Pyrenees Ski Resort Results for 2007-2008
The Pyrenees tourism federation has announced a 10% increase in visitor numbers and a 22% increase in turnover for the 38 Pyrenean ski resorts compared to last year’s poor season. However all the resorts noted a lack of enthusiasm from skiers following a poor January when the conditions improved later in the season.
Overall the autumn was very dry with snow cover starting late, in December. Around 50cm fell by the 10th of December, enough to give a base to open ski runs. The cold weather over Christmas and New Year preserved this snow without giving any further cover.
The first two weeks of January saw promising snowfall but this was short-lived due to warm temperatures and rain at altitude. The snow cover remained poor with warm and dry weather to mid-February followed by rain at altitude to the start of March. Snow cover was almost inexistent below 2000 meters outside of ski runs. It was the worst snow cover for over a decade. March saw a timid return to winter with snowfall with better cover in April with above average snow over 2000 meters.
Gavarnie, Piau and Cauterets had good snow cover which meant that they benefitted from clients who would normally visit other ski resorts. Gavarnie was open 92 days (planned 95) with 85% of the runs open during the February holidays. Cauterets increased turnover by 6.5% compared to 2005-06 when the Lys gondola lift was opened. Despite the investments the increase in visitor numbers is now tailing off with a 6.2% increase in skier/days over the last 5 years.
Luz did better than last year but is down on the 5 year average. They blamed the results on the poor weather in March. Val Louron also suffered from the weather - wind, rain and extremely warm weather ruined the best weeks of the winter holiday period. Le Tourmalet was 3 million € down on the record 2005-6 season. St Lary suffered from poor conditions due to high temperatures in January which were accompanied by rain which followed some good snowfall.
Cross county skiing, on lower slopes, has suffered due to variable snow cover. The situation was better than 2006-2007 but there has been a 6% drop in turnover over the last 5 years. Snowshoeing has replaced this activity to a certain extent.
The Pyrenees resorts have invested heavily in modern lift systems and snowmaking. Typical is Peyragudes which made 450,000 m3 of snow this season. The resort will replace a fixed chair in the Serre-Doumenge sector with a new high speed six seater lift with nearly 3 times the capacity.
Top of the Pyrenean Pops
1. Le Tourmalet : Turnover : 2007-2008 : 10,600,000 € (2006-2007 : 8,772,543 €; 2005-2006 : 13,755,000 €). Skier days : 2007-2008 : 575,000 (2006-2007 : 557,281 ; 2005-2006 : 785,700). Days Open : 2007-2008 : 115 (2006-2007 : 116 ; 2005-2006 : 137).
2. Peyragudes : Turnover : 2007-2008 : 8,604,612 € (+12,90%) ( 2006-2007: 7,621,787; 2005-2006: 7,280,787 ). Skier days : 2007-2008 : 453,035 (+5,50%), (2006-2007 : 429,418; 2005-2006 : 446,236). Days Open : 2007-2008 : 115 (2006-2007 : 108 ; 2005-2006 : 116).
3. Saint-Lary : Turnover : 2007-2008 : 7,736,000 € (2006-2007 : 5,780,515 €; 2005-2006 : 12,256,426). Skier days : 2007-2008 : 402,000 (2006-2007 : 320,892 ; 2005-2006 : 604,463). Days Open : 2007-2008 : 103 (2006-2007 : 114 ; 2005-2006 : 137).
4. Cauterets :Turnover : 2007-2008 : 6,469,888 € (2006-2007 : 5,408,725 ; 2005-2006 : 6,074,928) ; Skier days : 2007-2008 : 321,250 (2006-2007 : 283,838 ; 2005-2006 : 329,778) ; Days Open : 2007-2008 : 131 (2006-2007 : 126 ; 2005-2006 : 136).
5. Piau : Turnover : 2007-2008 : 5,360,595 (2006-2007 : 5,011,771 ; 2005-2006 : 5,052,209). Skier days : 2007-2008 : 284,503 (2006-2007 : 268,740 ; 2005-2006 : 280,380) ; Days Open : 2007-2008 : 142 (2006-2007 : 138 ; 2005-2006 : 152).
6. Luz : Turnover : 2007-2008 : 3,789,000 (2006-2007 : 3,190,000 ; 2005-2006 : 4,509,000). Skier days : 2007-2008 : 220,500 ; (2006-2007 : 203,000 ; 2005-2006 : 259,670)
7. Gavarnie :Turnover : 2007-2008 : 854,000 (2006-2007 : 402,000 ; 2005-2006 : 646,000) ; Skier days : 2007-2008 : 67,000 (2006-2007 : 40,000 ; 2005-2006 : 60,000. Days Open : 2007-2008 : 92 (2006-2007 : 89 ; 2005-2006 : 100).
8. Val Louron : Turnover : 2007-2008 : 610,453 € (2006-2007 : 420,850 €; 2005-2006 : 1,198,034 €). Skier days : 2007-2008 : 64,772 (2006-2007 : 53,637 ; 2005-2006 : 97,813)
Source: Meteo France (http://www.meteo.fr), http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2008/05/03/451761-Saison-d-hiver-de-bonne-a-mitigee.html
Thanks to Chops for pointing out the la Depeche article