La Thuile's New Cable Car Replaces Two Ageing Chairlifts
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La Thuile is retiring two 40-year-old chairlifts for a single modern cable car
La Thuile, in Italy's Aosta Valley, is spending 38.7 million US dollars on a new 10-person cable car connecting Les Suches to Chaz Dura, replacing the La Combe and Chaz Dura chairlifts installed in 1988 and 1986. Built by Leitner, the project is one of the region's biggest lift upgrades in recent years and is on track to open for the 2026/27 season.
Faster, bigger, and better connected to France
The new cable car runs 1,950 metres to a top station at 2,576 metres, with a six-minute ride and capacity for up to 3,000 people an hour - well ahead of what the two old three-person chairlifts could manage combined. Enclosed 10-person cabins also protect skiers from cold and wind on the exposed upper section. The route is a key link toward the Petit-Saint-Bernard Pass and onward to La Rosiere in France, part of the Espace San Bernardo - one of the few places in the Alps where skiers can cross the Italy-France border on snow.
A new mountain building for summer too
The cable car's upper station will sit inside a newly built structure with a cafe, rest areas, and a viewing platform over the Aosta Valley mountains, intended for hikers and summer visitors as well as skiers. Crews have already started construction after the project cleared an environmental assessment from the Aosta Valley Autonomous Region, with the new lift set to become one of the more prominent additions to Italy's 2026/27 ski season.