Where to Ski And Snowboard - New gondola for Courchevel Moriond

New gondola for Courchevel Moriond

23rd November 2017, by Abi Butcher

The new Courchevel 1650 gondola will carry nearly twice as many skiers as before

The French ski resort of Courchevel has a new lift for the coming season, a replacement gondola for the old Courchevel Moriond Ariondaz bubble lift — at a cost of €22million.

The replacement gondola for Courchevel Moriond (formerly known as Courchevel 1650) has an eight-person cabin, and will cut the journey time from the previous lift, built in 1974, from 10.5 minutes to seven minutes. It will carry 2,400 skiers and snowboarders per hour compared with the previous lift’s capacity of 1,500 people per hour.

Philippe Mottier, operations manager of S3V ski lift company, said: “We decided to totally refurbish the sector at the same time; removing three drag lift cables and the previous gondola lift cable with its EDF-style pylons, burying the remaining two electric cables underground… in a bid to create more space and improve the landscape.”

M Mottier added: “We have also taken the opportunity to reshape some of the slopes, such as Marquis, which had a slight incline, therefore requiring more snow.”

Courchevel Moriond also has a brand new 3km toboggan run for the coming season — with 400m vertical descent, eight tunnels and Monaco-style turns. The floodlit Luge XXL will go from the top of the new lift down into the village, handily stopping right outside the Portetta, where tobogganers can stop for a drink in the hotel’s outdoor terrace bar, Fire and Ice.

Read Where to Ski and Snowboard‘s independent review of Courchevel here.