It's a "no". The Minister of Ecological Transition Élisabeth Borne totally disagrees with the Haute-Garonne's decision to dump snow by helicopter on the Luchon-Superbagnères ski resort.
"Snowing ski resorts by helicopter is not a possible route," she wrote on Twitter, announcing that she would reunite with Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State for Tourism and Foreign Trade, "the actors concerned in the coming days ”.
Snow plating #ski stations by # helicopter is not an option. We will bring together with @JBLemoyne the players concerned in the coming days. https://t.co/V1uobKhy8n
- Elisabeth BORNE (@Elisabeth_Borne) February 16, 2020According to the minister's office, the meeting should bring together the heads of the ski area of France and local elected officials, to put a quick stop to these practices, by helicopter or by truck.
2h30 of helicopter to transport 50 tonnes of snow
In order to compensate for the lack of snow in the Pyrenean resort, which could only open 40% of its ski area, due to the lack of snowflakes in sufficient numbers, the departmental council of Haute-Garonne had taken a spectacular step, by making deliver snow by helicopter on certain sections Friday and Saturday.
It took two and a half hours by helicopter to transport some 50 t of snow. If the cost is estimated between 5,000 and 6,000 euros, the mixed syndicate overseeing the Luchon station, as well as those of Mourtis and Bourg-d'Oueil, must allow a return on investment ten times higher.
This union was created in 2018 to take over the management of the stations, in great difficulty. It is planned that the department will invest 25 million in five years to solve the expected lack of snow in the future.
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In 2018, in a report on vitriol, the Court of Auditors denounced the artificial snowmaking of ski resorts in the Alps and the Pyrenees, a "partial and expensive" solution to the lack of snow due to global warming.