I ski, you ski, … They ski. People are skiing. Everyone seems to agree: the 2009 ski season in the Alpes-Maritimes is so far more than satisfactory. You might say it should also be like that in other mountainous departments, but let’s focus on the Mercantour; that’s quite something already. With all the snow that has recently fallen, the assessment after the heavy influx during the February holidays is thus much more than acceptable. “For the businesses and hotels, the period is exceptional. We have a very high occupancy rate,” admits Didier Burdin, the president of the Association of Merchants and Craftsmen of Saint-Etienne de Tinée-Auron. “It’s better than last year,” he confirms.
If the current economic crisis affects the morale, it has no impact on the desire to have fun. Imagine. A few turns in the powder, sunglasses on your nose, sunbathing on the ski lift… skiing continues to bring immense joy to those who partake in it. And they have been numerous again to speed down the slopes of the A-M resorts. “The holidays were very beneficial. There’s a very good value for money at Auron and La Colmiane,” states Jean-Marc Bérard, the Director of the ski lifts. And it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop soon: “The weather is good, temperatures are rising. I have a good feeling about what’s next. With Nice’s 2018 bid, foreigners are coming from all sides,” adds the Mr. Teleski of Mercantour. Everything is therefore going for the best in the best of all possible worlds.
Some regrets
“Attendance is good but not very good,” comments Jean-Noël Tofanari, the Director of the Espace Mercantour Tourism Office. By Jove! Have we been lied to? “We were penalized by bad weather days and access to Isola 2000 was impossible at the time of the avalanche on the road. We lost the first week of February and a complete weekend,” he regrets. When you know that the activity doesn’t even last twenty weekends, that’s already a lot.
In skiing, everyone likes to indulge in little pleasures during lunch break or at the end of the afternoon after a good day of sport. However, everyone’s financial difficulties put a brake on overall consumption. “People no longer allow themselves any extras. The average price per person has dropped by 5% compared to last year,” confirms Didier Burdin. “They no longer take the bottle of wine during the meal, the drink or the après-ski pancake (oh so important!),” he notes.
But let’s admit it, as long as it’s possible to go up and down the mountain, after all, why complain?
