the essential
The mayor of the town of Gresse-en-Vercors in Isère has signed a municipal decree to require snow to fall on his ski area. An ironic administrative document in response to the reproaches of some of its constituents.
Gresse-en-Vercors is a small ski resort 45 minutes south of Grenoble. Its ski area extends from 1245 m to 1751 m. 17 of the 26 trails are currently open. But the snow has been melting visibly for several days.
The mayor has just signed a municipal decree to demand… that the snow falls. “The purpose of this decree is to force meteorological flows to dump snow from January 31, 2025,” indicates the text. It stipulates that “climate change will have to take a wide detour and avoid the slopes of the Alleyrons and Pierre Blanche sector in order not to prevent the practice of alpine skiing”.
An ironic document that Mayor Jean-Marc Bellot addresses to “those who believe that we tried to sink the station”. The elected official can no longer stand the criticisms of some of the citizens who accuse the municipal team of lacking the political will to keep the small ski resort alive. The resort’s financial losses have been 100,000 euros per season on average for 15 years. Last year, the forecast deficit was 307,000 euros.
“I can’t fight global warming.”
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“I cannot fight against global warming”, defends the elected official in The Dauphiné Libéré. “We had an exceptional end-of-year vacation which delighted everyone, but there is no longer any snow on the roofs or on the roads. Putting our heads in the sand because we have had a good start to the season seems inappropriate to me.”
Tired of war, the mayor decided to resign. Residents are called to elect a new chief magistrate on March 2 and 9.
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