Lack of snow closes half of French ski resorts as rain arrives

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Skiers are faced with resort closures in the Alps, after mild temperatures have closed half of the country’s slopes. As a result of rain and warm weather, slopes have turned green during what is supposed to be the busiest time of the year for the industry. 

Lower altitude resorts have been those worst affected, where temperatures in some have risen to double digits and rain has fallen for days in a row. 

In the southeastern ski resort of Les Gets-Morzine, three days of rain has forced the closure of 48 of its 68 pistes, with mountains a patchwork of white and green.

In the French Alps, further south, it was a similar picture.

“The worst of the rain fell across the northern French Alps where most of the natural snow has disappeared below about 1400m or so,” Fraser Wilkin, an alpine weather expert, told the Planet Ski website.

“This includes the… three Valleys, the Grand Massif, the Chamonix valley and the Portes du Soleil.

“The western and northern Swiss Alps have also been badly affected.

“Austria also saw rain, especially in the west but the loss of snow has not been quite as acute here as it was further west.”

The Alps generates 28 bilion euro revenue per year, with France raking in the second-largest majority of the share, behind Austria. 

“We started the Christmas holidays with a good situation following a wave of cold and snow, but from the end of last week, the mild weather and the rains led to the closure of half the slopes,” Laurent Reynaud, general delegate of the DSF, told the AFP news agency.

Yet while snow is essential for a skiing trip, Mark Nathan, who operates a group of 45 chalets in Les Gets, said his mostly British clients have made the most of the warmer and found other things to do.

“Everyone seems to be taking things in stride as most are here for the holidays.”

His son Ben, a ski instructor, said the lack of snow has prompted his customers to be more adventurous in their quest for fresh pistes.

“You can always find nice snow to ski on if you know the right places to go,” he said.

“Lower down it’s very patchy and difficult, but higher up, it’s very nice.”

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