Villagers share 'heartbreaking' reality as major ski resort is forced to shut down: 'I cried for eight days'
Story by Laurelle Stelle
• 1h
The French village of Notre-Dame-du-Pré has had to shut down its ski lifts after too many years with insufficient snow.
Skiing is a time-honored tradition in the Alps. It brings communities together every winter and draws tourists from across Europe and all over the world.
This pastime, however, needs reliable, plentiful snowfall to make slopes navigable. In a world getting warmer every year due to air pollution, that is simply no longer a guarantee.
The French village of Notre-Dame-du-Pré has just had to shut down its ski lifts after too many years with insufficient snow, the Telegraph reported.
What's happening?The village originally had three ski lifts. The first was erected in 1973. It also had a snow groomer and two snow cannons. Its features helped to keep the village's three ski slopes in the best condition throughout the winter.
But where the town once received 12 to 14 meters of snow every winter (about 39 to 46 feet), it now gets only half of that. Heavy rain mixed in usually washes away whatever snow has arrived previously. The snow cannons no longer work; it doesn't get cold enough to form artificial snow.
The village is not legally required to remove the ski lifts since they went up before 2016. But there isn't really a point in leaving them standing.
Local resident Marcel Fraissard, 85, was one of nine people to help fund the construction of the original lift. He called its removal "heartbreaking," according to the Telegraph.
"The whole village would ski every Sunday," he said. "In those years, you couldn't see your neighbour's house because there was so much snow in the village."
"When the ski lifts closed, I cried for eight days," said Victor Therry, another resident who moved to the area in 1999, as reported by the Telegraph.
Why is the removal of this ski lift upsetting?If this were an isolated incident, with just one town losing its access to snowy slopes, it would be sad enough. But the problem is widespread.
A study published in 2024 found that snowfall in the Alps has decreased by more than one-third in the last century. It's a part of an overarching trend of rising temperatures around the globe.
This pattern of shifting climate conditions is costing us cultural traditions. But it is also causing incredible material harm to humanity.
Warming temperatures and droughts are interfering with agriculture. Overheating oceans affect the fishing industry. More frequent and severe extreme weather events and rising temperatures have taken lives and damaged homes.
What's being done about the disused ski lifts?Domaines Skiables de France, the umbrella organization for French ski lift operators, has identified 69 ski lifts across 40 sites that need to be removed. It's pledged to handle three per year, which will free the villages from the cost of the project. Each ski lift will take about 15,000 euros, or about $17,300, to remove.
Parts from the dismantled lifts will be recycled, reused, or repurposed for projects in the surrounding area. Sections of the lift will be used to guide water away from roads. |
