Weakened by difficult weather conditions and soaring electricity bills, the Alti Aigoual ski resort is launching an online kitty to pay off its debts.
The small ski resort Alti Aigoual in the Cévennes is playing for its survival. Managed by a collective of two enthusiasts since 2018, the only resort in the Gard department is in financial difficulty. To enable its reopening next winter, it is launching a Leetchi kitty with the aim of raising 20,000 euros. A kitty described as a “helping hand”, but which is more of a last-ditch solution.
Because in reality, it is missing more, rather 130,000 euros according to the information communicated by the managers of the station, who benefit from a public service delegation. In return for payment of a fee, they assume the operation of the station and reap the profits. Part of the missing funds should thus be obtained from the operation of the station itself, (packages, restaurant and lodging) and by the expected compensation for the work not carried out on time by the community of communes.
Lack of snow and explosion of the electricity bill
Since its takeover in 2019, the small ski resort (formerly Prat Peyrot) has had to deal with headwinds. First of all, the quality of the snow, which is not up to par for this resort at an altitude of 1,410 m.
Since the reopening, we have never opened more than 3 days per year during the February holidays,” explains Denis Boissière, spokesperson for the station and manager.
This year, the snow fell in March, after the resort closed. It was necessary to reopen even though the seasonal workers had already left. “The only year when the conditions were good was the Covid period, and there, as with other resorts, we were forbidden to open.”
Some snowless weekends can be very expensive, but the resort needs 12,000 annual passes to break even.
The explosion in the energy bill then left its mark. “We are heated with oil,” explains Denis Boissière. “In 2022, with the announced energy crisis, we went to an 800% increase in the price of the kilowatt hour on October 31. We suffered an explosion in energy bills, especially for our thermal sieve buildings.”
Finally, the resort’s buyers also deplore the lack of major works that should have been carried out by the delegated authority. But they welcome the mountain solidarity. Loans and donations from other resorts, such as that of a snow groomer by Les Deux-Alpes, have made it possible to ensure day-to-day operations. This is welcome solidarity between ski resorts, while the problem of climate change is more difficult to grasp for resorts with less financial resources.
The difficult conversion to a 4-season resort
How can we envisage the future when the end of snowy winters is foreseeable? When taking over, the delegates had a 10-year vision. Which included the possibility of operating the resort out of season, in particular by developing mountain bike activities. But the resort is classified in a protected area, the Cévennes National Park. And any development of activity is subject to authorization so as not to damage fauna, flora and biodiversity.
“The national park had given its approval to use the ski lifts in summer. And to develop cycling activities on condition that they use the existing trails. But there are no existing trails near the lifts and we are also forbidden from creating “earth movements” (hollows, bumps, banked turns), or from installing wooden footbridges in the ground, which is incompatible with the creation of a bike park”, concludes a disillusioned Denis Boissière. “We don’t want to make a Disneyland or an amusement park, however”.
As a result, “the station only walks on one leg”, while the delegates were counting on both, summer and winter, to make their investments profitable.
As for the future, Denis Boissière is aware that it is not written.
The station can operate for a few more years without major investment, if we are able to keep it alive, we will do so. Five years is not nothing.”
In any case, the spokesperson is certain that this will be the last kitty, after a first one launched in 2019. Either because in the absence of sufficient collection, the station will not open this winter. Or because thanks to these anonymous contributions and to boaters, the station will recover its funds, and will no longer need an appeal for solidarity.
A march is also to be organized this weekend, but local elected officials have not responded.
To date, the online kitty has raised more than 4,800 euros.
