The violent and cold winds of the storm Eleanor at the beginning of this year caused considerable damage to the Panoramic Mont-Blanc. The carrying cable - which carries the cabins - was severed, causing two cabins to fall on the Glacier du Géant.
The Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola connects the peaks of Aiguille du Midi (3,778m) in Chamonix and Pointe Helbronner (3,462m) in Italy. The gondola works only in the summer and offers a breathtaking view at around 3,500 meters above sea level.
Panoramic Mont-Blanc closed this summer 2018
According to Le Dauphine, a construction project will start this week and will continue throughout the summer season, probably until mid-September, the time to perform all verification and control tests.
The official reopening of the Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola is scheduled for spring 2019.
Two-Phase construction project
The works will begin this Friday 1st June 2018. The cable weighs 30 tons and it must be transported with a Kamov helicopter at a high altitude up to the Gros Rognon point, where the mid station is located.
- Phase one: the CMB team will remove the severed cable from the Glacier du Géant. (four carrying cables composing the installation, the one that fell connects Helbronner and Gros Rognon on the left line as we look from the Italian station).
Mathieu Dechavanne, Chairman & CEO of Compagnie du Mont-Blanc and Antoine Burnet, Sales and Marketing Director said that "This 3.2-kilometer stretch has been partially removed but there are still 2,800 meters to be extracted from the glacier". In case the task would prove to be impossible to complete in some areas, the visible parts will be cut off.
- Second Phase: the CMB team will replace the damaged portion, and connect the new cable that is 3,200 meters long with a thickness of 30 millimeters and weights more than 18 tons.
