Holidaymakers bound for popular French ski resorts spent the night on the floor of an Olympic hall after a landslide in the Savoie region caused a standstill on the roads.
A huge rockfall on the RN90 road triggered travel chaos, leaving a 62-year-old woman with minor injuries on Saturday morning (1 February).
Three rocks – each weighing over 150 tonnes – caused a traffic jam up to 18 miles long after falling on the road into the French Alps, reports EuroWeekly.
Coaches of skiers headed for the Tarentaise ski resorts, including the slopes of Courchevel, Meribel, Les Arcs, Tignes, and Val d’Isère, were left stranded on the roadside.
The French Red Cross mobilised to set up emergency accommodation with beds in the Olympic Hall, Albertville.
According to Savoie News, the former facility for the 1992 Winter Olympics housed nearly 600 people stranded roadside overnight.
“We have beer… so everything is fine,” some stranded tourists optimistically told the outlet.
Other displaced skiers took to TikTok to share the emergency accommodation set up, with videos showing rows of camp beds and makeshift bedding.
One wrote: “Not how we expected our ski holiday to start. A roller coaster of a day – from our flight being delayed 3 hours to sleeping in emergency accommodation set up by the Red Cross.”
Another traveller, who claimed to be stuck in the Red Cross shelter on Reddit, said skiers were given “not terrible” ham and butter baguettes and “cookies” as provisions during their stay.
Yesterday morning (2 February), state services in Savoie shared on X/Twitter: “Last night, nearly 1,500 people were able to be accommodated in reception centres to rest, eat or spend the night, thanks to the mobilisation of the municipalities.
“Since this morning, traffic on the RN 90 has gradually resumed. It is expected to intensify during the day and cause slowdowns.”
Geologists are monitoring the site to assess if it is safe to fully reopen the road.
For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast
