The incredible mountainous environment of La Grave. Photo © La Meije glacier cable car SATG
Fortunately there were no injuries on the site either. The work in progress consists of replace the carrying cable of the first section of the cable car following a major damage made public on December 12, just one week before the scheduled opening of the winter season.
All preparations were on time, the new cable arrived last Thursday. Before the cable can be replaced, the current one must be removed, and it was during this phase of work that the incident occurred.
The system for retaining the cable during the removal operation would have given way, the enormous winch would have literally “flown” creating collateral damage. Our first information on site indicates “twisted pylons“. A pylon located towards the intermediate war P2 located at 2400 m altitude has even seen one of its four legs torn off !
The official press release states:
-“We have taken the immediate decision to temporarily suspend the construction site and close access to the public for an indefinite period. At this stage it is still too early to determine the exact duration of closure. As of this weekend, we will be even better measure the duration of the postponement.
The reopening of La Grave was initially scheduled for the end of January. This is a hard blow for the village and all the faithful and aficionados of La Grave, most of whom devote an immoderate cult to this emblem of freeride. We all hope that La Grave will be able to open this winter even if yesterday’s incident brings a lot of uncertainty.
The promising arrival of the cable last Thursday. We can easily imagine the great difficulty and sensitivity of this type of project.
