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Afternoon 4°c

Reopening of the Chariande Express chairlift on 27/12

A look back at an eventful repair!

Since the beginning of the day on December 24th, the Grand Massif Domaines Skiables Team and SEMER (POMA company, manufacturer of the device) have been in action to resolve the breakdown of the Chariande Express chairlift as soon as possible.

Timeline :

– December 24th, 8pm: a new engine was transported from the Taninges logistics service to the summit of the Tête des Saix at 2120m altitude (arrival station of the chairlift).

– 3 snow groomers were needed to transport and tow the 2-tonne engine.

– December 25th, 7:30 a.m.: a team of 9 people was mobilized to replace the engine and extract the old one from the station without helicopter means unavailable on this public holiday but thanks to lifting techniques mobilizing the staff.

– December 25th, 3.30 pm: new engine is in place, the first adjustments and tests can be carried out

– December 27th: Reopening of the Chariande Express chairlift at 9am.

To find out the opening status of the ski lifts and slopes, see this next page.

Incidents of Tuesday, December 24th

On Christmas Eve, this Tuesday December 24th, the conditions were optimal, with over 100cm of snow on the top of the Grandes Platières in Flaine and a perfect bluebird day.

In summary, it was the ideal setting for this Christmas holiday week. However, some resorts in the Grand Massif faced difficulties when they opened.

The shutdown of the Chariande Express and Coulouvrier chairlifts?

At the same time, in the resort of Samoëns, two chairlifts linking to the rest of the ski area were not working due to different reasons.

- For the Chariande Express chairlift:
There is an engine failure. The teams are still working to resolve this as quickly as possible. One of the two engines is diagnosed as out of service, whereas the second failed to take over for a reason that has not yet been determined.
The staff remains mobilized but the lift remains closed for the moment.

- For the Coulouvrier ski lift, the cause of the incident is related to weather conditions. Indeed, the day was expected to be beautiful with not a cloud on the horizon.
However, the de-icing operation of the lift, which began at dawn, caused a significant delay in its opening. It was put back into operation at 1:10 PM.

These two incidents meant that shuttle buses were laid on to take skiers from Samoëns to the resort of Morillon.

At the same time, the town hall of Samoëns decided to make the car park at the bottom of the Grand Massif Express gondola free for the day in response to this crisis situation.

What is a defrosting operation on a ski lift?

This is a complex operation in the sense that it cannot be carried out during the night.
Aware of the weather conditions (significant snowfall and winter cold), the teams made an early start to their work to enable them to open the lift as quickly as possible.

The operation cannot be automated and must be carried out by ski lift staff.