Artificial snow saves the ski season in France with the rejection of environmentalists

The Font-Romeu station, in the french pyreneesresorts to artificial snow to preserve its lucrative economy based on winter activities, a decision made despite global warming and criticized by environmentalists at a time when water is becoming scarce in the region.

Jacques Álvarez, director of the Font-Romeu ski resort, highlights: “Here you should know that 93% of our slopes are equipped with artificial snow. And this snow production work, backed by real technical knowledge and a lot of work from daily preparation, has allowed us to offer a wide ski area very quickly.”

According to the city council, more than 13 million euros in four months but ecologists remember its environmental impact.

Thierry Deschamps, representative of Europe Ecologie Les Verts points out: “This mass tourism has two impacts. Firstly, it has an energy impact: you have to come to the station, you also have to find accommodation and heating, so it has an impact relatively strong energy source. And then, on the slopes, if the natural snow falls, you have to make artificial snow, thanks to a water availability that is that of the Bouillouses dam, which is also linked to other uses of water”.

In the Port of Arzelier the hotel is for sale and the chair lifts have stopped. The lack of snow and the high maintenance costs forced the closure of the ski resort.

Anne Deprez, deputy mayor of Chateau-Bernard, notes: “It’s up to us to take up the challenge and have a unifying effect so that everyone, all generations, the elderly, the locals, but also newcomers in the last 5, 10, 15 years, participate in all these projects to advance and, above all, so that people who come from abroad can discover this beauty in its purest form.”

The station is one of 186 that France has closed since the 1970s. Now its goal is to reinvent itself. At the foot of the slopes, the opening of an electric bicycle workshop is being prepared… and snowshoes or cross-country skiing have replaced sliding.

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