The winter school holiday period has brought mixed results for French ski areas. The storm Xynthia wiped out the Pyrenean resort of Superbagnères which will not be fully operational until next season. Other resorts in the area either had to close temporarily or were inaccessible. Strong southerly foehn winds also affected slopes below 1200 meters. Some low lying ski resorts struggled to make it through to the end of the holiday period although overall they had good visitor numbers.

According to Protourisme there were far fewer visitors from Paris during their school holiday period at the end of February. They were compensated for by locals attracted by the generally good ski conditions but they often skied half days. Lift operators association the SNTF has said that the big ski areas of the Northern Alps suffered from poor weather and fewer British guests. Typical were Courchevel and Val d’Isère which saw 7% fewer visitors although the free spending Russians are back in Courchevel 1850.

Despite good snow conditions at all altitudes medium size ski resorts saw turnover drop between 7-15% compared to last year (which was a record for France). Skiers are also spending less in bars, restaurants and shops. 2010 has been the year of last minute reservations with online booking proving popular. This has also allowed skiers to follow the snow and weather conditions. The Southern Alps had the best weather and saw turnover increase by 3% compared to 2009.

March and April represent 40% of season turnover but according to the SNTF reservations are well below average. Last year also saw a lot of last minute bookings and high level resorts had a bumper Easter due to good snow at altitude.

http://pistehors.com/news/forums/viewthread/546/
http://pistehors.com/news/ski/0968-perfect-storm-for-ski-resorts/

When you walk into a bar in Tignes or Argentierie and you get hit for the thick end of 7 euros for a pint is it any wonder that numbers are down.  On top of this 243 euro for a 6 day ski pass, and lets not even start on the cost or quality of food in most french moutain resturants. 

I was on an off piste course in Chamonix last week, and while non of the group would be what I would call even remotley hard up we took sandwiches everyday and after a couple of “happy hour beers” headed back to our Chalet. The attitude was that the cost of everything had reached a tipping point, not helped I appreciate by the current euro exchange rate, however 7 euros for a pint in a valley only 1200 metres above sea level is taking the proverbial

I agree, I paid 15 euro for a very average spag bol in the 3 vallees! no wonder people are taking a pack lunch!…

the prices in france are incredible, especially in the mountains. but i still went because the skiing is good. i went a couple of weeks ago and i did the following. 

cheap apt though the t.office
car hire on the net
low cost-air berlin(but i came from spain) uk visitors have more choice and better prices.
good breakfast-get up early!
forget lunch- it slows you down anyway. make a sandwitch, bring a flask. dried fruit in a packet. water in a sturdy bottle. eat on the bubble if there is one.
have a few beers apres ski- go home to the apt or chalet. make dinner. lounge around and have some fun. bed early.

we had a great time, skied nearly every available minute. had to sleep extra when i got back as was knackered from the excercise. and im a fit person!

I am in Chamonix and February was very quiet...although it does seem the best shops and guides are busy, the more marginal businesses are finding it tough. March has been more active, but it is pretty dead....

It is very noticeable, the stupid thing is, even the French say the prices are too high....why they insist on charging ludicrous prices for lifts, food, drink...it is beyond me. You spend a day in Courmayeur and you wonder w.t.f. is going on in Chamonix. And Courmayeur isn’t even a cheap resort by Italian standards.

Ah well. I guess I’ll just have to keep skiing in Alagna instead for the foreseeable future.

there is a clear reason why prices are so high.  its basically supply and demand.

traders know people will come, and they have money.

businesses know that people are going to buy, so they keep their margins high. its simple. and in the small resorts where everybody knows each other they have a little meeting before the season and make an agreement.  plus the french are strangled with employment rules.

this is the same in many places.

i reckon italy is probably cheaper because the local market has less income, and italians seem to spend less in my opinion. and many businesses are family owned and keep the costs low.

i did a road trip last year

chamonix
courmayeur
monterosa
la grave

we stayed in a place in alagna, and it was 50 euros per night with breakfast and dinner, in a hotel room.  amazing!

we stayed in the vagabond in chamonix in a dorm, 30 euros, brekfast only. not complaining but no comparison, italy wins for prices.

My feeling corresponds to the information I posted above. The small resorts around here were busy in January, at least when the sun was out and very busy during the first half of February. In the last week they were all but deserted. The SNTF says that it is normal for the Parisians not to ski as much when their holiday period falls in the last part of the winter holiday period. (French schools are zoned so that not everyone is on vacation at the same time, the zoning was introduced when winter holidays became popular).

The SNTF have posted their report, there is quite a lot of spin put on the figures but on reading it you get the feeling that in the Northern Alps the season has suffered from the credit crunch with lots of people holidaying in smaller, cheaper resorts.

http://www.sntf.org/files/CPSkiFranceOSM4valMars2010.pdf

The Compagnie des Alpes, which runs a dozen ski areas from Serre Chevalier to Chamonix and recently acquired les Deux Alpes has decided to pay a 1 euro dividend following its interim GM on the 18th of March.

The said that the 2009/10 winter season was satisfactory after two season of increased turnover. There were good visitor numbers at Christmas in their resorts but poor weather meant people skied less. They say that skier/days should be stable with a 4% increase in turnover for the first two weeks of March. They also increased earnings by 3% on skier/days. This could be inline with price increases, less special offers or selling more expensive lift passes. The CdA has also noticed a trend to last minute bookings.

http://www.compagniedesalpes.com/amf_fr/CP%20Post%20AG%2018%20mars%202010.pdf

Regional newsppaper la Depeche du Midi has an article on Hautacam which was devastated out by Tempest Xynthia with over 700,000 euros of damage to the infrastructure. The ski area has been closed since the storm on the 27th of February despite excellent snow cover that would have meant a record season. 40 season workers have been laid-off a month early. Repair work is expected to start next week.

http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2010/03/21/801745-Hautacam-station-fantome-depuis-Xynthia.html

Having lived for several years in the french Alps i understand both sides of the argument, in many resorts the business owners have a short season in which to make a living , however this is not the case for Chamonix which is busier in the summer than the winter, I believe that around 10 years ago when there was an abundance of money around and tourists spending like crazy, there was price fixing of some sort going on, and unfortunately for us , the prices have remained high and even increased.
Last year was bad for many French bar and restaurant owners , but this year they are going to get a shock at reduced incomes , and hopefully next year we will see prices drop.
As someone mentioned in a previous post, Italy is still fanatstic value for money, and Switzerland is now cheaper than france.
Everyone reading this forum probably goes skiing/boarding the same number of weeks they always did, and in order to do this in times of financial trouble we sacrifice certain things , and this is generally restaurants and bars.
Good news if you own a supermarket,bad news if you are a restuarant owner relying on tourist spending.
French business owners , react now , get back in the real world....

Just coming home to DK from my usual 6 week’s of work in Valmorel I got the same feeling as davidof. Except from week 7 and 8 I don’t see people on the piste. It’s the first time in those 6 years I worked in Valmorel I could ski first decent on several piste after 11 ore 12 o’clock. Despite that the company I worked for increase numbers of Danish guest with about 40 % it was easy to see that even the French population was decreased in numbers, and when talking with a English ski instructor at ESF, hi complaint about missing guests from UK.
Another trend i spotted is that a lot of restaurant’s in the terrain changed to self service and less fancy food without dropping prices, This is not satisfactory, and I understand why people instead make a baguette with cheese and ham before leaving there apartment in the morning.

http://www.asbl-lageode.com/tarifs.html

EUR 46 per night half board, in Les Houches within 10 min walk of bus and train

pretty amazing value for Chamonix..g