In Chamonix, near Switzerland, if there are no people, the lift will go 10% slower. And if the resort receives a notification that the feeders can’t keep up with demand, Chamonix will slow down the lifts by 30%. Some ski resorts, including Chamonix and Val Thorens, have also pledged to limit artificial snow production and reduce indoor heating, officials said. In Val Thorens, maintenance and restaurant staff will have about 10 minutes – instead of an hour – to get to their workplace before the slopes open. These measures “will be invisible and painless for our customers. The aim is to ensure that our customers do not feel the impact of power cuts,” said Benjamin Blanc, manager at Les 3 Vallees, which includes Val Thorens. Half of France’s ski resorts were forced to renegotiate long-term electricity contracts this year amid record inflation and were expecting an annual bill that could triple by six times by 2023, said Alexandre Maulin, president of France’s ski resort association. . For example, the energy bill for ski resorts managed by Maulin in the Sybelles sector, in Savoie, will rise to €1.6m (£1.4m) next year, up from €400,000 in 2020. Lift ticket prices will increase by about 5%, but won’t cover all of the higher operating costs, he added. Val Thorens managed to secure a contract with utility company EDF ahead of the energy crisis for most of 2023. But now it has to find a solution for the next ski season. “We are mountain people,” said Jerome Grellet, head of Val Thorens ski lift operator SETAM. “Our motto is that we always come out of difficult situations, and it will happen this time too, because we will adapt.”
