AI Used To Spot Lift Safety Breaches
AI Used To Spot Lift Safety Breaches
Published : 29-Sep-2026 10:13
French resorts have announced a swathe of innovative safety measures for the upcoming season.
At La Plagne the idea is to remove a lot of the 'slow down' banners across slopes as studies have determined that few people pay attention to them, with piste-side speed limit signs going in instead, thought to be more likely to be adhered to.
Meanwhile, following a successful winter pilot last season, Val d'Isère officially established the 'Pompons Jaunes' (Yellow Pom-Poms, referring to the ski patrol) association in July 2026 to lead the resort's safety initiatives from this winter. Supported by over 400 ambassadors, the project reinforces mountain safety through community engagement: the Val d'Isère Ski Patrol visits local schools to run interactive workshops, while offering supervised speed-skiing sessions every Tuesday during school breaks to teach proper slope etiquette in a controlled environment.
Safety messaging is front and centre throughout the resort this season in both French and English across local businesses, village screens, social media, the piste map, and valdisere.com.
To help guests keep key mountain rules in mind, Val d'Isère has introduced four safety videos co-created with École du Ski Français and an interactive online quiz. On-mountain reminders highlight the 'ten rules of slope conduct', while app push notifications and prominent signage at major lift stations actively encourage skiers to ride the lifts back down to the village safely.
In addition the French ski area of Les Sybelles, known for its relaxed atmosphere and authentic ski villages, has gone very cutting-edge behind the scenes and has AI working to improve lift operating efficiency.
The resort is using software developed by a company based in the Alps which uses an artificial intelligence powered vision system to analyses skier flows, detect incorrectly closed safety barriers and risky behaviour, and adjust lift speeds to reduce energy consumption by up to 20 per cent.
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