Old Ski Lift Re-born

Despite the current popularity of ski touring, with people hiking up slopes to earn their turns, human beings have been looked for mechanised ways to get up the slopes almost as soon as they learned to ski down them.

One of the earliest forms of lift, before the first cables pulled T Bars and Poma lifts, was the sledge tow – essentially a big sledge yanked uphill by a cable.

This type of lift has all but disappeared but Notre-Dame-de-Bellecombe in the Val d’Arly region of the French Alps, between the Aravis, has recently restored a cable-drawn sled that first operated on Christmas Day, 1937.

Up until 1948, when it was replaced by a drag lift, skiers used this sled to get up the slopes. Equipped with a V8 Ford motor, the sled was towed by a cable and could carry 20 people at a time.

Now totally restored, you can now, once again, use the sled to go up the hill in the centre of town.

For extra fun you can bring your own sled and then slide back down.

Prices: 2 € / person. 20 seats available per ride.