Faster, more modern, with greater capacity: La Thuile’s new gondola makes its debut in winter 2026/2027

The new gondola aims to expand the resort’s tourist offering and provide everyone with a unique mountain experience.  

For skiers, the 74 ten-person cabins and an hourly capacity of 3,000 people promise speed and comfort for covering the 600 metres of vertical drop and reaching the start of pistes 9 and 10, as well as providing direct access to the Piccolo San Bernardo area: but focusing only on this would be reductive. The major new feature is that the lift will also be accessible to pedestrians, giving them the chance to enjoy 360° views of the Italian and French Alps, with Mont Blanc towering majestically over the entire panorama, which then stretches towards the Rutor Glacier and reaches as far as the Monte Rosa massif and the Matterhorn, without forgetting the French side, where on clear days it is possible to see as far as the Massif Central.

This is a very different target audience from the moderately experienced skier, who was previously the only one able to enjoy this view by using the chairlift, which was open exclusively to skiers. And there is more: beginner skiers will be able to get off at the intermediate station to access the nearly 10 km of blue pistes in the Les Suches area, making it easier for complete beginners to ride the lift uphill, in greater comfort and with less effort. Less experienced skiers, too, will therefore be able to take a break from their descents, reach the summit and let themselves be enveloped by the vastness of the space surrounding this natural viewpoint, before returning down by gondola without having to tackle pistes that are not yet within their abilities. 

That alone would already be a major advantage, but the aim is not to be limited to winter: the gondola will also be open in summer, for pedestrians and bikers. For the former, a series of mountain walks will also become available, more easily reached thanks to the convenient way of overcoming the otherwise significant vertical drop. For the latter, additional easy and very easy enduro trails are being planned to meet the needs of the growing number of tourists who are beginning to take up mountain biking. Not to mention that more experienced riders will find it easier to reach the existing trails–which are more challenging–on the Piccolo San Bernardo side, or try the new trail currently under construction, which will run along the mountain ridge before descending towards Pont Serrand. Nor should we forget cycle hikers, who, like pedestrians, will be able to use the lift to reduce the amount of climbing done by bike and thus reach routes that would otherwise be difficult for an average cyclist to access, including the cross-border route inaugurated a few years ago, which connects La Thuile with La Rosiere in summer too.

 

Precisely because the ultimate aim of constructing this new lift is to expand the tourist offering, another development is planned for the end of 2027, following the inauguration scheduled for December 2026: the construction of a mountain restaurant with a cantilevered panoramic terrace, which will make the location even more magical while also ensuring comfort in every season.

An aperitif, lunch or simply a coffee overlooking Mont Blanc are not everyday experiences. But in this case, they will be within everyone’s reach.

“Today, customers are increasingly demanding and increasingly diverse – says Funivie Piccolo San Bernardo spa President Killy Martinet – which is why investments of this scale must and want to be versatile, to meet the needs of broader target groups and thus welcome tourism made up not only of sports enthusiasts, but also of people who simply love the mountains, yet without this infrastructure would not have the opportunity to experience them and share them with their loved ones.”