Piste-Bashers Rescue 250 People in Alpe d'Huez

Around 250 skiers and snowboarders were stranded at 2050m today in the area known as l'Alpette above Oz en Oisans, a satellite village of the Alpe d'Huez piste network. An electrical failure closed the Poutran telecabine at 3.45pm.

At first it was thought that a bus service would ferry skiers and snowboarders back to Alpe d'Huez as the only other access lift – the Alpette Rousses – was already closed and unable to reopen due to high winds. Instead, waiting crowds were herded onto the Alpette telecabine to wait at l'Alpette for return to resort via piste-basher.

One piste-basher appeared and the youngest ski-school children were crammed in a covered box at the back. Another arrived and took 10 more, but by this time the sun was setting, the winds were growing stronger and the temperature was starting to fall from -5°C. The piste-bashers were equipped with open-air boxes that hold up to 10 people, with space for another in the cabin. Some towed an additional eight skiers and snowboarders on a rope.

Families with children were ushered to the front of the waiting group, and many sheltered from the weather inside the Alpette-Rousses lift station. In desperation, some started the long trek back to Alpe d'Huez by foot, taking a track that joins the cross-country ski pistes. The track runs alongside five lakes and the route takes about two hours in the summer and is mainly uphill.

Nearby mountain restaurant, La Grange remained open supplied free drinks and pie to around 80 people who were happy to wait in the warmth and weren't in a hurry to return home.

I was able to catch a lift on the back of a piste-basher at 6.30pm, after waiting of more than two hours. The return journey, via the cross-country ski pistes took 30 minutes and it's expected that all the stranded skiers and snowboarders will be back in resort by 8.30pm tonight.