The Compagnie du Mont Blanc which operates ski lifts and maintains slopes in the Vallee Blanche has warned that recent winds which reached speeds of 135mph in the area have revealed major damage to the Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola which hangs across the upper part of the glacier.
However the main damage appears to have been caused by ice and frost as much as by the gales themselves.
“Following the Eleanor gale-force winds of over 220 km/h and the weight of the accumulated frost on the cables, serious damage to sections of the bearer cable of the Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola have been discovered,” a statement from The Compagnie du Mont Blanc advises, continuing,
“We highly recommend that skiers and mountaineers in the Vallée Blanche be particularly careful when in the vicinity of the Panoramic gondola line. Sections of the cable may be present on the glacier.”
The Compagnie du Mont Blanc say that their teams are working to render the zone safe and to remove the debris but the subsequent extreme winter weather conditions means the operations will take a while.
“It is therefore important to be vigilant in the upper section of the Vallée Blanche in the sector called “Vallée Blanche classique”, on the itinerary called “Variante du Gros Rognon” and in general in the entire zone between “Gros Rognon”, “Col des Flambeaux” and the “Pointe Helbronner,” the statement concludes.
The Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola, which operates from the Aiguille du Midi (3,842m) to Pointe Helbronner (3,462m) on a return loop, normally operates in the summer months for sightseers.
The lift previously hit the headlines 16 months ago on 8th September 2016 when the lift cables became tangled trapping 110 people on board, 33 overnight, with some getting hypothermia as a result. The Compagnie du Mont Blanc have since spent €350,000 installing radios and emergency kits into each of the cabins and taking other safety measures to avoid a repeat of that incident.
