French Ski Area Postpones Closure
24th October 2024
L’Alpe du Grand Serre in the southern French Alps is to open for this winter and next summer. After that its future remains in doubt. NEW
Alpe du Grand Serre is a collection of six villages in the southern French Alps near Grenoble.
It decided to close citing several difficult winters and a lack of summer investment.
Poor snow, falling numbers and bleak prospects were to blame
Local officials have now reversed their previous decision, and the area will open for this winter and next summer.
Here at PlanetSKI we reported on the closure when it was announced:
The French government has announced financial support, plus the municipality of La Morte, and a number of organisations in the French ski industry.
A crowdfunding campaign raised almost €200,000.
“We’ve received so many messages of support, testimonials, offers of help, and donations from all over France,” said Domitille Hocq, a member of resort support association that launched the crowdfunding initiative to the newspaper, Le Monde.
The resort opened 85 years ago and has 55kms of slopes.
The economy of nearby village La Morte is heavily dependent on the ski resort with any local businesses relying on it.
“We’ve avoided disaster, but the deadline is very short,” said the president of the La Morte vivante, César Ghaouti, to the AFP newsagency.
“We absolutely need a long-term plan for medium-altitude mountains. We need to get away from our dependence on snow.”
Now a closure of L’Alpe du Grand Serre will be September 2025 at the earliest.
Read more in Le Connexion
