a ski resort with a domain which extends from an altitude of 950 metres up to 1900 metres. Long descents through tree-lined slopes are combined with impressive views of the Mont Blanc massif and the Chamonix valley.
The Les Houches pistes are regularly used for international events, most notably the 'Kandahar' run, which is used annually for the Men's Downhill World Cup Ski Championships. Les Houches provides a training ground for the French National Ski Team and the Ski Club of Great Britain. The skiing area consists of one international black run, 12 red runs, five blue runs, and four green runs as well as cross-country trails and two snow parks. Extensive artificial snow coverage is provided by a new network of 67 snow canons covering 19 hectares. There are nursery slopes at Le Tourchet in the centre of the village itself, a Jardin du Neige for very young children skiers next to Lac de Chavants, and a new nursery area at the top of the Prarion lift.
Les Houches is twinned with the Russian villages of Sochi and Krasnaya-Polyana and was chosen by the International Olympic Committee to assist in the organization of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
The village is home to a famous physics summer school (the École de Physique des Houches), founded by Cécile DeWitt-Morette. It has been attended by two dozen Nobel prize laureates, either as teachers or as students before they received their prize. Additionally, the Les Houches Accords, which are important in high energy physics, were written here.
Les Houches is the starting- and finishing-point of the popular Tour du Mont Blanc, a 7- to 10-day walk around the base of the Mont-Blanc Massif which takes in France, Italy, and Switzerland.
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Wikipedia