A little, a lot of snow… From the Pyrenees to the Cévennes, ski resorts are in the starting blocks

Toutes les stations de Trio Pyrénées seront ouvertes à compter de ce samedi 21 décembre. MAXPPP – Frederique Berlic

La neige, tombée mi-décembre, a permis aux stations pyrénéennes d’ouvrir leur domaine skiable, un enjeu majeur. Dans les Cévennes ou sur l’Aubrac, on espère aussi profiter de cet or blanc.

An early Christmas present. In the Pyrenees, storm Darragh was even received as a blessing from heaven. On the weekend of December 8, it brought up to 1.50 m of snow to the mountains, at a time when ski resorts were looking for the miracle recipe to open part of their ski area. To honor the Spanish public holiday weekend of La Puríssima and especially to attract customers eager every year for their first descents, the Font-Romeu resort had thus laid out… two slopes. Banco. “We had 800 people on the first day. A small opening, certainly, but one that allowed us to get the machine going”, confided the director Jacques Alvarez at the time. The next day, the 40 cm of snow that fell overnight allowed 12 slopes to be offered, three on Pyrénées 2 000 and nine on Font-Romeu.

7 to 8 M€ in turnover

Since then, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, the six resorts have taken turns operating all their ski lifts, attracting several thousand skiers on December 14 and 15. “After an exceptional weekend in Porté-Puymorens and Formiguères, with a 50% increase in attendance compared to a standard weekend, the season will start continuously at the three resorts”, announced Alexis Riguetti, director of the local public company Trio Pyrénées, to announce that the small but authentic resort of Cambre d’Aze, 23 slopes located between 1,640 m and 2,400 m above sea level, is opening this Saturday, which will allow visitors to discover its new roller ski lift. Its cost: €1.3 million – out of a total investment of €32 million over four years for the three resorts – in order to make the area more accessible… but which must now be made profitable.

In Font-Romeu, the first skiers have already arrived. Font Romeu Pyrénées 2000 – Altiservice

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

For Cambre d’Az, like the others, the challenge of opening on time was therefore major. “We must achieve, during the Christmas holidays, 7 to 8 M€ of turnover, or 25% of the annual result”, confides Michel Poudade, mayor of Les Angles and president of the Neiges Catalanes network which brings together the six resorts. He recalls the importance of the skiing activity: “5,000 employees in high season, 2,000 throughout the year. €1 spent on skiing is €7 invested in the economy of our mountains. It is therefore very important not to miss this start to the season “. All the teams have therefore put in double the efforts, as soon as the snowflakes have fallen, to be operational from this first day of vacation. “We have had exceptional snowfall and with the cold, it will not change much”, projects Michel Poudade. It will also allow the use of snow cannons, if necessary, to last the two weeks.

In the starting blocks

In the Cévennes, the situation is less idyllic. At Aigoual, a resort whose €100,000 deficit is jeopardizing the survival of the public service delegation, the 25 cm snowpack that settled in mid-December allowed, to a pleasant surprise, the opening of five slopes from December 15th… but it has already shrunk. Denis Boissière, the manager, has nevertheless decided to set up two slopes for this first weekend of vacation, “a school slope and a rather long green slope”, in particular to allow skiers who bought solidarity passes in advance – to help keep the accounts afloat – to enjoy them. “I won't hide from you that the snow is a bit hard. We're hoping for more precipitation, perhaps Sunday evening. We'll see then how we plan for the rest of the holidays, but it's true that being able to open a few more days, after a very difficult 2023-2024 season, would do us good”, sighs Denis Boissière.

80 km as the crow flies from there, on Mount Lozère, the snow has not fallen enough. Barely more than 10 cm so far. “Not enough to prepare the slopes”, sighs the director Christophe Aldrovandi. From welcoming skiers to maintenance and security, everything has been organized around twenty seasonal workers. “We're ready to open as soon as the snow is here,” assures the manager, also aware that each day of opening, even “at €17 per ski pass”, will weigh on the future of his resort weakened by global warming.

A resort for Christmas ?

On the Aubrac, in Laguiole, we are not even there yet. The call for tenders launched by the town hall for the management of the resort proved unsuccessful, despite the goodwill of the association for the Promotion of the Laguiole Ski Resort which proposes to rely on volunteers to reduce costs. A demonstration took place at the beginning of December and negotiations with the mayor have only just resumed. “We just want to save our resort”, whispers the president Mathurin Chauffour. It would be another Christmas present…

Weather: a little more snow before a thaw

Will there be snow à Christmas in our mountains? The situation will still be contrasted from one massif to another.“A new disturbance is forecast for Sunday and Monday and should bring around ten centimetres of snow to the Pyrenees, especially above 2,000 metres”, assures Malo Tiriau, regional forecaster at Météo France. A few flakes could also fall on the high points of the Cévennes, especially on Sunday, “but in smaller proportions”.

Above all, the trend should reverse around Christmas. “We are seeing an anticyclonic signal everywhere with temperatures above seasonal norms”. This thaw could lead to snowmelt. “Particularly in the Cévennes. In the Pyrenees, the still short days should still allow for sufficient snow cover to be maintained until the end of the holidays. But to enjoy good fresh snow, even in the P.-O., it is advisable to focus on the first week.

I subscribe to read the rest