Friday 5th January 2018, the storm Eleanor caused considerable damage to the Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola.
The carrying cable of 30 mm diameter allowing in summer the connection between the Aiguille du Midi (3,777m) and the Pointe Helbornner (3,466m) was severed in two places by the strong winds that blew up to 250 kilometers/hour.
According to Le Dauphine, this shearing occurred between Gros Rognon and the Pointe Helbronner, at the level of the "banana" suspended pylon.
According to the CEO of the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc, who operates the ski lift, the cable may be removed from the "guide", a tool allowing to lead it, because of the winds and the presence of 70 centimeters of ice around the cable.
It is at the two endpoints of this "banana", spaced a little less than 20 meters, that the shearing could have taken place. "This is unheard of in the history of the ski lifts," said Mathieu Dechavanne, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the CMB.
The damage was reported on the Italian side this Sunday 7th January 2018.
According to a dispatch from the Italian news agency ANSA, under the effect of the wind, the cable "twisted, began to rub" and because of the snow and frost "broke".
An expertise is underway on the severed cable.
The 2018 summer season could be compromised
According to France Bleu, the cables need to be changed for nearly five kilometers and the summer season of the Panoramic Mont-Blanc could be compromised, the time to do the work.
We remind you that the service of the gondola was stopped in late summer 2016, after an exceptional rescue operation on 8th September 2016, when 110 visitors were stuck at about 3,500 meters, above the summits and glaciers of the massif, of which about thirty people had to spend the night stuck there.
