Two resorts in the Southern Alps at war and private skiers

They wanted to believe it until the last minute. Forêt Blanche, the second largest ski area in the Hautes-Alpes, was their common goal. After weeks of discussions and then a media-fuelled resignation, Dominique Lodre, mayor of Vars and manager of the ski lift company SEM-Sedev at the resort, Regis Simond, councilor of Risoul, and Jean-Yves Remy, director of the station’s operator, Labellemontagne, resumed their negotiations. to open the connection. “By noon I no longer believed it. And then the negotiations resumed– a witness informed us on Friday.

Since then, it has been hoped that this winter again the skiers of the two High Alps resorts can ski the entire area, connected by 185 slopes and 56 ski lifts, a vertical drop of 1,100 meters, from 1,650m to 2,750m. La Forêt Blanche was created in 1976 between Vars and Risoul.

However, if Vars and Risul sell about the same number of passes, it is Vars that we ski the most. “According to a recent study, 70% of Risulins come to Vars for 4 to 5 hours a day, and just under 30% of Varsints cross over to Risul for meals or tracking.– says our interlocutor. In fact, three quarters of the 110 km of slopes are on the Vars side, the area of ​​which also benefits from spectacular views of the mountain ranges (including Esina) and panoramic skiing. Full sun on Peynier. Risul, which its website describes as “the most intimate of the great resorts“, it is uniform, with forest skiing, luxurious, in resins.

“These are the two municipalities that have been taken hostage.»

Because of the imbalance, Labellemontagne donates a portion of its proceeds to SEM-Sedev every winter. However, the amount of return is often a source of conflict. Vars feels guilty every winter. So this year, thanks to the energy crisis affecting areas already tested by Covid-19, Dominique Lodre wanted to put the kibosh on it by rejecting the proposed sum of between 500,000 and 600,000 euros, which he considers unfair. Jean-Yves Remy argued at the microphone of BFM “put a ceiling“for”avoid side effects”, don’t put your company in trouble. However, on Friday, December 2, as soon as the proposal to remove the ceiling, the discussion was unblocked. When contacted, Labellemontagne management declined to respond.

Vars will revise its claims downwards. That would not be enough. The expected refund of €1.2 million, including tax, was still too high for operator Risoul, which asked:30% loss for marketing costs“, according to our information. Disagreements within Labellemontagne cost former Risoul resort director Stéphane Pudevin his job, who was fired a month ago by its chief executive Jean-Yves Remy. Reason : “He had offered Vars a fair and economically viable solution, and he didn’t like it“, thinks we know our source. And curse.These are the two municipalities that have been taken hostage. Local government cannot sustainably fund a private sector that does not play the game.“.

To turn on is to be attractive

Therefore, the White Forest will not connect them at the dawn of the opening of the slopes on December 10. And its very existence seems implausible given the history of the two stations, so different. Vars is a place of heritage. It developed between the two wars around four villages that circle the pass between Guillestre and Barcelonet, which would become the gateway to the Queiras Regional Natural Park. The heart of his life, Vars les Claux, was created in 1962 on the ashes of the previous village and based on the first installations that grew in 1936. Risoul launched its first snow in 1964. And in a place called Les Chalps, at an altitude of 1,850 meters, a complex resort was created in 1972, which resembles a holiday village. Originally, he thought of connecting his tracks with those of his neighbor.

The statement about not opening the link already had “real psychological impactsays the witness. Those who come from afar say among themselves that it is not so serious, especially being connected to their station. But the locals experience it in an animal way, with such an impression that they put a ban on them“. All related fields play on the psychological aspect. To turn on is to be attractive. A node has the importance that a person has to it. Statistically, skiers use 8 to 10% of the terrain. In the 3 valleys in Savoie, which connect eight resorts, only 20% of the 600 kilometers of slopes are regularly used by skiers. However, infinity gives choice. However, the choice between Vars and Risul is slim. Without the hub, Risul has a lot more to lose.