Les Arcs are investing €10.4 million this summer in a new chairlift at Arc 1950.
The Pré Saint-Esprit lift, built 37 years ago – long before Arc 1950 was created – is being upgraded to a six-seater high-speed lift.
Part of the price tag come from the fact that the new lift will have heated seats, a pull down bubble protection cover and require an all new base building, partially buried in the ground for minimal environmental impact.
Possibly more interesting to skiers though is that the lift will be bigger and faster than its predecessor, taking just over eight minutes to make its 2.85km ascent from 1828m to 2294m and increasing uplift capacity to 2700 people per hour.
In addition the new lift will be slightly longer than its predecessor to improve skier flow and connections with other lifts and runs (as illustrated above – the red line showing the line of the new lift, the black the line of the old).
As well as putting in the new Pré St Esprit chairlift, the run through the Vallée de l’Arc served by the chair, is to be redeveloped with the aim of making the run easier to ski from the bottom of Marmottes/Bois de l’Ours chairlifts down to the bottom of Comborcière by making the run almost 40 % wider to create a run that is 25 metres wide and reshaping the run so it is better adapted to beginners.
In addition 30 snow-making machines will be located on the run through the Vallée de l’Arc from the bottom of Arcabulle down to the bottom of Comborcière chairlift.
