A bizarre evacuation scenario occurred last Thursday at Glacier 3000 in Switzerland. Around 270 people had to be evacuated from Glacier 3000’s top station at 9,747 feet. This was due to the Cabane-Scex Rouge cable car having an electrical failure.
Luckily, most passengers weren’t on the lift, as many were actually sightseeing at the mountaintop station. The individuals that were on the lift were able to reach the station thanks to a special engine made for emergencies like this.
The bad news is that they had to evacuate the station. They were able to take the Glacier – Scex Rouge chairlift partially down the mountain, and then helicopters evacuated them back to mid-station, where they took the Pillon-Cabane cable car back down to the Col du Pillon base area.
Here’s what Bernhard Tschannen, who is the Cheif Executive of Glacier 3000, told AFP:
“There was an electrical failure in the engine system in the second [cable car] section up to the top. It was not a big deal. No one was harmed.”
They originally intended to reopen the tram on Friday. According to SwissInfo.ch, Glacier 3000 told Keystone-SDA on Sunday that engineers have yet to determine the issue. Due to this, the cable car will remain closed today, with their next update coming on Tuesday.
Glacier 3000 has had a rough go of it lately. Back in September of last year, a major fire occurred at their mountain-top restaurant. This month, they announced that a new restaurant will open in 2024. On the bright side, they did open a pretty cool expert run last season.
Image Credits: Glacier 3000
