Two New Quads And More Snowmaking For Flaine

Two new fixed grip quad chairlifts are due to begin service in Flaine this December, in accordance with to its five year improvement plan, and the resort's famous bucket lift which links two of its sectors, is due to be renovated.

The new fixed grip La Foret quad will be a six minute ride accessing the seater chairlift accessing the beginners' zone. It will rise 300 vertical metres over its 1,770m length and open a direct link to the ski runs from the western part of the Intrawest Village, the Hameau Scandinave and the Refuge du Golf.

A second new fixed-grip quad will improve the links to the Auron sector and replace the Bois draglift scheduled for removal this summer, although the neighbouring Aujon and Grand Grenier draglifts will remain. Customer advantages will include faster and direct access to this zone instead of the current route via Aup de Véran. The two kilometre long lift will rise 400 vertical metres.

The resort's upgrading of its bucket lift will optimise user convenience on the link between the upper and lower beginners' zones. The restored lift will reduce waiting times and mean less congestion for Tête des Verds.

Flaine will also introduce new snowmaking to its pioneering system (One of Europe's longest established and most extensive networks, first started more than 35 years ago and currently operating more than 200 snow cannons. The new system will take water from a bore hole drilled 300 metres below the resort which has been tested to not interfere with the water table.
Courtesy of and © Snow24 plc

Admin wrote:Two new fixed grip quad chairlifts are due to begin service in Flaine this December,

isn't that odd? :shock: I didn't think anyone really installed fixed grip anymore, I wonder what led to that decision?

I was about to say, fixed grip I just figured was being phased out. Maybe something to do with maintenance costs or reliability? Who knows. Lake Louise did the same thing either last year or the year before.

ise wrote:isn't that odd?

Very. Can only be cost... unless they want to put beginners off using them... :?:

What is a fixed grip quad chairlift please ?

One that goes round at a constant speed. Ie the chairs are fixed to the cable. At least I think that is correct.

brandyaitch wrote:What is a fixed grip quad chairlift please ?

It's one that does not slow down for you to sit AFAIK. The most modern ones, slide gently up behind you and let you sit down in comfort, then speed up, and offer the same gentle demount at the top station.
By fixed grip, the chair is permanently clamped to the cable.

A detachable chair operates on a gear, at the bottom and mostly the top the brake releases from the main cable which takes a longer path while the chair brakes onto a shorter cable that's slower before braking back onto the main cable. So you can run the chair fast without having a really fast loading. I think you get 5 m/s compared to a couple on the fixed system, something like that but around twice the speed I think.

You can get this effect from a moving carpet loading as well, accelerating skiers up to the speed of the chair while still keeping a low differential speed between the skier and the chair.

But, with a detachable you get an added bonus that you can remove chairs really easily, that's a good win as you can reduce the power required at low season and taken them off quickly for high wind.

So it's odd you'd not install one, but the Grand Massif has a history of lift innovation, the DMC and an early eight seat chair so it might be something fiendishly clever they're installing :D