The main character in the third part of the Black Diamond TV web series is the gondola in La Grave. The four-minute film is a declaration of love to the legendary lift, whose continued existence is in danger.
Cable car employees talk lovingly about the machine they have been looking after for decades. One of them says it's a bit like a baby, a bit like your own car that you like to tinker with. Another compares the gondola to his beloved old VW bus, which just keeps going if you look after it. A third wishes that the gondola would last as long as the Eiffel Tower.
A blog post about the video explains the history of the gondola, as well as the currently precarious situation in La Grave. The village has been difficult to reach since the spring due to the risk of landslides and was more or less cut off from the outside world at times. In addition, the gondola's lease expires in two years and its future seems very uncertain.
