About mountain funiculars

If most funiculars are primarily designed for urban use, a few European resorts use them solely for winter sports. This type of lift might prove well adapted to move skiers, snowboarders and hikers to the valley floors of Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons, freeing road traffic and still able to operate day and night regardless of weather conditions.

Funival lower station. The tunnel into the mountain can be seen in the distance

Funival's ride is mostly underground, through a narrow tunnel, with wider middle section allowing both sets of cars to meet.

There are three such lifts in the Alps used for accessing slopes or even a glacier: Les Deux Alpes, Val d'Isère and Tignes. Built in 1987, Val d'Isère's “Funival” climbs mostly underground into the mountain a vertical just under 3,000 feet and is 7,500 feet long. Capaciy is 2,425 skiers per hour, while speed is 40 ft/second.

From Bourg-Saint-Maurice's train station, the "Arc-en-Ciel" funicular tracks climb the mountain above.

The "Arc-en-Ciel" crossing the river Isère

The "Arc-en-Ciel" funicular, built in the late 80's, is almost 10,000 feet long and is used to access Les Arcs, a ski resort, also at 40 ft/second, from Bourg Saint Maurice, a small city that is also a main railroad terminal located 2,700 feet below on the valley floor.

View from the top with Bourg-Saint-Maurice down in the valley