Courchevel is spending €17m this summer replacing two old chairlifts and a gondola with two new state-of-the-art six-seat detachable chairlifts.
The new lifts are just a small part of the €140m spend announced last season by the 3 Valleys lift companies to spend on infrastructure improvements by 2019 – 70% of it on upgrading lifts. This summer Courchevel has also spent on more new low energy snowmaking and run improvements.
The first new lift, the Forêt chairlift, replaces an old four-person gondola with a faster, more comfortable lift which will provide a better connection from the village of Courchevel Le Praz. It has more than double the capacity of the old lift it replaces at 2,400 skiers per hour compared with 1,000 previously.
The second new chair lift in L’Aiguille du Fruit in Courchevel Moriond replaces both the Gravelles and L’Aiguille du Fruit chair lifts in the Creux area improving the connection between Courchevel Moriond and Courchevel.
It will transport 3,300 skiers/hour which is a higher capacity than the two previous structures put together and will improve the visual impact requiring 11 pylons instead of 30.
“We strive to protect the area in which we live and work,” said Thomas Thor-Jensen, Ski Area Director, “That means having installations which consume less energy and are less restrictive on the land on which they stand.”