According to a press release issued by the the lift operator Compagnie du Mont-Blanc, following the work of the teams at the Aiguille du Midi, the Panoramic Mont Blanc gondola re-opens Thursday 8th June 2017, at 9am. Check here the full timetable
So, the travel across the Vallée Blanche and the glacier du Geant, from the Aiguille du Midi (3,842m) to Pointe Helbronner (3,462m) is possible to public from today, 8th June. The Panoramic gondola is back in service, after a technical incident last year.
This summer 2017, the Panoramic Mont Blanc gondola is open from 8th June until 24th September included.
For more information about opening hours and prices check out the website: http://www.montblancnaturalresort.com/en/horaires-tarifs-aiguille-du-midi
The Panoramic Mont Blanc gondola: Aiguille du Midi
The Panoramic Mont Blanc gondola offers you amazing views of Mont Blanc. You can start your trip in France (Chamonix) or in Italy (Helbronner). You will take in the blue sky and white surroundings of high mountain terrain admiring the crevasses and seracs below and contemplating the groups of roped climbers scaling the glacial mass.
A return trip to Italy and back or a one way journey. Don’t forget your binoculars!
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 stuckd there.
According to Le Duphine, some facilities have been added in the stations and inside the cabins, these improvements to the gondola will reduce the risk of the crossover cables.
Improvements to the Panoramic Mont-Blanc Gondola:
- The accelerations at the exit of the station are now softer, which limits the movements of cables;
- The rescue engine capacity at Helbronner station was increased and a second winch was added at the Helbronner station to provide redundancy, these improvements aim to increase the ability to carry out an eventual unwinding of cables;
- The cabin survival kits have been completed, each cabin features survival bags with warm clothes and food enabling passengers to wait in the best possible conditions, during evacuation operations.
The prefecture of Haute-Savoie announced that an "ultimate plan emergency" was developed by the PGHM of Chamonix, in collaboration with the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc "in case of a prolonged technical damage".
Also, in the case of a helicopter rescue impossible for weather reasons, a device will allow the use of "motorized trolleys to carry rescuers in each cabin in order to provide support, assistance and even first aid to the visitors during the time of repair".
