Sainte Foy Tarentaise ~ 12 June 2020
The weather in Sainte Foy has not been particularly favourable for the teams of workmen this week. These photographs were taken at lunchtime on Friday 12 June 2020, on what was easily the driest and sunniest day of the week.
The lead photo (above) shows the pylons lined up at Plan Bois (the area at the top of the first lift and the bottom of the second (Arpettaz) lift. Or if you are like me, next to the Les Brevettes and Chez Léon mountain restaurants.
The picture below shows the base station of the lift with the large cable wheel now on the ground.
The sign on the overhead gantry informs us that the Télésiège Arpettaz takes us from 1770m altitude up to 2106m. SFTLD (Sainte Foy Tarentaise Loisirs Developpement) is the lift company in charge of running the lift system and selling you your lift passes.
Next we have the overhead gantries laid out on the ground, waiting to be transported away.
You may have noticed that both the pylons and the overhead gantries are still in very large pieces, which weigh far more than could easily be lifted by an army of men. The gantries were carried down the mountain by helicopter in a fashion that looks like a giant mechanical bird of prey taking off with its prize catch, and the pylons were seemingly tugged out of the ground and skilfully whisked away the same helicopter. Look out for the guy at the top of the pylon attaching the wire from the helicopter to the pylon, and how quickly he gets off the pylon before it is lifted away!
When the lift system is piled up in one place, you realise just how much metalwork there is. There’s a lot to move and they are certainly cracking on with the job now.
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