Their number of slopes can sometimes be counted on the fingers of one hand, the passes are cheaper, the wait at the lifts is shorter… With their family atmosphere, the small winter sports resorts are part of the emotional landscape of the Nice hinterland. “I was born here, I have always skied here. When the resort is open, 500 schoolchildren learn to ski there every week.” sums up Jean-Marc Nervi well. Director of the station Turin Camp d'argentin La Bollène-Vésubie, this professional mechanic has the mountains in his guts and believes in its future. Even if he admits to living every winter season “the eye on the barometer”. Because one thing is certain: while global warming is no longer a distant mirage, it puts these star facilities of the Riviera mountains to the test of uncertainty. What's more, the smallest areas. HAS Roubion-Les Buissesa resort in the Tinée valley nestled between 1400 and 1900m above sea level, Philip Bruno, mayor of the village with 125 souls per year, knows it: “We now have to deal with randomness, manage the crisis, adapt”. Last year, faced with a severe lack of snow and then power outages, the elected official, who refused “to all fatalism”suffered a catastrophic season. This year 2024, its 30km linear area opened a week late, 2 slopes… out of 21. Unable to operate its snow cannons, covering a quarter of the area, in the absence of negative temperatures due to a much milder and sunny end of December than normal.
When the exceptional becomes the norm
Opened in 1974 before taking off in the 1980s, Roubion, like its sisters in the sector, saw the situation change in a microscopic period of time on a climate scale. A trajectory now underway, as evidenced by the work of scientists from the Regional Group of Experts on Climate in Paca (Greek-South). Mimicking the functioning of the IPCC, a UN entity on global climate change, the organization, which brings together experts from the Southern region, has produced a multidisciplinary report on the future of tourism on our lands. And the local observation in the mountains is clear. “The general discourse on is often simplified: in the Mediterranean region, it is often summarized by more precipitation in winter and drought in summer. There are, in reality, many local nuances. In the Alpes-Maritimes in particular, this winter rain will tend to decrease in the future.notes one of its authors, the geographer Philippe Rossello. “By 2050, below 2,000m altitude, all the Riviera resorts will suffer. Only Isola 2000, higher up and part of which has a favorable exposure, would resist better. Below 1800m, the snow cannons will no longer be usable due to the temperatures If we rely on international policies to reduce greenhouse gases, global warming will occur. +3.1°C by 2100: in these conditions, the snow cover will increase by around 300m in around 25 years, it's enormous”analyzes the scientist.
“Do not close but reinvent yourself”
Faced with these models, based on the scientific scenarios of the IPCC (ratified by 195 countries including France), “stations have a future, despite everything. As long as they diversify and are creative”underlines Philippe Rossello. “All-skiing is over”already affirms Philip Bruno in Roubion, specifying that he has started this shift “10 years ago.” Rental of electric bikes in summer, via ferrata… Summer attendance is worked on, “even if it still remains much weaker than that of winter”according to the elected official.
His recipe, however: invest, largely helped by public subsidies. Tourist office, new brewery, construction of housing under the aegis of a private developer… And even €400,000 allocated to “artificial snowmaking for an additional slope, without adding hill reservoirs”tempers the councilor, who also dreams, within 3 years, of delivering to the public a 2,500-year-old protohistoric site unearthed at the top of the estate and dedicating an interpretation park to it on the snow front. “The problem of certain resorts? It is that there is public money which is constantly arriving. One in two developments in these areas consists of making major projects which will not be profitable. Ski companies are also very structured and capable of influencing decisions”, analyzes a professional in the sector, anchored in this territory.
“So far, it’s always worked…”
What if the snow were to collapse? “I’ve never thought too much about that… For now, it’s always worked. And if the elders set up the station here, it’s because there’s a reason,” insists, for his part, Jean-Marc Nervi, responsible for the slopes at Turini Camp d'Argent, a mini domain with 5 slopes located in the town of La Bollène-Vésubie. Here, not the shadow of a cannon but painstaking work and “a lot of willpower” to meticulously distribute the white gold when it falls. “As soon as the temperatures are negative, I go up at night and work on it, the damage is important”he explains, viscerally attached to his corner. However, the subsidies have allowed the small resort to invest in summer equipment: tobogganing on a synthetic track, electric bikes, mini-tree climbing, trampolines, etc. “There is even a souvenir shop”argues the director, the only facility open at the end of December 2024. Due to lack of snow.
