Le Figaro Nice
What snow remained in Roubion-les-Buisses, a small family ski resort in the Alpes-Maritimes, in the Tinée valley, has this time disappeared.
The rain that fell on Thursday dissolved the last scattered strips and destroyed any hope of seeing the estate whiten again.
Everything is just gray and brown, rock and mud mixed together.
Never before seen, according to the locals.
“In previous years, we already had less snow, the situation was complicated and we were used to opening the slopes later, but never to this extent.
There, it’s just grass!”,
notes an employee of the tourist office.
The mayor of the town, Philip Bruno, remembers a more or less similar situation,
“but it was more than 20 years ago.”
And above all,
“this season follows two other seasons where the opening was very reduced.
Now, we are missing the Christmas holidays more and more and we have very short January and February
,” he adds.
The area will therefore not open during the winter.
And the eight ski lifts will remain stopped.
“We had hope in mid-January when a few tens of centimeters of powder fell, but the rain had already gotten involved…”
, continues the same employee.
Rain, not snow, due to abnormally high temperatures.
“We say to ourselves that at 1400 meters of altitude we should get by, but the proof is not.
In recent weeks, it has been between 13 and 15 degrees on average.
We even had a peak of 20 degrees
,” says the tourist office.
And to press:
“We walk around in t-shirts, it’s definitely spring.”
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Roubion singled out by the Court of Auditors
A difficult situation to live with, in the middle of school holidays, for the councilor of the hundred Roubionnais.
In other words when tourist activity is supposed to be in full swing.
“Our small village can accommodate, in good years, up to 15,000 tourists in winter
,” assures Philip Bruno.
“We're far from it this year... It's the desert, I'm very worried
,” remarks the owner of the Auberge du Moulin, a local restaurant.
The restaurateur is not the only one to take the threat of lack of snow very seriously.
In its report of February 6 on “Mountain resorts facing climate change”, the Court of Auditors ranks Roubion among the ten most vulnerable sites in France.
She still gives it the worst climate index on the list, pointing out the financial cost for public finances.
And for good reason, if Roubion can boast of being one of the cheapest ski resorts in France (with a pass costing around 20 euros), it benefits each year from 600,000 euros of public money to maintain the ski resort. activity related to skiing.
A sum paid 95% by the Alpes-Maritimes department and the remaining 5% by the Métropole de Nice Côte d'Azur.
“This report takes into account accounting activity and not that linked to land use planning.
However, we are talking about 15 direct jobs, without counting those linked to the hotel and catering industry, among others.
There is a whole microcosm that must survive, let’s not forget
,” defends the councilor.
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Skiing activity in the Alpes-Maritimes has gone from seasonal to random.
We didn't wait for the report from the Court of Auditors to realize this!
Philip Bruno, mayor of Roubion-les-Buisses
For years now, Philip Bruno has been pleading for the diversification of activities during the winter.
“Skiing activity in the Alpes-Maritimes has gone from seasonal to random.
We didn't wait for the report from the Court of Auditors to realize it!,
exclaims the mayor.
We must stop thinking that winter allows the town to survive for a whole year.
If we have developed mountain biking with the creation of a “bike park” or hiking with the creation of a via ferrata, for the moment we have not found anything to replace skiing in the winter season.”
However, he assures us,
“snow cannons will always remain a complement on natural snow, and never the other way around as we can see in other resorts.”
Valérie is not worried.
The owner of the Chalet, the only hotel in Roubion, would almost rejoice at the melting of the snow.
“Well what?
We are a mid-mountain resort, people know that snow is not guaranteed here.
And that’s not what they’re looking for!
We are above all a sports resort, and sports all year round.
If we want snow, we go up to the neighbors in Valberg or Auron
,” she says.
She assures him:
“We always have so many people and we barely feel the lack of snow.
Our activity is not threatened.”
A little provocative, she even sees global warming as a good way to attract customers.
“Let’s not forget that we are 45 minutes from Nice.
So in the summer, when it’s too hot on the Coast, people come to us!”