Resorts on the French and Swiss sides of the giant Portes du Soleil region which straddles the two country's borders with 650km of largely lift linked pistes are installing new lifts top improve the on-mountain experience for skiers and boarders this winter.
At Champéry-Les Crosets on the Swiss side the old Grand-Conche chairlift and drag lifts are being replaced by a single high-speed six-seater lift at a cost of 13 Million Swiss Francs increasing capacity on the route from 1900 to 3000 skiers per hour.
At Chatel on the French side a new high speed six-person chairlift in the Plaine Dranse sector replaces an old double chairlift and more than doubles capacity on the route from 1200 to 3000 skiers per hour. The new lift is also twice as fast as the old one, travelling at 5 metres per second compared to the former's 2.3mps.