the craft industry
Due to their isolation, the people of Sixt had to be virtually self-sufficient. They were lumberjacks, sawyers, joiners, carpenters and blacksmiths. They learned to make cheese and preserve meats.
Later, some became peddlers and in the winter they travelled all over Europe. Others became stone cutters as did many inhabitants of the Haut Giffre valley, from Taninges to Sixt. They left their village for months on end to build churches, town halls, fortifications and other buildings in Switzerland, France and in Germany.
These skills can still be found today as many people live by the seasons - ski instructor in the winter, joiner in the spring and autumn and mountain refuge keepers in the summer...