France — It’s been a bittersweet stretch for the Alps. The ski resorts there have been getting walloped with snow, which will help these mountains stay open well into the spring (and perhaps the summer for a select number of them). However, this has also spiked the avalanche chances, leading to mountain closures and shuttered lifts.
Updated 21 September 2026 — the Châtelet chairlift is back
The lift stayed shut for the remainder of the 2025–26 season, as expected. Repairs were completed over the summer and Châtelet returns to service for winter 2026–2027, again linking the lower and upper halves of the Méribel-Mottaret snowpark. The avalanche was triggered during routine PIDA mitigation work on 17 February 2026 and struck the base terminal and first pylon.
One of the examples of the damage was demonstrated yesterday at the world’s largest ski resort. Early Tuesday morning, avalanche deposits from mitigation efforts crashed into the base terminal and first lift tower of Châtelet Telesiège at Les 3 Vallées.
“During the triggering operation, it buried part of the station and damaged the first pylon of the lift,” said Sébastien Lazzaroni, director of the Méribel-Mottaret, to Le Dauphiné libéré.
According to La Tania, the chairlift could now be closed for the season.
Opened back in 2006, Châtelet is a detachable high-speed six-pack chairlift at Méribel. This lift serves intermediate terrain and terrain parks. Its top terminal is at 2,411 meters and its base terminal at 2,052 meters, giving it a vertical drop of 359 meters. As you’d expect at a ski resort of this magnitude, other lifts service this terrain, so its closure is not a complete loss for Méribel.
As of Wednesday, the avalanche risk remains very high (4/5) at Les 3 Vallées. Staying away from off-piste terrain for now is a wise move.
Image/Video Credits: Les 3 Vallées, La Tania, PeakRankings
