The first gondola is announced for Christmas 2026. The upper connection is planned for winter 2027/28: two phases to distinguish when booking a Chamonix ski holiday.
The return of the rebuilt lifts at Grands Montets will take place in two stages. For the Christmas holidays in 2026, the operator has announced a ten-person gondola between Argentière and Lognan; the second stage, reaching the summit, is planned for winter 2027/28. The first opening will therefore not mean the immediate restoration of the entire ascent that existed before the 2018 fire.
This is the most important distinction for anyone planning a ski holiday in the Chamonix valley. A new access to Lognan changes how visitors enter the ski area, while the return to the summit involves another lift and another timetable.
The first stage ends at Lognan
The lower gondola will connect Argentière with the Lognan sector. The project also includes a new access area to the snow front, restaurant facilities and public toilets. It is not only the cabin journey that is being renewed: the point where skiers begin their day on the pistes is also being reorganised.
The new stations are designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and form part of the overall reconstruction project. The operator describes glass structures inspired by the pyrite crystals found in the massif. For visitors, however, the operational detail remains the route actually served: Argentière–Lognan, not the entire mountain.
Even the general opening calendar of a ski area may precede the debut of a specific lift. For this reason, an opening date for Grands Montets should not automatically be applied to the new gondola without reading the announcement dedicated to it.
The upper lift is a separate project
The second stage involves a 3S cable car from Lognan to the summit of Grands Montets, at more than 3,000 metres. This is the section intended to restore the upper access interrupted after the fire and is scheduled for winter 2027/28.
For those familiar with the resort, the distinction avoids a practical misunderstanding: booking Christmas 2026 expecting to find every historic access restored. The first stage makes a new section of the system available; it does not automatically bring forward the next stage.
The stations are part of a unified design, but their use will follow the timetable of the individual phases. Anyone returning to Argentière will therefore need to plan around the lifts that are open, keeping the journey to Lognan separate from the future access to the summit.
The reconstruction is therefore worth following stage by stage. The first announced milestone concerns the journey from the village to Lognan; the next concerns the ascent to the summit. For a ski holiday, the question is not simply ‘have Grands Montets reopened?’, but which connection will actually be part of the programme during your week.
No comments yet