THE FUTURE OF LIFT PASSES?

9th January 2019 | James Cove, Serre Chevalier

Last modified on July 6th, 2021

250 people have been invited to take part in the experiment for this winter season of 2018/19.

The trial  began last year with 50 people and so far is being deemed a success.

They simply download the lift pass on to their mobile and then pass through a special gate at the bottom of selected lifts.

Lift pass on your mobile, Serre Chevalier. Image © PlanetSKI

An additional gate has been put in so it does not add to congestion by removing a line used by everyone else.

Lift pass on your mobile, Serre Chevalier. Image © PlanetSKI

“It has proved to be more successful than we first thought and we are monitoring progress,” said the director of Serre Chevalier, Patrick Arnaud.

“If it works then we may eventually roll it across the whole lift system.”

Patrick Arnaud. Image © PlanetSKI

It is not at the expense of the existing system and will likely run along side it for the foreseeable future.

Think electronic boarding passes at airport.

Some people have the paper version and others have it on their phone.

The lift company in Serre Chevalier is run by Compagnie des Alpes – it owns and runs the lift system in many French ski areas:

Eleven in total, including Tignes, Val d’Isère, Les Arcs, La Plagne, Les Menuires, Les 2Alpes, Méribel and Serre-Chevalier.

There is a potential for it to be installed in all the resorts if the trial in Serre Chevalier proves a success.

Watch this space…

UPDATE:

There has already been reaction over on the PlanetSKI Facebook page,  with people concermed about the duration of phone batteries.

Facebook reaction

And others are concerned about off piste safety as mobile phones should no be placed close to an avalanche transceiver as they can distort the signal of the transceiver.

If you want to find out more about Serre Chevalier as a ski destination and what is on offer then see this report from PlanetSKI’s, Katie Bamber, who visited before Xmas.

She squeezed in as many activities as she possibly could:

• Three days in Serre Che

AND ANOTHER THING…

Serre Chevalier also has a revolutionary new programme underway to produce 30% of its electricity by hydro-electricity, solar power and wind power.

We have been given special access to see it all in operation and speak to the specialists involved.

We will bring you a full report on PlanetSKI shortly so do check back for that.

Wind power, Serre Chevalier. Image © PlanetSKI

Hydro power, Serre Chevalier. Image © PlanetSKI

Solar power, Serre Chevalier. Image © PlanetSKI

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