VEDETTE

The front line of Mont Blanc

Opening December 2026

A new gondola that's an experience in itself

The new lift in La Thuile has a clear goal: to broaden the resort's tourism offering and deliver a unique experience to a wide range of visitors.

First and foremost, it will replace two chairlifts — La Combe for beginners and Chaz Dura for advanced skiers — and will also be accessible to pedestrians, giving them the chance to enjoy a 360° view of the Italian and French Alps, with Mont Blanc towering over the entire panorama during the ascent, which then stretches towards the Rutor glacier and reaches as far as the Monte Rosa massif and the Matterhorn.

Beginners can get off at the mid-station and enjoy the easy slopes in the Les Suches area, while advanced skiers can reach the summit faster and in greater comfort.

The gondola will also be open in summer, for pedestrians and bikers alike, with easier trails being built for those just getting started.

From December 2027, a restaurant and panoramic terrace will also be available at the top station.

Pedestrian access will be available from the 2026/27 season at a reduced rate, since the experience won't yet be complete while the summit is still home to the restaurant construction site.

The architectural concept

The La Thuile area, both towards the Colle San Carlo area (towards Morgex) and towards the Colle del Piccolo San Bernardo (towards France), is dotted with military structures from different eras, dating from the 1600s all the way to the Second World War.

The most iconic ones date back to the 1600s and 1700s, built during the Franco-Piedmontese wars — among them the Fort de la Redoute, located on the French side of the ski area, at the Col de la Traversette. This distinctive territorial feature, rooted in the history of these strategic locations, inspired the architectural form designed for the top station and, above all, for the adjoining restaurant: the idea is to offer a modern interpretation of a military fort, a structure that mirrors the Fort de la Redoute — a stone's throw away as the crow flies — in a contemporary key.

The concept therefore aims to introduce a new infrastructure that connects with its surroundings, not only in terms of landscape — through the use of neutral colours that blend with the rock of the surrounding mountains — but also in terms of history: the intention is to create a bond between what these places once were and what they are becoming.

A narrative continuum meant to express a sense of belonging.

The origin of the name

The naming process for the gondola was designed to capture the various facets of the project: the concept, its goals, and the promise of a spectacular panorama for its visitors.

We therefore considered the different aspects evoked by the focal points mentioned above, so that they could be blended into a name that would be evocative, unique, easy to read, and tied to the local area — while also being understandable in the languages most commonly used across our ski area: Italian, French, and English.

The architectural concept — a modern take on a military fort — brought to mind the lives of soldiers and the purpose for which these structures were built: to protect routes of passage through the visual control of the territory, made possible by their elevated position. The focus: seeing far.

The stated goal of the new gondola is to allow pedestrians as well to reach the summit and enjoy the 360° panorama visible from the top station and future panoramic terrace. The focus: seeing far.

The shared focus we identified was therefore quite clear: letting the gaze roam far and wide — once for military reasons, today for pure pleasure.

We then wanted to combine this shared focus with the uniqueness of the architectural concept, drawing on military language: in a fort, it was the sentinels (in italian and french language "vedette") whose job was to "see far."

The choice of this name met all the criteria we had set ourselves:

Evocative: a modern reading of a fort, where today's lookouts don't wear helmets and carry rifles, but ski helmets and poles.
Tied to the territory: the Vedette del Rutor are also two peaks that rise straight from the glacier of the same name, and they are visible from the gondola's top station.
Unique: an original term precisely because it is so closely linked to both the concept and the territory.
Easy to read and international: "Vedette" is an Italian word when read in the plural; read in the singular, it is a French word with a double meaning — "vedette" as the singular of "sentinel" but above all "vedette" as "star" (of cinema, of TV). And so our gondola can also be read as the "star" of the ski area. Finally, in English the word vedette was borrowed from French, albeit with a somewhat archaic usage tied specifically to military history. For completeness, "Vedette" is in any case the proper name of two peaks that characterize our territory, and therefore untranslatable into any other language.

The tagline

If the name is the essence, the tagline is the promise. What are we offering? A stunning panorama — but that alone wouldn't have been particularly distinctive.

We wanted to find a way to spell out in just a few words what people can concretely expect from this experience, to make the description of Vedette clear and unambiguous, while staying true to the subtle reference to the military world.

Vedette doesn't look at Mont Blanc from afar: it is the first outpost that faces it, and it brings people right there, in front of the massif. But we're not at the cinema — we're in a fort: so not in the front row, but on the front line.

Besides, being on the front line also means being where things happen: a privilege, not a risk.

The line, finally, is the gondola's upward path, just as it is the line that follows the landscape, the ridge you stand on when you reach the top.

The chosen tagline therefore brings together the geographical location, the history of the place, and the nature of the offer.

Cabins

People per cabin

400

Metres of vertical drop

Seasons