Ski lessons are always given by the Oxygene structure during these school holidays.
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Rémi NGUYEN CAD
School holidays begin on Saturday and French ski resorts will obviously be less crowded than usual due to the closure of the ski lifts.
However, ski schools are trying to continue their activity as well as possible, like Oxygène, which is present in 12 resorts in the Alps.
Its founder and director Bertrand de Monvallier explains to
20 Minutes
how Oxygène had to reinvent itself, in particular by launching for these vacations Oxylift, a system of shuttles "used as ski lifts".
"A new adventure of the mind".
This is how Bertrand de Monvallier, a mountain dweller and entrepreneur who founded with his two brothers Oxygène in 1992 in Savoy, perceives “the immense challenge” posed by the Covid-19 health crisis.
Despite the closure of the ski lifts this season, its ski and snowboard school, which is present in 12 resorts including Courchevel, La Plagne and Megève, struggles to maintain an activity during the four weeks of school holidays (from Saturday) .
And this even if it will be very far from its usual average of 100,000 hours of lessons during the season.
How catastrophic is this 2020-2021 season for your ski school?
For the first time in 28 years, our fate is no longer totally ours.
We have used up part of our reserves a year ago.
We have lost 95% of our activity and charges continue to run at the same time.
As for State compensation, it is barely more than the thickness of the line: we touch 20% of our turnover, capped at 200,000 euros for our entire group.
We managed to get up to 15% of our 300 instructors to work at the end of December.
On these February holidays, except for last minute reconfinement, it will be the same regime, which will not represent more than 4 to 5% of our usual activity.
How do you manage to get through this painful period for the mountain world?
From March 15, 2020, it was understood that the 2020-2021 season would be strongly impacted by the Covid-19 crisis and its consequences.
And this already because in all our stations, we have between 50 and 99% of foreign customers.
In September, we had planned several scenarios and it was the hardest that was confirmed.
So we were psychologically prepared to try to make the most of this immense collective ordeal.
Elsewhere, many ski instructors have put their profession on hold, benefiting from significant compensation from the State.
This is not our approach, we go ski touring almost every day to maintain our skills and our strong bond with the mountains.
And then we have never thought about and innovated so much at Oxygène than this year.
It is a global questioning.
What did you come out of this important reflection to face the crisis?
We understood that we had to develop four-season activities.
In all the stations, we will therefore invest in the coming months in electric mountain bikes and recruit bike instructors for winter and summer.
We offer a whole bunch of services to save what can be saved: ski tours, but also cross-country skiing, snowshoeing.
Even if at Christmas-New Year, we had very little time to turn around after the government announcements, we managed to tinker.
The 12 stations where the Oxygène ski school is located will remain open during these holidays.
- Rémi NGUYEN CAD
In view of these new school holidays, have you found a tip to be able to schedule a little more downhill skiing?
Yes, in most of the resorts where we are except Val d'Isère, we have just set up Oxylift, our own shuttle system.
It hosted dozens of students last weekend for its premiere in Megève.
This minibus allows seven children, plus the instructor and a driver, to access the top of blue slopes.
In a 2h30 lesson, the pupils will be able to make three descents and be reassembled with the minibus.
This is the first time that our shuttles have become ski lifts.
People are intrigued and quite amused.
This expense is quite heavy but it is important to allow us to promote our work, to show our customers that we are able to make their children ski.
You can also take snowshoers or cross-country skiers on nicer grounds.
We would have liked to have electric vehicles but the timing was too short for this vacation.
Can sledding also be more than a little hobby of a few minutes on this special holiday?
Yes, we are going to intensify this niche, in particular with the organization in La Plagne of the Super luge derby, a reinforced toboggan descent with an instructor on a 5 km track.
Then we bring everyone back to the station.
It's an activity that always hits the mark: any child or even adult has fun immediately when they find themselves on a sled.
Ski touring is booming this winter due to the closure of the ski lifts.
- Rémi NGUYEN CAD
Making a ski or snowshoe trip “funky” for a child is a whole different challenge, right?
Children in general do not like the effort to climb too much.
If it is the parents who propose, 95% of the children will say no.
But if the instructor does his job well, the children can follow him without any problem.
This unprecedented situation encourages us to add an extra touch of soul to all our ski lessons.
Strictly technical supervision is not enough this year.
What do you mean ?
There is the sensation of sliding, but the instructor will also introduce children to the world of mountains, fauna, flora, and the history of the resort.
These topics can captivate students.
Given the context, we have more time to develop the sides and these exchanges can be valuable.
I sincerely believe that this approach will continue after the reopening of ski areas, as will the attraction of ski touring, for example.
Do you ever doubt the survival of your ski school?
No, we have no doubts that we will get past this crisis.
We are quite calm because we are supported by our bankers.
But it is certain that we have to face a huge challenge, both economically and mentally.
Many professionals are overcome and paralyzed by fear.
We have therefore done an enormous amount of internal work to decree that this ordeal would only be a twist that will not prevent us from doing our job to the fullest.
We try to play down the situation with our clients.
The ski and mountain economy needs to reinvent itself, it is essential.
There was a headlong rush that was starting to scare.
In addition to the development of digital technology, which is at the heart of our thinking, we need to think about a more authentic mountain.
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