Benjamin Peter, edited by Yanis Darras 12:00 p.m., April 02, 2022

The return of the cold, accompanied by snowfall, delights the ski resorts.

The professionals of the sector did not expect to see the snow again so late in the season.

Good news for the tourists still present who take advantage of these last snowflakes to go down the slopes, as in the Hautes-Pyrénées where Europe 1 went.

REPORT

After a very mild end of March, since Thursday, France has been hit by a cold spell.

Frost, snow, black ice… This return of winter is worrying farmers and arboriculturists who fear losing a large part of their harvest again.

As for the ski resorts, the return of the snow that has fallen in abundance on the peaks enchants tourists and professionals.

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"We're going to make the most of it"

"Given the conditions that we were told, we said to ourselves 'we're going to have a little weekend with friends'", jokes Dorian, who has just arrived in the resort of Saint-Lary-Soulan in the Hautes-Pyrénées, with some friends.

A more or less prepared stay, the Bordeaux group having hesitated for a long time between sea and mountains. 

On the slope of the rather empty resort, Julien introduces his son to skiing: "The snow is good, it's very fresh. We thought we'd have more sun and not too much snow and in the end, we're rather spoiled and he there aren't too many people. We're going to make the most of it."

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Excellent weather conditions

"It was a bit unexpected," explains Manu Bernia of the station.

And to add: "It's excellent to end the season like this in style. (…) Generally, we need to work the snow a lot (at this time of the year), to produce snow to get there And this year, we were lucky to have beautiful natural conditions which made it possible to reach the end in excellent conditions", he underlines.

If the Saint-Lary-Soulan station has announced that it will not continue its activities after the end of this weekend, its neighbor, the Piau-Engaly station, will remain open until April 19.