Hirmentaz (pronounced ''irminte''
Arpitan toponymy
/ref>) is a mountain in eastern France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, belonging to the Chablais Alps
The Chablais Alps are a mountain range in the western Alps. They are situated between Lake Geneva and the Mont Blanc Massif. The Col des Montets separates them from the Mont Blanc Massif in the south, and the Rhône valley separates them from the ...
, and located in the commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
s of Bellevaux, Habère-Poche, Habère-Lullin
Habère-Lullin (; frp, Âbèro d’Avâl) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It lies on the river Menoge, in the ''Vallée Verte''.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Ha ...
and Mégevette. Two ski stations have been set up on its slopes, one, also called Hirmentaz, in the Bellevaux commune, and the other, called Domaine des Habères, in the communes of Habère-Poche Habère-Lullin.
History of Hirmentaz station
In 1963, under the influence of the contemporary mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
of Bellevauxe, Armand Félisaz, 37 local artisans pooled their efforts and resources (each contributing 50,000 French franc
The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...
s) to found a sports equipment and platter lift facility, SESAT (''société d'équipement sportif et d'aménagement du téleski''). They chose Hirmentaz for its ease of access.
The partners themselves carried out the engineering work for the installation of the first lift. There was no snow on the day of the opening ceremony, which took place on the grass. Over 10 years, a new lift was set up approximately every year. In the 1970s, there was discussion of linking the chef-lieu
An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located.
In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
with Hirmentaz via a chair lift
An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...
, but this was never implemented.
In 2000, an artificial lake
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
was set up for water storage and snow cannon
Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun", also known as a "snow cannon". Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliabilit ...
s.
In early winter of 2008, an old chair lift from 1977 was donated to Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...
, and replaced with a faster model.
References
Mountains of the Alps
Mountains of Haute-Savoie
{{HauteSavoie-geo-stub