Skiers rescued from broken lift in Chamrousse

26th December 2017, by Abi Butcher

A gondola broke down in the French ski resort of Chamrousse, stranding 150 people

Around 150 skiers and snowboarders were trapped in a lift in the French Alps on Christmas Eve, prompting a huge rescue operation.

A gondola in the French ski resort of Chamrousse broke down at around 3pm local time on Sunday, 24 December, trapping around 150 people. The breakdown occurred when several parts of the lift system failed — but the gondola itself is fairly new, installed in 2009 and carrying 10 people per cabin to the top of Croix de Chamrousse (2,250m).

Two helicopters were involved in the rescue, with members of the mountain rescue team being lowered on top of each cabin to evacuate the trapped skiers through hatches in the bottom of each gondola, and lower them to safety using ropes.

It’s the type of scenario for which mountain rescue teams practice regularly, and the whole rescue — of 150 skiers — is reported to have taken two and a half hours. No one was injured.

• ski
• snowboard
• france
• lift
• chamrousse

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