The French massifs are experiencing a significant snow deficit this winter, to the point that some winter sports resorts have had to close their slopes.
Météo France announces for this Sunday a return of snowflakes, which should last until next Sunday in the Pyrenees and the Alps.
20 Minutes takes stock of the resorts that are opening their slopes to snow sports enthusiasts this weekend.
“We had to close on December 31 because of the too mild temperatures.
We were able to produce some snow on Tuesday, but I don't see how we could reopen this weekend.
It must be too hot”, deplores Jacques Murat, marketing and communication manager of the Ax-3-domaines station, in Ariège.
In the Pyrenees, as in the Alps, due to lack of snow, many resorts were unable to keep all of their slopes open or were forced to close completely.
A situation which forced the Freestyle Skiing World Cup, scheduled for Font-Romeu from January 12 to 14, to cancel this stage in the Pyrénées-Orientales for lack of sufficient snow.
“What has been terrible in the Pyrenees this year, but also in the Alps, is that there has been not only mild weather but overcast skies and wind, in particular the effects of ultra-marked foehn in the Pyrenees.
Clouds and wind do not allow the snow surface to radiate well and stay cold.
Last year there was very little snow but the season was nevertheless very good because there was very clear anticyclonic weather, "analyzes Denis Roy, head of the Northern Alps mountain center of Météo France. .
🗻📹 NASA's satellite pics show just how unusual the weather is in Europe at the moment.
Snow cover in the northern Swiss/ French Alps is far, far less extensive than the last five years.
pic.twitter.com/mrV1gyG7gl
— Matilda Long (@tilda_long) January 4, 2023
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If during the previous season, if the temperatures were so high at the end of December, there was already good snow cover from November on the mountain ranges, or even at the end of September for the Alpine massif.
Which was not the case this year.
“The snow cover is very poor in the Pyrenees and in places we are close to low records.
The current low snow situation occurs on average one in ten winters,” confirms Gabrielle Mercklé, deputy head of the Pyrenees mountain center at Météo-France.
Snowfall from Sunday
But the white gold should reappear this Sunday according to these two forecasters.
Several snowy episodes are expected on the two massifs next week, and even on the peaks of Corsica.
“As in the Alps, in the Pyrenees we are going to have several snow disturbances which will start overnight from Saturday to Sunday.
At first the rain-snow limit will be quite high, it will only snow in the high mountains, around 2,000 m altitude.
This limit will drop the following night towards 1,500 m and we expect higher accumulations on the east of the Pyrenees than on the west at 1,800 m altitude, we can go up to 30 cm on the border sector of Hautes -Pyrenees and in the Luchonnais rather 10 to 15 cm on Monday morning, where the limit will drop further”, specifies Gabrielle Mercklé.
Something to cheer up the hearts of ski resort managers and all-Schuss downhill enthusiasts.
While waiting to see the snowflakes fall, some of the areas of the Pyrenees will be open this weekend.
If those of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques are all closed, the resorts of this massif managed by N'Py welcome snow sports enthusiasts: Peyragudes, Piau, Grand Tourmalet, Cauterets.
Just like the stations of the Pyrénées-Orientales of Cambre d'aze, Formiguères, Porté-Puymorens, Angles or even Font-Romeu-Pyrénées 2000. In its last bulletin, only a few ski lifts were open in Saint-Lary.
Although the Alps were able to retain part of their snowpack, the mildness of the last days of December and the first days of January were not without consequences.
In Isère, the Collet d'Alevard, Col du Barrioz, Alpes du Grand Serre, Autrans-Méaudre, Gresse en Vercors, Villard-de-Lans and Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse resorts are closed.
The 7 Laux ski area 8 open runs out of 50 and 5 lifts out of 22 that work.
In Chamrousse, the opening is also partial with 9 out of 41 slopes and 6 lifts out of 15 open to skiers.
Those that are doing "better" are the high-altitude resorts such as Alpe d'Huez and Les 2 Alpes.
On the Savoie and Haute-Savoie side, Semnoz, Le Granier, Bramans, Le désert d'Entremont, Cordon, Les Carroz, Morillon and Les Brasses are closed.
Large resorts such as La Plagne, La Toussuire, Les Arcs or the vast 3-Vallées area welcome lovers of white powder, but their terrain is often cut off by a few runs.
All hope that the announced snow will allow them to reopen and "limit the breakage".
For this season, and the following ones.
"Global warming, we will have to live with it and transform ourselves because the estates support part of the valleys, in Ariège it is very important", recalls Jacques Murat of Ax-3-Domaines.
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