On Friday 20 January 2023, the mayor of Chamonix, Eric Fournier and the CEO of the Compagnie du Mont Blanc, Mathieu Dechavanne, officially inaugurated the new Charamillon gondola in the presence of many elected officials and guests.
This new cable car replaces an aging gondola designed in the 1980s.
The Tour/Balme site is one of the three main ski areas in the town along with Brévent/Flégère and Lognan/Les Grands Montets. It undoubtedly needed modernization in order to guarantee the sustainability of the operation and restore an attractiveness that has eroded in recent years.
Twenty million euros have been invested in the renovation
An ambitious renovation operation, with the primary concern of better integration into the landscape, was carried out by the municipality of Chamonix in direct connection with its operator, the Compagnie du Mont Blanc (CMB) and in close consultation with local residents.
Work to replace the Charamillon gondola began in the spring of 2021 and the commissioning of the new device has been effective since December 2022.
The costs of the renovation works: twenty million euros.
The new Charamillon gondola
Two new stations have been built:
- The departure station (1489 m), in place of the old one at the top of the village;
- The arrival station (1865m) in Charamillon, slightly offset upstream compared to the location of the previous one.
They are both heated with Pellet. The bottom station is home to the ski school. The cabins are stored in the top station, which has reduced the volume of the departure station.
The new ski lift consists of 39 cabins with 10 places and has a flow rate of 2200 people/h and will also operate during the summer because the skips have been designed to accommodate mountain bikes.
Redevelopment of the car park
In parallel with the replacement of the gondola, the municipality wanted to carry out the redevelopment of the car park and the redefinition of the methods of parking and circulation on the site.
The aim is to improve the public transport service by creating a dedicated bus lane.
Development work began in the fall of 2022 on the left bank. The development of the car park on the right bank will be carried out in the spring of 2023.
Source: @www.chamonix.fr
