The Cable car

In the 1930’s, « The Veyrier-du-lac d’Annecy cable car », one of the most daring technical achievements to discover the viewpoints of Alpine landscapes was a new step in the history of the village and the tourist development around the lake of Annecy.

It gave visitors an easy access to Mount Veyrier (1291metres); before you could reach the Mount via a small path, traced in 1899, to contemplate the Mont Blanc from a spot (800 metres high),dominating the lake.It is a unique panorama in the world.
The cable car, which opened on July 29, 1934, carried more than 2 million passengers until it closed in 1984.

The project was carried out from 1931 to 1934; it was a great technical achievement in the history of aerial cable cars, with a 1500 metres span without a pylon and a difference in height of 748 metres between its lower and higher station; The whole structure was reinforced with armed concrete, a brand new material at the time. It is the work of André Rebuffel, an engineer who had started his career in Chamonix on the slopes of the Aiguille du Midi, and then at the Brévent, together with Auguste Fournier, a self-made entrepreneur.

For the design and the building of the stations, both called on the architects Stephane Weber and Théophane Battuz as well as Fernand Decock, specialized in armed concrete, who was in charge of Salève building site.

Without any driving machinery, the upper station looking like the prow of a ship, overlooked the cliff; it was pulled down in 2001.

The lower station, in modern style, could be seen from afar and prepared the traveller to a real flight with its boarding quay pointing to the sky and its inner flight of stairs pointing upwards as well. After its restoration in 2014, it has been turned into a film archive: (from the cable to the reel)for the Ain departments as well as for the 2 Savoyones.