Two ski resorts in the Alps, in Isère and Savoie, are shutting down for good even before the start of the 2024-2025 season. The closures are attributed to a lack of natural snow and precarious finances.
In Isère, theAlpe du Grand Serrelocated at an altitude of 1,370 metres in the commune of La Morte, has had to close its doors after more than 80 years in business.
This ski area, opened in 1938, included three chairlifts, several drag lifts and 50 kilometres of pistes, culminating at 2,200 metres.
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Despite its history and special place in the Isère ski scene, the resort had been loss-making for several years and depended solely on public subsidies.
The decision by the Matheysine communauté de communes to stop subsidising Sata, the company responsible for the ski lifts, has sealed the fate of the resort. With 47 votes out of 61 in favour of the decision, closure has become inevitable.
180 ski areas have already closed in France
In Savoie, the small resort of Notre-Dame-de-la-Tarentaise also had to close down.
This resort, the smallest in the département, has been making financial losses of €20,000 a year for the last four years, as well as suffering from a shortage of snow.
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As mayor Jocelyne Abondance Pourcel explained, the increasing lack of snow has made it impossible to maintain activities. This closure illustrates a wider phenomenon: since the 1970s, more than 180 ski resorts have closed in France, mainly mid-mountain micro-slopes that are unprofitable and subject to the vagaries of the weather.
These closures highlight the growing challenges facing mid-altitude ski resorts in the Alps, which are undermined by changing weather conditions and economic models that are increasingly difficult to maintain.
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