Avalanche of reactions, cascades of press releases, rants on social networks… The mountain has been rumbling since Monday evening.
Very quickly, the spirit of the roped party, so dear to Emmanuel Macron, had taken over.
"We are going to ask the government to review its position,
" Jean-Luc Boch told us on Wednesday morning, the president of the National Association of Mayors of Mountain Stations (ANMSM) and of France Montagnes, the sector promoting organization.
It's incomprehensible.
The health protocol that we developed in conjunction with the Prefect of Savoie, health coordinator for the mountains at the national level, had just been approved.
As for the risk of saturation of hospitals with ski accidents, 94% are treated in the resort by medical offices.
And we are also in discussion with the private clinics so that they take care of the traumatology ”.
To read also: Ski resorts: the executive acts an opening of the slopes "in January" rather than at Christmas
Yesterday, the mountain professionals had written for the President of the Republic an article put online this morning, exclusively on Le Figaro: "
Yes, Mr. President, we must open the ski resorts at Christmas
" .
While the 30 mountain deputies of La République en Marche addressed a letter to the Prime Minister who had brought together on Monday, by videoconference, professionals and elected officials from the sector.
"The President of the Republic was not categorical, if there is still a possibility of opening,
let us
seize it"
, hoped Xavier Roseren, LRM deputy for Haute-Savoie.
Call of the peaks
"We are asking the Prime Minister to take a decision quickly,"
explained Jean-Bernard Sempastous, LRM deputy for the Hautes-Pyrénées who skis in La Mongie, like Emmanuel Macron ...
Our Spanish and Andorran neighbors will respectively open their slopes on 11 and December 19.
And Andorra is a real snow machine.
So you have to know very quickly what to expect, otherwise the holidaymakers who usually come to us will book on the other side ”.
Confirmation of the bad news did not drag on.
This morning, the Prime Minister swept away the skiers' last hopes.
"But if the sanitary situation makes it possible to move around, nothing will prevent the French from enjoying the pure air of our beautiful mountains",
added Jean Castex.
Poor consolation for snow sports fans and ski professionals who had worked hard on an XXL sanitary protocol to protect holidaymakers and resort staff.
SEE ALSO -
Ski resorts open to the public but ski lifts closed, confirms Jean Castex this Thursday
As of yesterday, press releases had taken the lead.
"
Vacationers, secondary residents and owners will still be able, if the confinement was lifted on December 15, to enjoy a stay in the resort during the Christmas and New Year holidays, with or without the possibility of skiing",
emphasized Savoie-Mont-Blanc. Tourism, the body promoting the two Savoyard departments.
Heavyweights in winter sports with 110 resorts and 33.8 million skier-days (63% of the French total), Savoie and Haute-Savoie however have 67% of tourist beds in second homes and therefore legitimately hope that owners will nevertheless respond to the call of the peaks.
Saint-Gervais awaits holidaymakers from December 15 Boris Molinier
"In Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc, a 4-season resort, we know how to react - the resort will welcome its guests from December 15, 2020"
, immediately announced the mayor, Jean-Marc Peillex, also vice-president of the Haute-Savoie department tourism delegate.
And to detail all the natural and cultural attractions of his town by concluding:
"This health crisis teaches us that we must show humility but also that we must not wait for extreme or unprecedented situations to diversify and adapt"
.
It is true that this “four seasons” tourism has been in the air in the mountain pastures for several years because of global warming.
So what will we be able to do at the end of the year at altitude if the slopes are closed?
Read also: Opening of ski resorts: what our neighbors are planning for Christmas
Ski in spite of everything
Even if the slopes and the ski lifts are closed, you will be able, from the station, to go up slopes with sealskin, and then descend them, as in the good old days.
Ski touring is on the rise, it might be winter or never to try it out.
"When the slopes are open, this practice is prohibited by municipal decree, but when they are closed, nothing prohibits it,"
explains Michel Charlet, the former mayor of Chamonix (Haute-Savoie).
Moreover, here, at the beginning of December, before the opening of the slopes, everyone is wearing sealskin ”.
At Christmas, moreover, the snow will not be completely virgin since the ski areas are busy preparing the ground since the fall and the first snowflakes.
Except that these fell well in October but became scarce in November below 2000 m.
Here, with the Covid-19, we had not talked about snow for a year ... Another option: Nordic skiing, most of the loops are accessible without ski lifts.
But what about those who need a professional to learn or improve their skiing?
Will instructors have the right to give Nordic or downhill skiing lessons, to small children for example, on nearby snowfields?
