Helmets, wetsuits, skis in hand: young and old pass through a gate to validate their pass then walk towards an unusual ski slope... located in a hangar in Amnéville (Moselle) and lit by spotlights.
Far from the mountain landscapes, around a hundred skiers are learning or perfecting their technique, in the middle of school holidays, between two indoor slopes, while the neighboring resorts of the Vosges, affected by the lack of snow, are mostly at a standstill.
“Whatever your level, you can ski and enjoy”
on the largest indoor ski slope in Europe (620 meters long, between 15 and 18% slope), smiles Christophe Lux, 57, who came with his daughter .
A star
This is the only indoor ski slope in France.
“We are aware that ecologically, the place is not perfect
,” notes Emmanuelle, who requested anonymity.
His three children spent four days on training there to obtain their star.
Mareva Thomes, a 24-year-old specialist educator, had organized a stay with children in the Jura, hoping to be able to ski in the Métabief resort, which was not possible due to lack of snow.
So they came home a day early to enjoy it... inside.
Named “SnowWorld”, after the name of the Dutch group which took over operation of the site in 2021, this space was built in 2005 in Amnéville, a town of 10,000 inhabitants having developed a “City of leisure” which receives some six million each year of visitors.
“We consume a lot of artificial things”
Criticized because of the immense air conditioning system making it possible to maintain the temperature at -5°C all year round, the operator is considering heat recovery, the management of installations or even the installation of solar panels to reduce its consumption. energy, underlines Vincent Claverie, its general director.
In 2022, some demonstrators from Europe ecology Les Verts Lorraine disguised themselves as polar bears in front of SnowWorld, denouncing an
“ecological, energetic and economic aberration”
.
“More than 30% of the ski area in France is made up of artificial snow
,” recalls Vincent Claverie, specifying that SnowWorld has a single snow cannon, compared to “hundreds” in certain mid-mountain resorts.
“Today, in the world of leisure, we consume a lot of artificial things,” he notes, citing municipal swimming pools.
“Nothing prevents us from swimming in rivers (...) and for all that we will swim in purely artificial and heated water.”
In 2023, 70,000 people skied at SnowWorld.
The Vosges are suffering
The two main ski resorts in the Vosges, in the middle mountains (between 900 and 1,200 meters above sea level) have had a complicated season.
That of Gérardmer closed its doors last week, right in the middle of the school holidays in Lorraine and Alsace.
In La Bresse, only two slopes out of 33 are open until the area closes on Saturday.
A maximum of 11 slopes were opened this winter, Yasmine List, marketing manager at the tourist office, told AFP.
This season was
“more complicated” than others
, she stressed, due to low snowfall but also
“capricious weather”
with a lot of rain.
This had an impact on reservations from tourists, Ile-de-France residents and local residents: 65% occupancy rate in February in La Bresse, down 10 points year-on-year.
In Gérardmer, certain hotel establishments
“have been operating at 50% compared to last year”
, indicates the Tourist Office.
Ski lessons also suffered 25% cancellations this week.
Higher attendance
At SnowWorld, on the other hand,
“we notice that attendance is a little higher”
given the difficulties in the Vosges, notes Julien Pages, director of the Amnéville French Ski School.
Classes are “
always full, with constant demand”
from November to March.
Instructors have also come as reinforcements from closed stations,
“an emergency solution”
for them, which suits everyone, according to Julien Pages.
In addition to beginners, last year, 15,000 athletes also trained, particularly in summer, on the indoor track.
During the Christmas holidays, temperatures were
“very mild”
in the Vosges, notes Cédric Hertzog, from Météo France Nord-est.
An
“exceptional mildness”
was recorded from January 22 to February 22, and the
“significantly less mild”
values in the last week of February did not save the season.
In terms of snow,
“there wasn’t much this winter
,” he summarizes.
The winter of 2023-2024 will have been
“among the warmest since 1947”
, according to Mr. Hertzog.
And last month was the hottest February ever recorded in the world, according to the European Copernicus Observatory.
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