Belle Neige in Quebec opened its new chairlift on Thursday, with its grand opening ceremony set for Saturday. Costing more than $4 million CAD, the quad chairlift can carry 2400 people per hour, which is double the capacity of the old lift that it replaced. The chairlift’s name, La Fenster, holds historical significance to the ski resort and one of the darkest periods in humanity’s history.
The Canadian Jewish News reports that it is named after Saul & Henry Fenster, who were two siblings from Poland that eventually emigrated to Canada. The two brothers were Jewish and survived the Holocaust. They lost both their parents and three siblings in the Holocaust, but the two brothers were able to survive a half dozen concentration camps, including Auschwitz.
After Saul learned to ski in Switzerland, the duo moved to Canada in 1961. They opened Belle Neige in 1963, turning a swampy piece of land into a ski resort. While both brothers have passed away, their legacy in the Quebec ski industry lives on.
Image Credits: Belle Neige
