Exploring Caron 3200

I had a look at the Caron 3200 building, which is new in Winter 2024/25.

Cime de Caron Closed

The first thing to say is that the Cime de Caron is closed for the whole Winter 2024/25 season.

This is as a result of an incident in November 2024 when one of the cable cars crashed into the arrival station, resulting in several injuries.

For the time being, access to the Cime de Caron is the long way round, via Orelle.

The Lower Floors of Caron 3200

In principle there are WCs on the ground floor of the Caron 3200 building, but they were out of order when I visited.

On the first floor is a shop and wine bar.

On the second floor is a restaurant; if you don't want to eat, you can just get a coffee or hot chocolate here.

Rooftop

On the roof of Caron 3200 is a terrace bar.

On my visit, the views were not very good because the glass panels were all frosted up.

The terrace faces north towards Mont Blanc, and it was very cold. The staff were dressed as warmly as possible, but they still looked as though they were freezing.

Overall Impression

The top of the Cime de Caron has been commercialised.

The Orelle-Caron bubble is useful for getting up to the Cime de Caron, but its arrival station ruined one of the best views towards the Maurienne valley.

Now the Caron 3200 building has added to the impression of being in a parking lot or an airport terminal, not on a magnificent natural peak.