Hundreds of skiers had to be rescued by helicopter after chairlifts broke down at two different resorts in the French Alps on Christmas Eve.
Dramatic video shows a skier at the Superdevoluy resort in Devoluy dangling beneath a helicopter near a stationary chairlift. Nouvelle Republique reported that one of the resort’s chairlifts broke down around 1pm local time on Tuesday due to an electrical problem with one of its motors.
About 240 skiers had been evacuated from lifts at the resort in France’s Southern Alps, which ranges in altitude from 6,000 feet to 8,200 feet above sea level, by around 5 p.m. local time. No one was injured, Le Monde newspaper reported.
Also in Savoie, in the French Alps, TF1 reported that about 100 skiers were trapped on a lift at the La Norma ski resort on Tuesday, but this was an unrelated incident. Located in the Maurienne Valley, this resort ranges from 4,500 feet to nearly 9,000 feet above sea level.
Rescue came the day after the incident. Death of 26-year-old Olympic snowboarder At a resort in the Swiss Alps. Sophie Hediger, a member of the Swiss snowboard cross team for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, died in an avalanche at the Arosa resort, the country’s ski federation announced on Tuesday.
