Hundreds of skiers needed to be rescued by helicopter on Christmas Eve after chairlifts at two completely different resorts within the French Alps broke down.
Dramatic video reveals skiers at SuperDevoluy resort in Dévoluy hanging under a helicopter close to a immobile chairlift. One of the resort’s chairlifts broke down round 1 p.m. native time Tuesday as a consequence of {an electrical} drawback with considered one of its motors, reported Nouvelle Republique.
About 240 skiers had been evacuated from the elevate by round 5 p.m. native time on the resort in France’s Southern Alps, the place the elevation ranges from 6,000 to eight,200 toes above sea stage. No one was harm, reported Le Monde.
In Savoie, additionally within the French Alps, round 100 skiers had been caught on a elevate Tuesday on the La Norma ski resort, reported TF1, in an unrelated incident. The resort within the Maurienne Valley rises from 4,500 to almost 9,000 toes in elevation.
The rescues got here a day after the death of a 26-year-old Olympic snowboarder at a resort within the Swiss Alps. Sophie Hediger, a member of Switzerland’s snowboard cross staff on the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, died in an avalanche on the Arosa resort, the nation’s ski federation introduced Tuesday.