Val d'Isère's current Vallon gondola has made its final ascent after more than four decades of service.
The lift at the Iseran Pass went into service in 1981 and has since carried more than 25 million passengers up to the Pissaillas glacier.
The original lift was built by Italian firm Agudio, now part of Pomagalski lifts, and was seen as a huge step forward for the sector at the time.
The new lift, due to be built over the next eight 8 months in time for next winter, will of course be more modern, faster and more comfortable with a reduced impact on the environment. It will use 30 less support towers.
It will also increase capacity from to 3,000 skiers per hour on the route, more than double that of the 1,460 sph capacity of the previous lift. It will also replacing two drag lifts, and make the ascent in 8.2 minutes compared to 13 minutes for the old lift.
Val d'Isère is one of the few ski areas still open in the French Alps and will be among the last to close for the 23-24 season in early May.
It then plans to re-open some high slopes for a month of glacier skiing later this spring.