New Gondola From Base of Vallee Blanche Opens
New Gondola From Base of Vallee Blanche Opens
Published : 03-Feb-2024 09:09
The new Mer de Glace gondola that takes skiers and boarders up from the glacier at the end of the world-longest lift-served ski run, the Vallée Blanche above Chamonix, has opened this morning.
The lift replaces a gondola built three decades ago to where the ice was in the early 1990s. Subsequently more than 550 metal steps had to be created below its base station and the glacier as it rapidly thawed away. Ascending the steps at the end of the run in your ski boots carrying your skis became a greater challenge than the run itself.
The new gondola reaches the ice about 600 metres further up, making the Vallée Blanche shorter for most skiers. It's expected steps will be needed again in the years to come but Chamonix's lift company say this will be the last gondola and tourism habits will just have to change.
The lift had been due to open at the start of the season two months ago, but construction delays, mainly associated with 'green construction techniques;' including avoiding the use of helicopters, delayed it.
Currently the gondola is available for skiers and boarders to use for return from the Vallée Blanche from 10:30 to 16:00 and used to go up hill from the Glacier to the Montenvers railway station for the return train ride to Chamonix. There is no pedestrian access using the new lift to get down to the glacier from Montenvers at the moment.
The old gondola has been decommissioned and is due to be removed and replaced by a new 'Glaciorium' glacier information centre being built through this year.
It can still be possible to ski the full Vallée Blanche past the gondola to the town when there's enough snow but it requires removing skis and boards and some ropes skills to negotiate the boulder field at the base of the glacier.
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