Wilderness guide Sophie Nolan spent her 20s living and working around Europe, guiding in some of the continent’s most picturesque locations, from the frozen north of Finland to the peaks of the Alps and the Dolomites.
It was while working in Finland as a husky and back-country ski guide that she considered a permanent move to France.
Sophie Nolan@sidetrackedadventures
“I hit an age where I thought I’d quite like all my stuff to be in one place and to maybe put down some roots,” she said.
She had worked in Chamonix before, so it became the obvious choice for a permanent base.
“Chamonix ticked a lot of boxes: incredible access to the outdoors, a really welcoming community. Every time I returned, I couldn’t believe this was a place you could live.”
There is nowhere that compares to Chamonix when it comes to access to the mountains, she says.
“The amount of infrastructure, the ski lifts and the trains… You can go up into the high mountains, be up at 3,800m, and come back down for dinner. There aren’t many places in the world where you can do that quite so easily.”
Today, Sophie runs her own guiding company, Sidetracked Adventures, taking visitors on multi-day adventures hiking through the Alps in summer and skiing through Finland in winter.
Sophie's company takes people on multi-day adventures@sidetrackedadventures
Chamonix is a hub of mountaineering, climbing and running, she says, “so it’s this beautiful eclectic mix of people that love the same things you do.
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“There are people doing very impressive stuff and people just living day-to-day who raise children here. I think that was the biggest draw. I thought: ‘Wow imagine this life that you could give to your child… that kind of connection (to nature).’”
As well as the outdoors, there is “always something going on” music and culture-wise in Chamonix, and family and friends love to visit.
A new way of life
A difference she has noticed between Chamonix and the UK is care for both the natural environment and local services.
“Everybody appreciates the importance of looking after things,” she says. “The French put a lot of effort into their services, from swimming pools and healthcare to how the town looks.”
Another difference is a better work-life balance, meaning she has picked up new hobbies such as skateboarding.
“I feel like the focus is on your hobbies and the things that you love, and it’s not so much driven by work.”
There are plenty of places in Chamonix to go off the beaten track@sidetrackedadventures
But it has not all been plain sailing. Learning French is proving especially challenging.
“I felt like I was already ticking off some pretty niche languages – my Finnish was good and I grew up in a Welsh school. And yet since I’ve been here I have really struggled.”
Chamonix is so international, many people reply to her in English when she begins a conversation in French.
“It’s been my goal this year to push to the next level and really knuckle down with it.”
Having always focused on wilderness adventures, at first Sophie wondered if the Alps – so popular with tourists – was “wilderness enough” for her trips.
“But once I got to know the area more I found the places where you can get off the beaten track. Even in Chamonix you can do one hike and see every man and his dog and you can go further down the valley and see no one all day.”
Despite a packed schedule of guiding and running her own business, Sophie has never felt better since moving to France.
“I just feel like I base my life around the things that I enjoy. It’s been the best decision I’ve ever made.”
