The remarkable Vanoise Express double-decker cable car that linked La Plagne and les Arcs for the first time last season, creating the Paradiski area, has published results based on passenger usage figures and a customer satisfaction survey.

The lift recorded a total of 415, 987 passenger crossings, with the busiest day of the season on Tuesday 9th March when 9,649 crossings were recorded. Tuesdays were in fact the busiest day of the week on average, with 22.5% of all crossings. However the busiest week was from 31st January to 6th February with 39,002 crossings recorded.

The customer survey found that 93% of people interviewed claiming they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the Vanoise Express and secondly amongst professionals, as it received the prestigious Siemens Grand Prix Award of Innovation 2004.

There was a slightly higher proportion of skiers crossing from La Plagne to Les Arcs and back, rather than vice versa, with 56.6% of users originating in La Plagne, the remainder from Les Arcs.

However the imbalance in the higher number of crossings from La Plagne to Les Arcs corresponds almost precisely to the higher number of tourist beds available in La Plagne than Les Arcs. The level of usage on both sides is therefore similar.

The level of usage of the Paradiski link by Paradiski pass holders will be refined by way of the complete deployment of the ticket machine system. Nevertheless, the first report shows that the usage of the Vanoise Express was slightly down on the anticipated 2.2 return journeys per person.