In Saint-Martin d’Entraunes, the station Val Pelen'slocated between 1600 and 1700m above sea level, will not open again this year. Here, in addition to the snow, the place accumulates personnel and equipment problems. “I am still looking for a manager for the station since the departure of the old ones. Furthermore, the natural disasters of October 17 and 18 [2024] generated a landslide which impacted our main ski lift. The station is so small that it is difficult to find a project manager to repair it, everyone mobilized elsewhere.deplores Jean-Claude Authman, the mayor. Since his election in 2014, the elected official has admitted: “the question of the future of the station has come back to the table several times. Each time, we weigh the pros and cons. But life in the municipality without it would be complicated…” The councilor prefers to concentrate on finding buyers for the village inn.
“Stopping skiing is not synonymous with collapse”
Less than 6km further up the valley, Pierre Tardieu, mayor of Entraunesas for had him dismantle the village chairlift 10 years ago. “At the timethat everyone had fallen on me”, remembershe says, struck by the speed of climate change on his land. “In theIn the 1980s, the rain-snow limit was below the village, around 1,000m above sea level. When it fell at the end of October, it lasted until February. Today, it is 500m higher…” He saiddecided to turn its tourism towards the exploration of nature, the contemplation of biodiversity… “Bifurquer little by little towards another tourism, while benefiting from word of mouth, it is also the way to show people that, even without snow, you can have fun in these areas. The gradual cessation of skiing does not mean a collapse of the economic model, but we must face facts and move forward,” concludes the geographer Philippe Rossello.
Questions for Emeline Hatt, researcher in planning and urban planning: “The transition must be anticipated at least 20 years in advance”
Lecturer in planning and urban planning at Aix-Marseille University, Émeline Hatt participated in the report Tourism in the face of climate change in Paca du Grec-Sud. She sheds light on the mountain part and details the urgency of reinventing the winter sports resort model.
Can we still save the snow economy, especially in small winter sports resorts?
Winter sports resorts, particularly in mid-mountain areas, are faced with multiple difficulties. This is a global change. It is linked to the climate crisis with a drop in snow cover observed over the last fifty years and which will continue according to projections. What meteorologists highlight is also the interannual variability of snow cover which questions the future of the “weather-sensitive” activity of winter sports.
Added to this is the vulnerability of these territories to climatic hazards: storms, landslides which create cuts on access roads… The expectations of tourist customers have also changed (stagnation of attendance, increasing quality requirements aesthetic and environmental aspects of visitors, development of less sporting practices, etc.). Some stations, built in the 1970s, have become old ladies in their fifties and must reinvent their layouts.
You also point out the fact that these stations are run thanks to public money…
Yes and that raises questions. In 2019, government data mentioned that 5.6 million French people practice skiing, including 61% from the middle and upper class and 54% from a city of more than 100,000 inhabitants. What this reminds me of is that this is a sport from which some benefit but which everyone pays indirectly thanks to public subsidies granted to the stations… Today, there are many loss-making stations , some were from the start. It was a political choice to create jobs locally, but given the changing climate and the ever-increasing deficit, this raises questions about continuing to invest massively in this equipment.
How can we transform the model without sacrificing the territory and its stakeholders?
For the moment, the resorts have found technological solutions to compensate for the lack of natural snow, namely the use of artificial snow, which is questionable because it is energy- and water-intensive, and grooming techniques… The transition is taking place. anticipate at least 20 years in advance. By keeping the resort open but without making new investments in the equipment of the ski area and by redirecting resources towards citizen participation to change the model, by leading reflections on a new territorial economy, based on a reflection expanded to the scale of the valley. In the Jura, the Métabief resort is planning its exit from skiing for 2030-2035 by continuing to operate by investing differently. Val Drôme closed and has since specialized in agrotourism. In Lozère, the Mas de la Barque resort has branched off into ecotourism. In the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, the mayor of Grand Puy organized a referendum before closing the resort. To make a successful transition, we must also agree on a territorial scale, plan together, and pool equipment. But this requires putting aside political rivalries…
