New lifts across The Alps
Thursday August 19, 2010 - Email this article to a friend

Les 2 Alpes needs no introduction as it is popular with British skiers and snowboarders.

Next winter it will have a new quad chairlift as part of the resort's upgrade.

It has cost €2.7m and will improve access to the La Fee sector.

The lift is 474m long, goes up 164 vertical metres and can carry 2,000 people per hour.

Work began a few weeks ago and seven towers are currently being installed during August.

Expensive constructionsThen the drive terminal, cables and electricity follow. Testing takes place in late October and it should be ready by November.

Other improvements include  €1m being spent on new signs to help people get round the ski area better.

Some people have criticised the sign-posting in the resort.

If you like you facts then here are some: More than 500 directional arrows will be put up, 160 sign posts and 15 electronic notice boards with scrolling information will be installed.

Finally two new CATEX avalanche triggers are being installed at a cost of €700,000.

Meanwhile, as we are reporting on the southern French Alps, the neighbouring resort of Alpe d'Huez has been given an environmental award, the ISO 14001.

It is an internationally recognised and well-respected indication of progress in the environmental field.

The resort says the environmental work doesn't stop now and it is currently looking at how waste treatment should be managed.

In particular for chemical products, with procedures being examined to deal with any potential pollution issues like oil leaks from piste bashers and the lifts. 

The resort is also looking at ways of reducing the number of new ski lift pylons and better integrating them in to the surrounding landscape.

It even claims that staff will be trained to have improved eco awareness/sensitivity and piste basher drivers will be trained to, "drive ecologically." 

Take your foot off the gas

€150,000 is already invested each year on selected seed-sowing and the resort has a programme that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions via a territorial energy plan.

Their commitments include measuring the resort's current carbon footprint in 2010 so that future improvements can be measured against the current level.

Work in progress

Perhaps a slightly less known resort is Pralognan in the French Savoie region. 

Now here at PlanetSKI we can't quite describe it as one of the Alp's best-kept secrets, but it is a great resort that few British have heard of.

Next winter it will have new quad and six-seater chairlifts.

The old Edelweiss chair is going, to be replaced with a high- speed detachable six-seat lift.  The 2 person, Chaberne chair, is being replaced by a quad.

It should make getting up the mountain a swifter affair.

Pralognan is a traditional, quiet mountain village set among  beautiful fir and spruce trees  by the Vanoise national park, close to Courchevel and La Plagne. 

There's some pretty good off-piste on Les Pariettes and right up to the 3,855m high Pointe de la Grande Casse from where descents of nearly 2,500m are possible.

Meanwhile as we are on the subject of new lifts the sound of chainsaws can be heard in the woods west of Choteau in Montana, USA.

The Teton Pass ski area has just changed hands and $3m is being spent over the next two years expanding the terrain.

The resort has been shut for a while and needs a fair bit of work.  Once done it should be pretty good as the area has an average of 6.5m of snow each winter.

We'll bring you more news from the resorts as the season approaches. 

Here is an earlier PlanetSKI report with news from Les Arcs, Gstaad and Alpbach.

If you work for a resort or ski area and  you have any interesting developements for next winter that you want to tell our fast-growing readership about then do please send in the information to inbox@planetski.eu.

We can't promise to publish it, but we can promise to read it.

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