marmot trail Operators are not worried, however, as cold and snow are forecast for the coming days.
You will soon be able to put on your skis. — Alexandre GELEBART/REA
Several ski resorts in the Alps and the Pyrenees will postpone their opening scheduled for the end of November, for lack of sufficient snow to function properly, indicated their operators.
This is particularly the case for Val Thorens (Savoie), which planned to launch its winter season on Saturday and postponed its winter season. the week-long opening, a consequence of “the particularly mild autumn weather” “Currently the snow cover at altitude is satisfactory, but does not allow a ski-in ski-out return to the resort,” station in a press release this week.
“Snow is coming, cold too”
Same decision to Val d’Isère and the nearby resort of Tignes (Savoie), which also reported their one-week opening, from November 26 to December 3, for the same reasons. Tignes will content itself with opening a run on its glacier on Saturday.
“There was very little snow, but it’s coming, çt’s there. Cold too, so no worries,” Friday Olivier Simonin, general manager of Val d’Isère Téléphériques. Eventually, the station plans to “adjust” its season start date to adapt to climate change, he added.
Enough water to make artificial snow
In the French Pyrenees, the lack of snow will also delay the start of the ski season, indicates for his part. Michel Poudade, president of “Neiges catalanes”, a group of ski resorts in the Pyrenees-Orientales. “We will be roughly a week late in the stations that had announced; opening at the end of November. And for those planning to open in early December, we”ll see,” he said.
The weather isn’t worrying for so much not the elected official, also mayor of the resort of Les Angles: “They announce cold weather for next week and snow this weekend, so everything can change very quickly” ;. And the resorts have “enough water to make artificial snow,” he said.
Côté Andorra, the ski resorts Grandvalira, Ordino Arcalís and Pal Arinsal should open at from December 2, weather conditions permitting, although it is possible that the slopes may open earlier.