It's a beautiful winter day in Val Thorens (Savoie), one that should have attracted many skiers and kept the ski shops running at full speed.
The azure blue sky above the head and the soft snow under the spatulas.
But with the closure of the ski lifts to thwart the spread of the Covid-19, the highest resort in Europe is desperately scrutinizing its customers from its 2300 m altitude.
The shopping street and the shopping arcade ring empty while the sports signs are going through a lean period.
“It feels like the offseason.
Restaurants and hotels are closed.
The rental skis are full, ”says Pierre Laslaz, owner of a dozen ski shops spread between Val Thorens and Les Menuires.
“I only have four open.
The rest of the employees are on partial unemployment.
And yet we lose money every day, ”he laments in the middle of his shelves overflowing with material where no one is in a hurry.
In these stores which can generate, in this season, up to 5,000 euros in daily turnover, it is currently only a few tens of euros per day.
Stations dedicated to downhill skiing
To anticipate the emerging economic slump, Pierre Laslaz co-signed a press release with four other owners of around a hundred mountain ski shops entitled “The mountain on bankruptcy”.
A cry of alarm for the attention of the public authorities, in order to have more support to face a winter in many respects compromised.
"We played the game, we hired seasonal workers as encouraged by the Minister of Labor Elisabeth Borne", underlines Pierre Laslaz who is committed to open to keep the station alive.
Because despite the stopping of the cable cars, Val Thorens, like its sisters, has prepared to welcome holidaymakers.
If we meet a lot of snowshoe hikers braving the biting cold while going up the Belleville valley, few people push up to the altitude resort where all skiing reigns.
“The economic model of a large international resort cannot be based on this kind of niche,” says the Savoy owner.
A delay impossible to catch up
One of the other signatories, Jérôme Camps, present in Serre Chevalier (Hautes-Alpes) and Alpe d'Huez (Isère), makes the accounts of the start of the holidays.
“Our revenues are down 95% from last year.
But our figure is over 120 days.
Seasonality does not make it possible to make up for the accumulated delay ”.
Francis Charbonnel, head of stores in Les Arcs and Tignes, two flagship resorts in Savoy, adds: “we had set off for a season at minus 30%.
That's almost what we're going to lose in December ”.
And a possible reopening of the lifts in January will not solve anything.
"January rests on foreign skiers who will not be able to come this year," continues Francis Charbonnel.
And in February it is feared that holidaymakers will switch to other destinations.
"
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This would be half of the turnover that could soar, while the ski economy is already weakened after the end of the 2020 season advanced to March 15, due to the first confinement.
While the loans guaranteed by the State are melting like snow in the sun, "it would be necessary to postpone social and fiscal charges, and reduce fixed costs", according to Pierre Laslaz.
“The fate of families who make a living from skiing is at stake”.
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"We are not contesting the closure of the lifts because we cannot combat the health situation," says master Renaud Portejoie, who advises the signatories of the press release.
"On the other hand, we need a lasting solution to get through the winter, before seeing a recovery for 2021."