"We are awaiting the response from the Ministry of Sports
," replied Jean-Marc Simon, the director general of the French Ski School (ESF).
He then advised to wait a bit before canceling, recalling that "
if the lessons were impossible, they would be reimbursed".
Gain altitude
In the Hautes-Pyrénées, the Pic du Midi de Bigorre above Mongie.
HPTE - Daniel Widley
In spite of everything, can certain ski lifts open for hikers, “snowshoers” or contemplatives?
"That's what I'm going to ask the prefect of Haute-Savoie
," replies Mathieu Dechavanne, CEO of the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc, managers of the ski areas of Chamonix, Les Houches and Megève and of the two cogwheel trains in the region. .
This summer, in the Chamonix valley, we transported 2.3 million passengers, without a single Covid cluster thanks to a very strict health protocol.
Our skips are cleaned and ventilated, it's not the metro!
"
This request concerns panoramic lifts: in Chamonix, the vertiginous Aiguille du Midi cable car (3.842 m above sea level) and the Brévent cable car (the most beautiful view of Mont-Blanc and the Bossons glacier);
in Megève, the Rochebrune cable car and the Mont d'Arbois cable car.
It also includes the Montenvers Chamoniard train which climbs up the mountainside to the Mer de Glace (1,900 m) and the TMB (Tramway du Mont-Blanc) which climbs in 40 minutes from Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet (600 m ) up to the Bellevue pass (1,800 m), stopping at Saint-Gervais and the Voza pass where you usually put on skis in the Prarion area (Saint-Gervais-Les Houches).
But in the absence of gliding, the arrival plateau can very well be suitable for walking or snowshoeing.
For its part, Saint-Gervais also hopes to open the cable car that goes up from the station to Bettex then to Mont-d'Arbois.
"It would open on December 15, instead of the 12 initially planned
," said Didier Josèphe, the director of the tourist office.
In the absence of downhill skiing, up there we will be offering activities supervised by the Compagnie des Guides, snowshoeing with the guides and cross-country skiing with the guides ”.
Another example, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, above La Mongie, is the Pic du Midi cable car in Bigorre, crowned with the sparkling domes of its scientific observatory.
“It will be open, with its terraces and its museum,” says Jean-Bernard Sempastous.
It is a tourist site which does not give access to ski slopes ”.
However, you can descend off-piste via the south face from the summit or the intermediate station ...
What other activities?
Snowshoe outing in Les Saisies (Savoie).
Monica dalmasso
Hiking, snowshoeing, dog sledding, ice climbing, sledging…
“All outdoor activities are possible.
It remains to be seen what will be offered depending on attendance, ”
summarizes Jean-Marc Silva, the director of France-Montagnes, in charge of promoting the five French massifs.
In the coming days, information will be posted on its site.
As for the leisure activities authorized indoors, they will be the same as elsewhere: museums, exhibitions, cinemas but no sport, in other words no swimming pool, no skating rink, no climbing walls and other “indoor” activities offered by the sports halls. .
Will the accommodations be open?
This is the big question when you have no second home, no family or friends there.
The answers vary according to the types of accommodation, their capacity and the stations.
A priori, rentals of furnished apartments and individual chalets between individuals will be possible.
For hotels, the situation is more complicated since restaurants will be closed.
Some establishments are nevertheless ready to provide room service meals.
Whether you want breakfast and dinner in your room every day is up to you.
Read also: Five new must-see hotels for your mountain vacation
As for the big brands, they are wondering.
Will Club Med open its mountain villages, including the brand new 395-room resort in La Rosière (Savoie)?
And without a restaurant, what a hassle to feed the GMs morning, noon and evening (the packages are full board)… Answer in a few days.
The Odalys Isatis residence in the hamlet of Tines, in the Chamonix valley.
H. Pano
For their part, the Odalys and Pierre & Vacances residences already had 45% of turnover at the end of the year insured before confinement and have since had very few cancellations.
Proof that the French really wanted to come to the mountains.
“
If the situation continues over the next few days, if we feel that we can count on 50% to 60% filling, we will be able to open some residences.
But without skiing and with the restaurants and bars closed, it's hard to get people to come to the resorts so I doubt we can open.
I hope I am wrong.
We will see more clearly on Monday,
believes Laurent Dusollier, CEO of the Odalys group.
If
the slopes are closed, we won't open, except perhaps in resorts where there is life all year round, concludes Grégory Sion, Pierre & Vacances CEO yesterday.
But with us, this only concerns five sites, Chamonix, Megève and Les Houches in the Alps, plus Font-Romeu and Saint-Lary in the Pyrenees ”.
