French ski resorts: How a snowless town put itself back on the map

The hotel is closed and the ski lifts are at a standstill, but at the foot of the French slopes an electric bike shop is preparing to open.

Towering above the scene in the Vercors mountains are les Deux Sœurs, their twin peaks basking in the sun. The first snow of the season has not stirred the chair lifts - motionless since late 2018 - into action.

Now the resort of Col de l’Azelier is looking for a second wind.

Taz and Obi, Myriam Estades' two dogs, are having a blast in the fresh snow.

Estades is happy to live in Château-Bernard, amid the “magnificent” setting where she learned to ski as a child decades ago.

Her wish is "for the resort and the environment to come back to life, whether it is for skiing or not, because it has become a dormitory town".

At 1,154 metres above sea level, the Col de l'Arzelier was a family resort built in the 1960s, popular with locals and children who found their feet in the mountains.

It is one of the 186 ski resorts closed in France since the 1970s, according to Pierre-Alexandre Metral, a geography PhD student at the University of Grenoble who studies redevelopment strategies.

There are a number of reasons why Col de l’Arzelier shut, explains Jacques Postoly, former president of the local ski club, and mayor at the time of its closure.

Climate change played a big part, he says, after several seasons without snow. Problems over private land and a lack of seasonal accommodation also informed the decision.

And the town of Château-Bernard, with a population of 300, could not keep up with the maintenance of the expensive and ageing equipment.

“It’s not easy, when you are in love with this area and a skier like I was,” sighs Postoly.

The new local council, which started in 2020, must take up the challenge.