The new Clos Giraud lift is progressing well in the Oz-Vaujany sector.
Another new lift project this year to go with the new Eau d’Olle express between Allemond and Oz.
The old four-seat chair will be replaced by a Téléporté mixte, chairs and gondolas on the same cable, sometimes referred to as a Chondola in English.
The other Téléporté mixtes are on Signal, Les Jeux and Rif-Nel.
Chairs and Gondolas
The chairs will be 6-seaters with space for 10 in the gondolas. Its speed is reported to be 5.5m/s which will undoubtedly feel faster than the old one.
I can see that the gondolas will be a welcome addition on windy days when taking the old Clos Giraud chair was a chilly and miserable experience.
Skiers from Oz will first see the new Clos Giraud lift when they arrive at Alpette so I’ll describe it as viewed on the way down.
Lift arrives in the same place
The new lift will arrive at the same place as the old one.
The lift line travels alongside the Chalets piste to the West, the left-hand side looking down the mountain, following the lift line of the old Clos Giraud chair.
The bases for the pylons are being blasted on the rocky ridge that runs alongside the piste.
Where the old chair started the line goes behind the trees on the left.
Mountain view blocked
This was a place that many skiers stopped to take in the magnificent view of the valley. It will now have the new Clos Giraud lift in the way, which is a pity.
The next time skiers will see the lift is approaching the Airelles restaurant, also known as The Cow restaurant.
New pistes?
It will be interesting to see how they will arrange the pistes to serve the new Clos Giraud lift. Up until now everyone coming down has kept to the right-hand side of Les Airelles to access the restaurants, lifts, and pistes.
Les Airelles sits on a ridge, which is not apparent from the right-hand side, and behind it are the very quiet green slopes used by the ski schools for beginners. Now those slopes will become the direct route to the new lift.
The new Clos Giraud lift will start quite a way above the current Mont Frais gondola and skiers coming up from Vaujany will be connected to it by a covered travelator.
The building has started on the bases and foundations at both ends of the lift with works a bit more advanced on the bottom station.
The opening is due by the beginning of the ski season in December. It will need to be functioning because there is no other way up to Alpette except downwards in the Mont Frais Gondola and then up via the Vaujany-Alpette Télépherique.