Due to the lack of snow, Val Thorens postpones the opening of its ski resorts

We have to wait another week for the first ski runs in Val Thorens. Due to the lack of optimal snow, the Savoyard resort is postponing the opening of its slopes, which was scheduled for this Saturday, November 19, to next week, November 26-27. “The particularly mild autumn weather does not allow Val Thorens to open its ski area at the level of quality it wants to offer its skiers.The highest ski resort in France (2,300m) and the highest point of the 3-Vallées, says a press release this Sunday. Currently, the snow cover is sufficient at altitude, but it does not allow skiing to the resort.”, he says again. The forecast of snowfall in the coming days should compensate for the deficit. Val d’Isère is also delaying the opening of its slopes to the general public. See you on December 4th instead of November 26th to face the Belvedere. Its neighbor Tignes stays until the end of November to start the season.

False start

Another false start for the queen of winter sports, succumbing to the vagaries of the weather. Tignes, it is true, should have refused to open its glacier slopes to All Saints, like 2-Alpes (Isère). Already this summer, skiing on the glacier has been reduced to a minimum due to global warming and last winter’s low rainfall. Ski resorts, like other industries, face rising energy prices. However, the industry wants to be hopeful that its commitments should enable it to achieve the 10 percent reduction in consumption demanded by the government. This particularly entails reducing the speed of lifts during off-peak hours or even stopping them when they double.

Reservations above

At this stage, French and foreign tourists do not seem scared, on the contrary. The National Observatory for Mountain Stations (ONSM) estimates a year-over-year increase in station occupancy levels of 7% for the entire season, following an already record-breaking 2021 winter. If it’s just “first trends“, they are “encouragerFor the president of the National Association of Mayors of Mountain Resorts (ANMSM), Jean-Luc Boch, who mentioned these figures last Friday at the Paris event of this sector, which revives its legendary slogan: “The mountain that conquers you”.

A finding corroborated by most professionals, who note very early bookings for the Christmas holidays as well as the winter holidays, during which Courchevel and Méribel host the World Ski Championships from February 6 to 19. However, in general, it should be expected that the prices of the packages will increase by 5-8%, thinks the president of the Armenian National Union of Students. In particular, the increase in the price of electricity, while a third of the stations have to renew their contracts with suppliers by the end of the year. The industry is currently in talks with Bercy to set a “reasonable price”.