Slowing down the speed of chairlifts, training device pilots in eco-driving, increasing the price of ski passes, etc. “These are the choices we had to make to try to offset, in part, the rise in energy prices! »confides Didier Bobillier, president of the Company of ski lifts of the areas of Les Ménuires-Saint-Martin-de-Belleville (Savoie).
After two years marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, ski resorts are in turn faced with the new equation: soaring electricity prices, which represent between 3 and 5% of their expenses, mainly for operation. chairlifts, gondolas, drag lifts and the production of artificial snow. The megawatt-hour produced has gone from €50 in 2019 to nearly €550 at the end of 2022.
Increase in reservations
While the ski season is about to be launched – Val Thorens (Savoie) opens the ball on Saturday November 26 – the resorts remain confident: despite inflation, they have recorded a 7% increase in reservations to date compared to last year, and prices stabilized when some had to renew their electricity contracts (the MWh had reached €1,000 in August before falling again).
“The domains are therefore finally guaranteed to be able to open, explains Laurent Reynaud, general delegate of Domaines skiables de France. But the objective of sobriety set by the government and the need to absorb a bill that promises to be particularly high require everyone to put in place an adaptation strategy. »
Chairlifts in slow motion
The majority of resorts have opted to slow down the ski lifts, by training drivers or using new automatic systems. “The objective is to save money without altering the customer’s experience: this corresponds, for example, to an additional minute on a journey of 7 or 8 minutes”, says Didier Bobillier.
A choice to which is added a series of efforts declined by the resorts: work on the cabins of the professionals at the bottom of the slopes, where better insulation can be installed, a set of sensors cutting off the heating when the door is open, de-icing systems to optimize device performance, on-site renewable energy production, etc. “Some of these measures were included in the base of eco-commitments put in place several years ago, recalls Laurent Reynaud, but we must accelerate them to achieve at least a 10% reduction in our consumption. »
Increase in package prices
Other strategies will probably be more noticeable to tourists, in the midst of inflation, such as the increase in the price of ski passes: in the 3 Valleys area, the increase is around 9%, bringing the price of a day of skiing , for a single adult, at €72, Val Thorens offering €63, and Les Ménuires €58. “But it’s much less than imagined and it concerns only a few areas, because the majority voted their tariffs earlier in the year, indexing them only to inflation”would like to remind Jean-Luc Boch, President of the National Association of Mayors of Mountain Resorts and Mayor of La Plagne.
In the Pyrenees, the more fragile areas have opted for a reduction in services: in Puigmal, the ski lifts will remain shut down on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, outside school holidays. The Peyragudes resort is shortening its season: it will close from March 26, 2023, instead of the beginning of April.
“There is still a gap to be filled”
Will the situation be further aggravated by weather conditions? The first snowflakes, which fell in small quantities, have melted due to the return of mild weather, which has forced Val Thorens to postpone its opening and the cold and dry winter that is coming could not be favorable for good snow cover.
However, the production of artificial snow is also a high item of energy expenditure. Resorts prefer to see it as another optimization lever, thanks to snow groomers equipped with GPS or snow depth sensors, as in Les Orres, and the renewal of equipment to reduce air consumption, and therefore energy.
Stations will lose money
Jean-Luc Bloch, who recalls that local authorities also do their share of the work on consumption, estimates that 30% of stations are not really secure: “They will open in satisfactory conditions for tourists, but they will lose money. » And Laurent Reynaud to complete: “We can see more clearly than at the end of the summer and we can already say that the objective of sobriety will be achieved, but there is still a gap to be filled: we are waiting for the government to decide on specific support for struggling ski resorts. »
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The French ski area
France has 320 stationsor sitesalpine and nordic skiing. They are spread over seven mountain ranges: Northern Alps, Southern Alps, Massif Central, Vosges, Jura, Pyrenees, Corsica.
The turnover in 2021-2022 for the top 100 French ski resorts amounted to 1.6 billion euros, according to the magazine’s annual survey Montagne Leaders.
9% of the French population goes downhill skiing, snowboarding or ski touring every winter. The French Ski Federation has 106,000 members.