Avalanche destroys ski lift with passengers aboard

A massive avalanche hit a ski resort on the St. Francois-Longchamps mountain in France this past weekend, destroying several pylons that held the ski lift in place even while passengers were still riding it. The entire event was captured on video by bystanders who stood at the bottom of the hill as the wall of snow slowly moved down the slope crushing everything in its path. That video can be seen below.

At the time of the avalanche there were 70 people on the lift and miraculously none of them were harmed. Helicopters were soon brought in to evacuate them from the debris, which took about two and a half hours to complete.

Watching the video I can only imagine how helpless and frightened the people aboard the lift must have felt. The avalanche almost seems like it is moving in slow motion as it slides down the face of the mountain and easily crushes the metal pylons for the lift as if they aren’t even there. It is a wild scene to say the least.