This summer has provided us with even more evidence that our climate is changing dramatically, from the storms in Greece to the wildfires in Portugal. However, it’s not just the mid-year season that is becoming gradually more impacted by the climate emergency – it’s the winter season, too.
We reported this time last year that La Sambuy, a resort based in the small French town of Faverges-Seythenex, would be permanently closing due to a lack of snow, and now in the face of an ever-shrinking window of good skiing conditions, another resort has also announced its closure.
Alpe du Grand Serre, a group of six small villages that sits at an altitude of 1,368m, opened as a winter sports resort 85 years ago and is the second oldest in the Isère region. However, Caroline Saurat, president of the local authority, announced that councillors had voted not to reopen it this winter in an ‘unfortunate conclusion’, according to the Guardian.
The reason? A lack of money, and a lack of snow. While some larger resorts have dealt with the dwindling snow season by establishing themselves as year-round destinations, the local authority in Alpe du Grand Serre stated that a lack of funding prevents them from doing the same.
Since 2021, almost €3 million has been spent to try and encourage visitors during the summer months with hiking and biking paths, but that funding has now run dry. In addition, there’s been a longer-term lack of investment in the resort’s infrastructure over the last four decades, which has hardly helped the situation.
Grand Puy, a resort of a similar altitude nestled in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence has also announced its closure, and while more resorts shutting their slopes seems inevitable (180 French resorts have done so since the 1970s), that doesn’t make the news any easier for local communities.
‘We are devastated and shocked. It’s a brutal decision coming two months before we were due to open,’ Lauranne Vincent told France 3 television. It’s thought that in the nearby village of La Morte, 200 jobs and the livelihood of 150 people will be affected.
‘We’ve been left completely in the lurch. We still have loans to pay as we’ve only been here four years. Who will pay them? Our lives have been ruined. That’s what is going to happen to us,’ said Frédérique Laurence, a grocery shop owner in La Morte.
For some lesser-known, more affordable ski resorts in Europe that don’t skimp on the scenery, you can check out our roundup right here.
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