New Gondola For Three Valley's La Masse By LEITNER
The ski season is beginning with a brand new LEITNER ropeway in Les Trois Vallées, one of the world’s biggest ski regions. The Pointe de la Masse 10-passenger gondola lift is the first LEITNER ropeway in France to run at a speed of seven metres per second.
The Les Trois Vallées skiing region is a place of superlatives. A total of 600 km of slopes makes it one of the world’s biggest resorts; Les Menuires alone has 160 kilometres of runs served by 30 ski lifts. The new Pointe de la Masse 10-passenger gondola lift built by LEITNER has given it a new quality boost. This new ropeway is the first LEITNER system in France to achieve a maximum speed of 7 m/s, partly due to the LEITNER DirectDrive LD7H and specially adapted stations. It takes just eight and a half minutes for passengers to reach the 2804 metre Pointe de la Masse, one of the region’s highest points, from which they can enjoy breath-taking views. Built for its operator SEVABEL, the ropeway continues a 43 year partnership between the two companies which includes the Reberty 6-seater chairlift built by LETNER in 2012, which is next to the new gondola lift.
New lease of life for the La Masse ski area
This new lift gives a new lease of life to the La Masse area, which was previously accessed using one gondola lift and two chairlifts. These three lifts have now been combined into just one system, providing transport for up to 2,800 people per hour in this part of the ski region. The bottom station building can automatically garage all of its 89 cabins, each of which has ski quivers on the outside of its doors, allowing skis to be stowed externally for passengers’ comfort. Five of the cabins also have glass floors for great all-round views. The other cabins are fully glazed, offering unforgettable vistas of the surrounding mountains. Once passengers reach the summit, an enormous viewing terrace awaits them on the roof of the top station, whose aesthetics blend beautifully and harmoniously into the natural surroundings.
