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Val Thorens ski area news: what's new for 2014/15
Val Thorens has plans to improve the lifts and the ski area over summer 2014. They are due to replace the Portette and Plan de l' Eau chairs with brand new chairlifts. There is also a possibility that the Pont de la Chasse project will go ahead. Read the Val Thorens ski area news 2014 here.
The Val Thorens lift company, SETAM, replaced three chairlifts in summer 2013 - 2 Lacs, 3 Valleys 1 (which became Pionniers), and 3 Valleys 2 (which became 3 Valleys). It was a lot of work, and they were still finishing the new lifts after the resort had opened. The improvements to the lift system in summer 2014 are therefore a bit less ambitious. SETAM is replacing two chairlifts - Portette and Plan de l' Eau. The Pont de la Chasse project may also go ahead.
Val Thorens ski area news: replacing Portette
Portette, in the Montée du Fond sector, is to be replaced with a faster, more modern chairlift.
The above photo shows the old Portette lift to the right. SETAM believes that Portette misses out on traffic from people who leave the Chalets du Thorens after coffee or lunch, because the departure point of Portette is just too high from the Chalets du Thorens. It will therefore start a little lower down, closer to Moraine.
The
old Portette lift will be kept, and it is likely to be used in summer
2015. There's a provisional plan to develop the area known as le Borgne above the
Folie Douce, and this is where the old Portette chair may be placed.
Val Thorens ski area news: replacing Plan de l' Eau
The Plan de l' Eau chair (Boismint sector), which is one of the last non-detachable lifts in Val Thorens, is to be replaced with a modern chairlift. The new chair will be much longer and go higher up than the old one.
This video from SETAM shows some of the work under way:
Val Thorens ski area news: Pont de la Chasse
This is a project which has been discussed for some time, and may go ahead in summer 2014.
Originally, it was going to be an extra link between Les Menuires and Val Thorens. A piste would be made, starting from the bottom of the Montaulever draglift in Les Menuires, crossing the main road, and arriving at the pont de la Chasse (the bridge which takes the boulevard Cumin over the stream, just above the departure point of Plan de l' Eau).
It has been difficult for SETAM to reach an agreement with SEVABEL, the Les Menuires lift company, so now SETAM is planning to create the new piste, keeping to the Val Thorens ski area only. It will branch off from the bottom of Pluviometre, and take a bridge over the main road, to get to Pont de la Chasse and the new Plan de l' Eau chair.
