In Chamonix, 88 kilometers, or 55 miles, from Geneva, the pound's "crippling" decline is making it more difficult to attract Britons, said Simon Warren of Agence Montagne, a real estate company in the town.
"Our biggest problem is that nobody needs a chalet in the Alps," Warren said as he surveyed the plat du jour of Thai chicken at Chambre Neuf, a bar opposite Chamonix train station. "It's the ultimate discretionary spend."
Chamonix, which hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1924, lies in a valley encircled by snow-clad peaks.
The town's population of 9,000 increases 10-fold during the winter as skiers seek such attractions as the Vallée Blanche, a 20-kilometer descent on a snow-covered glacier from the Aiguille du Midi, which has an elevation of 3,842 meters, or 12,600 feet.
