The case: is the Cévennes National Park slowing down the economic development of the Alti Aigoual ski resort ?

The resort's shareholders are pleading for opening in 4 seasons. M.A. – Midi Libre

Faced with global warming, the small family resort perched between 1200 and 1500 m above sea level is now trying to make a 4-season shift. But its initiatives would almost all be rejected by the public establishment.

Spoiled by heavy snowfall on January 10 and 11, Alti Aigoual started its season late this year, but with a smile. 

However, on Saturday January 13, the first day of opening, Laurent Monge-Cadet, co-shareholder of the station, tempered the general enthusiasm, after 4 consecutive years of ordeal, due to the succession of winter seasons without snow interrupted by the pandemic.

Maintain crowds

"Today's affluence, we will have to maintain it AT ALL COSTS! At least until the end of the next vacation. Without that, for Alti Aigoual, we will not be able to talk about the 2024-2025 season. ;, he indicated in the middle of the many skiers, coming from Hérault and Gard of course, but also from Aveyron, Lozère and even Bouches-du -Rhône.

"Depending economically on a single factor:  snow cover, a natural phenomenon that is now increasingly rare, is clearly no longer tenable with the global warming!", continues Denis Boissière.

Diversification

Faced with this observation, the spokesperson for Alti Aigoual has been trying for several years to begin this shift that he considers it essential to the survival of the small family resort in Gard: the economic heart of the massif. With the ambition of opening the resort year-round station thanks to the diversification of activities which would then be offered on the estate.

"The problem in this matter is that development in 4 seasons is subject in practice to the approval of the Cévennes National Park. A public establishment which has always opposed it to the contempt of all those who live and work in the massif, denounces the professional who details, bitterly: " our Bikepark project envisaged however outside of agropastoralism zones: pre-refused; that of a giant zip line in the undergrowth, and therefore, without any aesthetic impact on the area, also pre-refused;  our idea of ​​finally creating a treetop adventure circuit is not; has also not retained the approval of the decision-makers of the national park ".

Declassification

To put an end to the status quo and try to escape this administrative hamper ;nbsp;"which could lead to the permanent closure of the station", Denis Boissière is taking steps today to try to extract  of the Cévennes National Park the approximately 150 ha of Alti Aigoual located within the limits of the park.

A declassification which, according to him, would suit everyone and would not be so complicated to initiate, like the declassification procedure which allowed, for example, the exit from the national park of the village of l'Espérou.

"Today we contacted our deputy Michel Sala. In the hope of obtaining an appointment with the Ministry of the Environment to discuss this perspective. A perspective thanks to which Alti Aigoual will then be able to  perhaps look to the future.

Contacted on Thursday January 18, the press service of the Cévennes National Park had not, at the time of writing this article, responded to our request. I subscribe to read more