Will the February holidays also be experienced ski-free like Christmas?
The threat is real and would put mountain professionals in a dramatic economic situation.
While they were to be fixed on January 7 on the reopening or not of the ski lifts, they will finally be on Wednesday.
In an open letter sent this weekend to Prime Minister Jean Castex, the boss of Club Med urges the government to "save the French Mountain".
"On January 20, you will not only decide on the winter holidays for our fellow citizens, you will also decide on the survival of this remarkable ecosystem which has already suffered terribly from the effects of the pandemic, for the second consecutive winter", warns Henri Giscard d'Estaing.
The total blur
For Patrick Labrune, president of the Syndicate of tourist residences, a status quo on the ski lifts would be a disaster with, "as happened for the end of year holidays, up to 80% of cancellations to be expected. ".
Less than three weeks before the start of the winter holidays, the candidates for winter sports who have already booked or are still waiting to see more clearly to make up their minds are also in total vagueness.
The Secretary of State for Tourism Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne is reassuring.
He urges "future holidaymakers who have already made their reservations to keep them", specifying that many accommodation providers and carriers such as SNCF "have undertaken to ensure that cancellations can be made later, without charge, without penalty".
In fact, not everything is so simple.
The rules are of variable geometry.
They depend on the type of reservations or options that have been asked.
With a hotel, for example, it will be necessary to arrange directly with the owner or manager of the establishment to cancel, postpone or be reimbursed.
When you want to know the terms, the task is complicated when it comes to online reservations.
Booking, Expedia, Kayak or Airbnb: the rules differ from one platform to another.
On the same site, the conditions may also vary from one lessor to another.
"The deadline by which we can cancel free of charge falls on this Wednesday"
Frédéric, a 49-year-old Parisian who gives himself a week of skiing every year, no longer knows which way to dance.
With a friend, he rented on Booking a large chalet in the Alps, in Montchavin-les-Coches, between La Plagne and les Arcs, from February 20.
“The deadline by which we can cancel free of charge falls precisely this Wednesday, the day on which must be announced if the ski lifts can reopen or not, worries this father.
We decided to maintain the reservation, with or without lifts, but the question is also whether we can really go in the event of a new confinement, with a ban on moving from one region to another.
"
Like many, Frédéric is now thinking of canceling to resume another reservation, last minute, depending on the health measures that will then prevail.
For those who have not yet done so, there are also formulas to get involved now while keeping peace of mind.
At Odalys for example, the “special Covid” offer is accompanied, for a reservation until January 31, with 21 full reimbursement insurance clauses, excluding administrative fees, in the event of closure of ski lifts, confinement or travel limitation.