Closure of major ski station in France pushed back by one year
Local officials have acknowledged public support and a crowdfund of €200,000
Many ski resorts in France are having to plan to reduce their reliance on winter snowfall
Peter Gudella/Shutterstock
The closure of a major ski station in France has been pushed back by a year after local officials voted for it to continue operating for one more summer and winter season.
The station l’Alpe du Grand Serre, in La Morte, Isère, will stay open for another year after a vote on October 22. This will push the possible closure back to September 2025 at the earliest.
It comes after the same officials declined the idea of running the resort as a public-private partnership with the Sata group earlier this month. This group, which manages cable cars and ski lifts, already runs several ski resorts in the region, including L'Alpe d'Huez and Les 2 Alpes.
But officials declined the idea on October 4, which appeared to signal the final closure for the station.
Read also: Ski resort in the French Alps to close
Yet, the French government later announced financial support, as did the municipality of La Morte, and a number of major players in the ski industry. Similarly, a public crowdfunding campaign raised almost €200,000.
This prompted the officials to reconsider.
‘So many messages of support’
Another vote by local councillors approved the decision to continue with one more winter and summer season. Around 150 residents and professionals from the resort were present at the vote.
“We've received so many messages of support, testimonials, offers of help, and donations from all over France,” said Domitille Hocq, a member of resort support association of La Morte vivante, which launched the crowdfund, to Le Monde.
“It would not have been credible to deny these efforts,” said Coraline Saurat, president of the communauté de communes de la Matheysine, which runs the resort. She did say that “we shouldn’t get bogged down in a question of figures,” despite the resort posting a deficit of €350,000 last season.
‘We need to get away from our dependence on snow’
And while the vote has been described as a “relief”, the Morte vivante association has said that the plan is still only a short-term solution.
“We've avoided disaster, but the deadline is very short,” said César Ghaouti, president of the La Morte vivante, to the AFP. “We absolutely need a [long-term] plan for medium-altitude mountains. We need to get away from our dependence on snow.”
Local MP Marie-Noëlle Battistel has already called for a “movement tomorrow morning” (October 24) to begin considering how the resort may operate in future, particularly if snowfall continues to drop in the winter months.
There had already been plans for a €24 million project designed to turn the resort into a year-round destination, and reduce its reliance on snowfall. This would include summer hiking and biking options.
Yet, Ms Battistel has said that “we may have to scale down this project to make it more feasible” and cost-effective.
The resort, which has over 50 km of pistes in winter, first opened 85 years ago. The economy of nearby village La Morte is largely centred around the ski resort, and many local businesses rely on it for income.
Other struggling stations
L’Alpe du Grand Serre is not the only ski resort to have announced it is struggling, nor the only one to threaten closure due to reduced snowfall in winter.
Read more: Highest ski station in Pyrenees definitely to close
Others include Grand-Puy (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), and Notre-Dame-du-Pré (Savoie). Similarly, the resort of Métabief (Doubs), the largest in the Jura Massif, has also confirmed the closure of 30% of its ski area.
