Hundreds of skiers had to be rescued by helicopter on Christmas Eve after lifts broke down at two different resorts in the French Alps.
Dramatic video shows skiers at the SuperDevoluy resort in Dévoluy hanging below a helicopter near a stationary chair lift. One of the resort's chairlifts broke down around 1pm local time on Tuesday due to an electrical problem with one of the motors, reports said The new republic.
About 240 skiers were evacuated from a lift at around 5pm local time at the resort in the French Southern Alps, which ranges from 6,000 to 8,200 feet above sea level. no one was hurt reports Le Monde.
In Savoie, also in the French Alps, about 100 skiers were stuck on a lift on Tuesday at the La Norma ski resort. reports TF1in an unrelated incident. The Morien Valley Resort rises from 4,500 to nearly 9,000 feet in elevation.
Rescuers came a day later the death of a 26-year-old Olympic snowboarder at a resort in the Swiss Alps. Sophie Hediger, a member of Switzerland's snowboard cross team at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, died in an avalanche in the resort of Arosa, the country's skiing federation said on Tuesday.