These are unusual temperatures for the season. They have particular consequences for the mountain sector, during this Christmas holiday period. The mild weather, accompanied by rain in recent days in the mountains, has greatly disrupted the activity of ski resorts, particularly those located in the lower mountains. It has indeed led to the closure of half of the slopes in France, according to Domaines skiables de France (DSF).
“We had started the Christmas holidays with a good situation following a wave of cold and snow, but from the end of last week, the mild weather and the rains led to the closure of half of the tracks”, explained to AFP Laurent Reynaud, general delegate of DSF.
The Southern Alps, with three quarters of the slopes open, and the Northern Alps, in particular Savoie, are the least penalized. On the other hand, in the other massifs such as the Vosges or the Jura (less than a quarter of the open slopes), the situation is more worrying.
“We will know in February or March if the season has been good or not”
In the Pyrenees, ten out of thirty resorts are closed, and in those that are open, the majority of the slopes are closed. “Our start to the season is complicated, but we must not be pessimistic. We will know in February or March whether the season has been good or not,” said Gianni Ragona, director of three resorts in Haute-Garonne, Luchon-Superbagnères, Le Mourtis and Bourg d’Oueil. “January-February-March, that represents around 80% of turnover. Do not worry before the hour”, however underlines Gianni Ragona.
Many resorts such as La Pierre-Saint-Martin (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Saint-Pierre de Chartreuse/Le Planolet (Isère), Semnoz (Haute-Savoie), Le Tanet (Vosges) or Croix de Bauzon (Massif Central) had to closing their domains in recent days. On the other hand, specifies Laurent Reynaud, “most of the resorts in the Southern Alps are operating at full capacity, as in Maurienne, Tarentaise or Oisans”.
“We are worried, the raw material is missing. There is anxiety about maintaining reservations, time will tell how much the situation will have an impact on them”, confides for his part Jean-Luc Boch, President of the National Association of Mountain Resort Mayors (ANMSM). “The non-opening two years ago due to the Covid-19 epidemic has already left its mark, even if last year the season was good. Conditions must become favorable again for the approximately 400,000 people who live from mountain activity”, he urges.
Temperature records that could be broken
Faced with global warming, some municipalities are forced to change their habits. “We are seeing more and more difficulties at the beginning of December, and the snow is falling more and more at altitude, on the slopes facing north. This climatic upheaval has led us to adapt, with artificial snow but also by developing new ‘other activities’, pleads the mayor of La Plagne Tarentaise, whose area is relatively spared by the lack of snow.
France experienced a particularly mild Christmas this year, well above seasonal norms and the second warmest since the post-war period. Short-term forecasts will not reassure mountain players: according to Météo-France, highs well above normal are still expected this weekend, both in the plains and at altitude.
“A southerly flow will set in over France, ahead of the disturbances over the near Atlantic. This wind will bring up mild air of subtropical origin”, also watch The Weather Channel, which predicts values ”5 to 10°C above seasonal norms for this time of year”. Certain mildness records for the month of January in France, which vary in the plain between 15 and 25°C on average, could “be approached, or even quite simply equaled or beaten”. The mildness should continue in early January, “even if the temperatures should gradually drop”, according to La Chaîne Météo.