Alpin gondola lift: the highest XCarb® rope ever leads to Mont Blanc

Sustainable tourism requires suppliers with ecological commitments

With an impressive network of 445 kms of ski slopes and 110 ski lifts, Saint-Gervais is the main gateway to the Evasion Mont Blanc ski area. It is also renowned for its efforts to develop sustainable tourism that respects its heritage and its residents.

A new gondola lift has been built, the Alpin, providing a fast and ecological link between the Fayet multimodal station and the start of the ski slopes.

As part of these developments, and mindful of its environmental impact, STBMA, the company that manages the Saint-Gervais ski area, has selected suppliers in line with its ecological commitments. The choice of ArcelorMittal’s XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel for the rope of the Alpin gondola lift is a perfect example of this approach.

Low carbon emissions steel ropes from ArcelorMittal

The low carbon emissions steel is produced via the secondary route, in electric arc furnaces using more than 75% steel scrap and 100% renewable electricity (solar and/or wind with Guarantee of Origin certificates).

XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steels have a significantly smaller carbon footprint than steel from the primary route (blast furnaces). The reduction factor depends on the profiles and steel grades, and in the case of steel ropes, the reduction factor is around 4 [1].

The steel rope for the gondola lift was produced by ArcelorMittal Bourg-en-Bresse in France. The choice fell on the high-strength 6-strand rope - the 6x36 WS. It offers a high breaking load, low elongation, excellent fatigue resistance, and high bending resistance.

As the Global Warming Potential (GWP) [2] of the XCarb® rope is only 712 kg CO₂-eq/t (based on a Life Cycle Assessment), the carbon footprint of the XCarb® rope is 40.6 tonnes CO₂-eq, a reduction of 129.8 tonnes compared with the carbon footprint of equivalent ropes from the blast furnace route with a GWP of 2990 kg CO₂-eq/t (based on an ArcelorMittal Environmental Product Declaration).

The Alpin gondola lift was inaugurated on the 18th of January, 2025.

[1] Comparison based on an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
[2] Considering exclusively the manufacturing of the finished product, namely Modules (A1-A3) based on the European standard EN 15804.

Product specifications

ArcelorMittal Bourg-en-Bresse supplied 57 tonnes of 6-strand 6x36 WS rope in XCarb® recycled and renewably produced from the mill in Bourg-en-Bresse, France with the following properties:

• Diameter: 54 mm
• Length: 5260 m
• Mass: 10.83 kg/m
• Minimum breaking load: 2220 kN