La Chamoniarde, a society for mountain safety prevention and rescue La Chamoniarde is involved on a daily basis with rescue, providing information, promoting safety and training. If the initiative for such an organisation came first from the town then it is thanks to the partnership of those who felt concerned and who put time and effort into it that it has come to fruition and evolved ... Setting up of the association • International cooperation • Rescue on daily basis • Safety aids
LA CHAMONIARDE IS A NON PROFIT MAKING ORGANISATION Since 1946, the mountain received more and more visitors, so the number of accidents increased. The mayor of Chamonix, was responsible for safety within his town and delegated the organisation of rescues to the President of the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix. However, faced with an upsurge in the number of rescues, the guides were no longer able to handle it by themselves. On 30th June 1948, on the initiative of the Chamonix town, La Chamoniarde was created. Public rescue services did not exist at that time, so the association’s first role was to organise rescues.
AIM OF THE ORGANISATION La Chamoniarde aim is to contribute to the development of safety in the mountains and to promote knowledge of the Alpine environment to improve individual or collective safety. Situated at the heart of the Mont-Blanc range, la Chamoniarde gives an important place to the international cooperation.
TASKS OF LA CHAMONIARDE • Rescue
La Chamoniarde has under certain conditions, the tasks of organising the resources destined for the search or the rescue of those people lost or victims of mountain accidents. It carries out this task with the full collaboration with the national rescue network.

It takes part in research and development of rescue equipment. It runs some of the infrastructures used for rescue for the town of Chamonix Mont-Blanc.
It instigated and runs the safety radio network “Alert Mont-Blanc”.

• Prevention
Knowledge of the Alpine environment and awareness of the conditions are together a guarantee of safety in the mountains. For this reason, La Chamoniarde is equipped with various aids and means of increasing public awareness of the risks inherent in mountain sports. It provides all year round information service on mountain conditions at the office of the OHM and the Météo Site (Weather site).


• Training
Since 2002, La Chamoniarde has organised free awareness training days run by mountain guides. Schoolchildren, young members of Sport clubs, residents and holidaymakers can participate to these trainings. People interested in off-piste skiing can learn about avalanches, group behaviour, safety on glacier, awareness of information and how to read the terrain.
Alpine activities extend beyond borders as does our friendship which links us with our neighbours in the Aosta valley. The starting up of the Interreg project “safety around the Mont-Blanc range” has enabled us to strengthen our cooperation with the Montagne Sûre Foundation, which is involved in similar activities.