On 5 February 2020, the Bochard gondola was affected by the strong wind that blew over the Chamonix valley & is now out of service.
"The safety line has broken", says Mathieu Dechavanne, CEO of Compagnie du Mont-Blanc.
"This is not a big repair", continues Mathieu Dechavanne, hoping that the repairs will be finalised in no time.
The wind blew hard over the Chamonix valley on 5 February 2020 and the safety line of the Bochard gondola gave way.
"It is a security element. So we had to evacuate people and close the gondola", explains Mathieu Dechavanne.
At a reduced speed of 1 m / second (instead of 6 in normal times), the passengers from the cabins were evacuated, one after the other.
The cable broke at 2.30 pm, and the evacuation process was finalised at 4 pm.
Mathieu Dechavanne hopes that the manufacturer will be able to come on 6 February 2020, so the gondola will reopen in due time.
The CEO also specifies that "this event is solely related to the wind and has nothing to do with the permafrost issues encountered last winter".
