Man Dies in Gondola in French Ski Resort

16th January 2026

A 53-year-old man is thought to have had a cardiac arrest during a lift ride in Val Cenis.

Gondola operators found the man & alerted the ski patrol who tried tried to revive him using a defibrillator.

Efforts proved unsuccessful and he was declared dead at the scene.

Higher altitudes pose a greater risk of cardiac arrest to people with existing heart conditions as a result of lower oxygen levels and added strain on the body.

According to the American Heart Association sudden cardiac death is the most frequent non-traumatic cause of death in the mountains.