What's New for Winter 2007/8 in The Three Valleys
The latest developments and work during the Summer
Click on the images for the full size pictures
Thanks to Nick at NickSki, Mick at Alpine Escape and Ferg at Ski Deep for the pics
Construction work on the new Tougnette 6 seater chair above Méribel |
New Lifts in the Three ValleysPylons have now been helicoptered in to place and construction of the base station and unloading area is well underway on the new Tougnette chair above MéribelLots of reshaping around the top area too making for more space to unload and for all those people fiddling around with their boots etc...The steep black top section of Tougnette has been reshaped - only reddish steepness now. I always remember Tracy of Ski Higher having a fantastic high speed fall down there a number of years ago - she walked away fine though (to get her skis, poles, hat, goggles etc which were left high up, strewn across the mountain).This high speed / slow boarding detachable 6 seater chair replaces the top section of the Tougnette Gondola heading out of Méribel up to the ridge above St Martin.Using the recently upgraded 6 seater Plan de l'homme chair from the Chaudanne will make this side of the mountain even more accessible without having to take your skis off.Over the ridge the old Allamands chair out of the Les Menuires / St Martin valley is being replaced with a 6 seater high speed chair (probably with an optional hood/cover that seems to be preferred in that area).In Val Thorens the Caron & Cairn gondola cabins have both been upgraded to modern 8 seaters and the mid-station is going to be the same as Peclet with toilets, passes etc.
|
New Snow Cannon Reservoir in 1650A massive new snow cannon reservoir is being constructed above Courchevel 1650.This is situated over the back of the top of the 6 seater Signal chair lift so remember to go hard right a little earlier to re-join the pistes when dropping straight off the top of the lift in to lovely fresh snow.First pic shows the top of the Roc Mugnier chair in the background and below that shows the top of the Signal chair.Some stats on the reservoir:Volume of the reservoir at l’Ariondaz: 125,500 m3. Length of the pipes involved: 8,000m.Water is piped up from the Rosiere lake at 1500m to the new Ariondaz reservoir at 2500m, water is then kept there so that it is already nice and cold (important for the production of man made snow) and then piped to the Biolley lake at 2000m when needed.Total cost of the investment: €7mGreat pics of the reservoir filling up here |
|
Piste Work across the Three ValleysThere's lots of newly modeled areas of pistes all over the Three Valleys to improve snow retention and to face them away from direct sun plus to improve drainage, prevent erosion and for safety reasons.The bottom of the Creux run can be seen here has been considerably widened and new safety barriers have been installed on the Boulevard Gravelles returning from 1650 towards 1850.Some reshaping of the the top of the Bouc Blanc and many new sign posts (especially around the top of La Tania) have been erected.More new Gazex avalanche control machines, upgraded snow cannons and a massive new snow cannon reservoir above 1650 has been constructed.The Saulire cable car and Le Praz gondolas now have ramps rather than steps and the steep gradient sections of the Pyramides drag tracks have been reduced. |
|
La Tania Green RunFurther work is being done on the La Tania green run.Pics show the clearance of the forest with Moretta Blanche in the background.According to the Director of Europrestim who mange the development of the La Tania infrastructure they are going to put in the remainder of the green run straight down to the La Tania gondola (as an alternative to the link back to the top of the Troika).We put the proposed development plans to this up on the site back in 2004 but there's still nothing new on the proposed new chairlift. |
|
New Bar for La TaniaThe new bar for La Tania this Winter taking shape from Le Farçon team, it replaces the Maison Des Enfants Crèche.Or is that gonna be the name of it? |