Facing great financial difficulties, the Seignus ski resort has given up on the gondola which has linked it to the village of Allos since 1987. A page is turning for this family resort which is trying to renew itself so as not to disappear.
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It had been part of the Seignus landscape for 37 years. The Guinands gondola is being dismantled. “We can always have regrets, but today customer behavior has changed, the climate is evolving, and we are obliged to conform to this evolution, concedes the mayor, Michel Lanthelme, sIf we had remained in this state, it was a death predicted in the very short term.” A difficult but thoughtful choice, dictated by a forecast deficit for 2024 of nearly 860,000 euros, announced to the population on June 27 at a public meeting.
Chronic lack of snow, excessive cost of aging installations, the small resort is not the first to make this kind of decision in the southern Alps. Not far from there, in Grand Puy, the municipality has also drawn a line under its ski lifts.
Alpine skiing does not disappear in Seignus, however. The snow garden, made of artificial snow, will be moved to the bottom of the slopes “to allow children to learn skiing and then go directly to the Clos Bertrand chairlift and allow progressive learning to ski”underlines Sylvain Geny, director of the Seignus management, for whom the objective is to “strengthen the ski offer at Seignus on the snow front, with all the shops around.” The end of the work is scheduled for the end of November, beginning of December.
The objective is to centralize all activities to rationalize costs.
Sylvain Geny, director of the Seignus managementFrance 3 Provence-Alpes
The resort also wants to diversify its range of activities. “With the Clos Bertrand chairlift, you can go halfway up where an Explore game activity will be offeredBrigitte Courbon, deputy director of the Tourist office, using a phone application, we can play a game all around the slopes.”
An area will also be dedicated to ski touring, a practice that has been booming in ski areas since the covid crisis, during which the lifts remained at a standstill. A label is being obtained for the Seignus with the French Mountain and Climbing Federation.
We have five years for the Seignus to be in balance.
Michel Lanthelme, maire d'AllosFrance 3 Provence-Alpes
Within five years, the departmental council will disengage. For the municipality of Allos, which will then become sole manager of the Seignus station, the challenge is to rebalance the finances.
For the 2024-2025 season, the Val d'Allos-La Foux resort will open first on December 14, the opening of Seignus is scheduled for December 21.
Article written with Véronique Bouvier, journalist at France 3 Provence-Alpes.
