Like every year, Tignes and Val Thorens, located partly at more than 2,000 meters, were the first to draw. The second, affected by a cable car accident which left eight people injured, including two seriously, on Tuesday, indicated that it would remain open.
Conversely, the Grands Montets resort, in the Haute-Savoie department, which also planned to launch on Saturday, indicated that it would postpone its opening by a week. Most other areas will stagger their opening between now and Christmas depending on weather and snow conditions.
The Alpine massifs benefited this week from heavy and early snowfall caused by the passage of storm Caetano on Thursday. But they should be followed this weekend by a powerful redoux
according to the meteorological agency Météo-France.
Even open, the stations will not yet be operating at full capacity. The challenge is above all to launch the season, to fine-tune the teams, to set up the events. The activity really starts from the following weeks
explains to AFP Frédéric Porte, general manager of Tignes Développement, the company which manages the station's activity.
Currently, reservations are rather very good for the season
particularly the week of the New Year, despite a package which should see its price increase by around 5%, he underlines.
Same echo from the National Association of Mayors of Mountain Resorts (ANMSM), whose observatory anticipates a 5% increase in the occupancy rate in December 2024 compared to December 2023.
The fact remains that this positive trend covers differences […] according to the massifs and stations
recognizes the ANMSM. Occupancy rates could also change during the season depending on snow cover and generally weather conditions.
warns its president, Jean-Luch Boch.
A gap being dug
In the Pyrenees (southwest), the first openings of resorts scheduled for the end of November are uncertain due to the lack of snow. But the president of the Pyrenees section of Domaines Skiables de France (DSF), Laurent Garcia, notes that the bulk of the season
is played after Christmas.
Last year, many mid-mountain resorts found themselves in difficulty during the winter holidays due to lack of snow and temperatures that were too mild, making it impossible to produce snow.
Conversely, the high altitude Alpine resorts had benefited from excess snowfall and a clear transfer of customers. The gap between these stations and those located lower or further south is expected to widen due to global warming, scientists estimate.
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