Courmayeur is working on a project to replace its old Youla and Arp lifts at the highest point in its ski area by 2021.
The project, the design of which was awarded a European tender in April last year, has an estimated budget requirement of €19m, which the resort's lift company says it's working on.
In the meantime however it has spent just under € 1,500,000 building a new slope on previously freeride only terrain, which is set to open this winter.
After the dismantling of the Arpetta ski lift, for decades the only ones to enjoy the magnificent panorama of the 2,750 metres of the Arp ridge were free-riders who tackled off-piste routes reachable via the Arp cable car.
However this winter a new Arp piste, which overlooks the wonderful southern side of Mont Blanc, will open.
The new slopes, about 1.3kmn long in total, begin with a 700m red slope which provides access to a north facing slope where a very challenging 600m long black piste has been created with a gradient of 70%, in addition to the numerous existing off-piste trails. The runs are marked as 32 and 33 on the map.
"The exposure of the slope and the altitude guarantee an exceptional quality snow cover and excellent snowfall both at the beginning and at the end of season," said a spokesperson for the Courmayeur Mont Blanc lift Company, adding, "The territory of Courmayeur: beautiful but also harsh, has made the realisation of this, absolutely out of the ordinary work, very hard."