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An alpine ski resort in France is the latest to permanently close following declining snowfalls ahead of the winter sports season.
Alpe du Grand Serre, a resort near Grenoble at an altitude of 1,368m, has been forced to shut after failing to raise the money to install year-round snow-making equipment on its pistes.
The ski station opened 85 years ago with 35 miles of slopes, three chairlifts and 10 drag lifts.
An ‘Alpe du Grand Serre 2050’ plan had previously aimed to improve the resort’s facilities, replacing ski lifts to accommodate winter sports and summer hikers.
Almost €3 million (£2.5m) has been spent by the council since 2021 to accommodate tourism year-round.
Local councillors announced the resort closure this week after several fundraising attempts did not meet their targets.
A statement from the council said: “The community council of Matheysine has decided to close the Alpe du Grand Serre this Friday, October 4, 2024, as it can no longer bear the operating costs alone. This is obviously a human, social and economic trauma for this village resort and the entire Matheysine territory.”
According to CNN, 47 members of the Matheysine council voted to discontinue ski operations, while 12 voted to keep ski lifts running.
Two fundraisers – one for corporate donations and another for members of the public to contribute – have been launched in hopes of reopening Alpe du Grand Serre for future seasons.
“At the instigation of the Alpe du Grand Serre collectives, a fundraising campaign was spontaneously set up in addition to the one organised at the beginning of September. These donations will reduce the community’s costs and will strengthen the hope of opening the resort for the next two years while awaiting the implementation of our sustainable and resilient AGS 2050 transition project,” the council added.
One support group, Alpe du Grand Serre Tomorrow, said on Facebook: “The elected officials of the CCMatheysine have just announced the permanent closure of the Alpe du Grand Serre station without any accompanying plans.
“This decision is incomprehensible from a strategic point of view and reveals a terrible lack of vision, skill and confidence to successfully complete the rehabilitation project of the area and make it a transitional pilot project.”
The page said that the closure sees the loss of at least 200 jobs and a “cruel lack of humanity” for the “inhabitants and farmers of the Roizonne Valley” who depend on profits from winter sports.
Although Alpe du Grande Serre is the largest ski station in the northern Alps forced to close, it’s not the first low to mid-altitude resort to shut as snowfall becomes less reliable during warmer winters.
According to Pierre-Alexandre Metral, a geographer from Grenoble University, at least 180 ski resorts in France have closed since the 1970s for reasons including climate change.
Earlier this month, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) teamed up with UN weather experts to warn that ski resorts around the world are facing an “existential threat” from the climate crisis.
Last season, 26 World Cup races were cancelled due to poor weather conditions, the FIS said, raising an alarm about the future of winter sports.
For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast
