With climate change disrupting the winter seasons, ski resorts are looking for alternatives to diversify their activities and ensure their long-term survival. Among the emerging solutions, mountain biking on snow is winning over more and more resorts and enthusiasts. Is this a viable response to the economic and ecological challenges facing ski resorts?
In recent years, many French resorts have turned to mountain biking on snow to enhance their winter offering. Equipped with fatbikes - bikes with wide, notched tyres for better grip - or adapted classic mountain bikes, winter sports enthusiasts can now hurtle down groomed slopes or take specially prepared snowy trails.
Far from being just a fad, this discipline has found its audience, from skiers in search of new sensations to mountain bikers looking to extend their mountain activity season.
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Certain stations, like Méribel with its VTT Winter TourSome of these, such as the "Bicycles for Life" programme, offer dedicated events where visitors can try out the discipline on safe courses. Others, such as Les Orres, Tignes, Val d'Isère or Les ArcsSome of the most popular mountain resorts have already added snow biking to their regular offer, with signposted itineraries and sometimes even night-time excursions.
This development is part of a wider drive by resorts to adapt to climatic conditions, by offering alternative experiences when there is a lack of snow or when temperatures are too high to ensure optimum snow cover.
An economic and climate challenge for resorts
Resorts are also banking on this practice because it represents a viable alternative to reduced snow cover, particularly in the mid-range mountains. According to Domaines Skiables de FranceInvestment in non-ski leisure facilities has risen sharply (+24 % over five years).
This trend responds to the need to make the infrastructure profitable all year round, by optimising the use of ski lifts for summer activities such as mountain biking, hiking and trail running.
This transition is already well underway. Resorts such as Le Grand-Bornand and Les Gets, which attract a large number of mountain bikers in the summer, see the development of mountain biking on snow as a way of extending the season and recouping their investment.
This dynamic is also helping to reach a wider audience, particularly young adults aged 18 to 34, who are now over-represented among winter sports customers, according to a study by Atout France.
However, this transition is not without its challenges. While the cohabitation of skiers and mountain bikers on the slopes can pose safety problems, some resorts have already started to set up dedicated routes.
Accessibility of equipment also remains a barrier: fatbikes, which are still not widely available, cost between €1,000 and €3,000, which limits their democratisation. Hire could be a solution to encourage more people to try this sport.
A complement to skiing rather than a replacement
Mountain biking on snow will not replace downhill skiing, which is still the main winter activity in the resorts.
On the other hand, it could become an essential pillar of business diversification, particularly for areas suffering from global warming and seeking to offer new visitor experiences.
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With events like the Snowleader Mountain Test in Méribel, where mountain biking is tested by the general public alongside other winter disciplines, interest in the sport is growing all the time.
With this in mind, a number of resorts in the Alps, such as Morzine or Serre ChevalierThese resorts are already beginning to evolve into multi-season resorts, where winter and summer are gradually merging to allow year-round tourism.