Ski Resort In France Closes Due To Snow Shortage Due To Global Warming

The ski lift line in La Sambuy, France. (Wikimedia Commons/Guilhem Vellut)

JAKARTA - Winter is generally welcomed by ski lovers and resorts who provide sports facilities that are synonymous with snow, for example, in France.

However, global warming that makes the snow decrease, causes the snow season to be in just a few weeks and is no longer profitable for resort managers.

That's what makes La Sambuy, a city that has a family ski destination near Mont Blanc, the French Alps, decided to dismantle the ski lift and shut down its services.

"Previously, we used to experience snow from December 1 to March 30," La Sambuy Mayor Jacques Dalex told CNN, as quoted September 20.

But last winter, there was only "severage for four weeks, and not even a lot of snow," he added. That is, "very quickly, rocks appear on the runway."

It can open for less than five weeks in January and February, Dalex said the resort suffered an annual operating loss of around 500,000 euros. Meanwhile, to start the elevator alone costs 80,000 euros per year.

La Sambuy is not a major resort, with only three lifts and several runways reaching an altitude of 1,850 meters (about 6,070 feet).

But with various slopes ranging from "black" to "green" for beginners and relatively cheap ski tickets, this place is popular with families looking for more simple Alps experiences, compared to those offered by larger and higher destinations.

The British snow report website, On The Snow, calls it a "very beautiful place to visit, with a great panoramic view and everything you need at a friendly resort."

This summer, when it comes to planning winter, La Sambuy City Council took the decision to close the resort it has been running since 2016. Although the ski infrastructure will be dismantled as soon as possible, it is hoped that the city can still attract visitors.

Dalex said the resort, which also markets itself as a destination for hiking and open air in the summer, would be a place to "find and protect nature, walk around, exercise, if possible."

La Sambuy's website now contains a message saying the ski resort was "closed" on September 10, following the city council's decision.

"Thank you all for last summer 2023, and for all the beautiful years spent with you," he said.

It is known, La Sambuy is not the only French ski resort to face closures. Last year, Saint-Firmin, another small ski destination in the Alps, chose to remove its ski lift after a reduced winter from month to week, a situation also caused by climate change.

Separately, Mountain Wilderness, a French environmental group, said it had dismantled 22 ski lifts in France since 2001, and estimated there were still 106 ski lifts left at 59 locations in the country.

According to a report published in August by the scientific journal Nature Climate Change, 53 percent of the 2,234 ski resorts surveyed in Europe are likely to experience a "very high risk of snow supply" at a global warming temperature of 2 degrees Celsius.

A report published in January in the journal 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' found the "most likely" global temperature rise past the 2 degree Celsius threshold in the mid-century.

Dalex, said that "all winter sports resorts in France are affected by global warming," particularly those at moderate mountain heights between 1,000 and 1,500 meters.

However, not everyone in the city wants to give up on nature. A petition was launched this year by an association called All Together For La Sambuy (Tous Ensemble Pour La Sambuy), which urged the resort, and others, to remain open by adopting a new model, for example by operating a seat elevator in the summer to take visitors uphill. mountain,

The petition has obtained more than 1,900 signatures and, according to Christian Bailly, president of the association, the group took legal action to overturn city council decisions.

He said the closure was "dangerous" to the local city and region, adding that the ski resort was a "social element of our small town of 7,500 people."

Dalex himself said the cause of the closure was clear. He said "global warming is happening" and occurs "even faster than scientists estimate."

He added that it is increasingly difficult for ski resorts to function, and many ski resorts are "forced to adapt" to the new climate.