The bosses of the Catalan resorts crossed their fingers and constantly scanned all the weather monitoring sites before admitting to being reassured twenty-four hours before the start of the four weeks of snow vacation.
It must be said that they are awaiting a providential disturbance this Saturday morning which promises some snowfall and a return to temperatures more consistent with February.
“This means that nighttime temperatures will drop to between -8° and -10° that we will be able to make artificial snow again even though we had stopped the use of cannons since January 5.
To date, before this drop in temperatures that we are promised, 80% of the alpine ski slopes are operational.
For cross-country skiing enthusiasts who do not benefit from the presence of snow guns, I must admit that it will be more complicated since only two trails are open on the thirty circuits.
The occupancy rate is 74% for the 40,000 beds at the station,” explains Jacques Alvarez, director of Font Romeu-Pyrénées 2000.
Read alsoGlobal warming: the Court of Auditors' pressure on ski resorts
In Les Angles, still on this Friday before the holidays, 60% of the slopes are announced to be open with a snow cover of at least 40 cm.
“All our sectors are open with a mix of natural and artificial snow.
In accommodation, there is a 90% occupancy rate over the first two weeks.
The extra-ski activities and our entertainment program (Chantal Ladessus, Le Djamel Comédie Club) are very attractive for those who seek the mountains above all.
And this snowfall will recreate a real winter landscape,” comments Jérôme Meunier, the director of the Les Angles resort.
Nordic skiing damaged
At the other end of the spectrum of the high Catalan cantons, Porté-Puymorens is pleased to be able to open eight skiable areas, i.e. twenty-four slopes out of thirty-six, and to maintain night-time activities again this year, which are very successful.
“Accommodations are full at Porté-Puymorens and at Cambre d'Aze and there are a lot of people too,” says Éric Charre, director of Trio Pyrénées, the grouping of three resorts.
At Cambre d'Aze, the situation on the slopes is however much more complicated: twelve out of twenty-four operational slopes at the bottom of the resort, between 1,600 and 2,000 m, with a difference in altitude of 400 m, in other words a rather for novices and beginners saved from the mild weather by the use of cannons while the natural snow on the upper part of the station did not resist despite its due north orientation.
At Formiguères, the Capcir resort, the area is cut in two.
The snow front is operational between 1,600 and 1,800 m, again for novices.
To ski on heights between 2,000 and 2,400 m on natural snow that has resisted, you must take the new mixed cable car and the return on skis is assured on a green slope.
For the three Trio resorts, the day pass price is maintained at 37 euros with the possibility of skiing at one of the three resorts of your choice.
Nordic skiing, on the other hand, is devastated.
Nordic Capcir only operated for two weeks and it will take a significant snowfall to operate on match skis in February.
Without snow cannons, there is no salvation.