Skiing is believing
AVORIAZ, France: Perched high on a cliff face, at the heart of one of the biggest ski networks in the world, the resort of Avoriaz was 40 this weekend, a witness to the ups and downs of the snow industry in the French Alps.
Tourists enjoy a tour on a horse-driven sled in Avoriaz, which is located at the heart of one of the biggest ski networks in the world. AFP |
Avoriaz, which opened in 1967, was based on respect for nature. A founding principle was that there would be no cars beyond the entrance car park, and to this day people move around on foot, on ski or snowshoe, or in horse-drawn sleigh taxis.
The resort was conceived, with a high degree of intuition rather than science, from nothing, in the minds of a young man, Gerard Bremond then 27, who wanted to be a jazz musician, and three like-minded and totally inexperienced architects. Olympic ski champion Jean Vuarnet was also involved.
In 40 years it has risen to be the center of the biggest ski network in Europe, extending for 650 kilometers and linking 14 villages in France and Switzerland known collectively as the Portes du Soleil (Gateway to the Sun).
It is followed in Europe by the Trois Vallees network based on Courchevel, Meribel and Les Menuires with 600 kilometers of runs and Paradiski based on Les Arcs.
"We were 'green' before it was trendy," Bremond says today. "We didn't do any market research... We shared an interest in jazz, the cinema and winter sports."
For 20 years from 1973, the village was home to the International Festival of Fantasy films.
Impressive design
The resort, built on a once isolated plateau at 1,800 meters giving access to a high point of 2,466 meters, comprises a complex of concrete towers, but so designed as to meld at a distance with the surrounding rock faces.
Perched high on a cliff face, the resort of Avoriaz is a witness to the ups and downs of the snow industry in the French Alps. AFP |
Bremond was drawn against his will into a family building business and his father lent him the equivalent of a million euros ($1.3 million) for three years to build a resort.
This was just as skiing was emerging as an activity accessible to the masses, partly through utilitarian construction that has left concrete blots and some controversy in a number of Alpine villages.
Bremond took 15 years to repay the loan, and to face financial strains he came up with a scheme, rather novel in France, of enabling people to buy flats at reduced prices which they then handed to Bremond to manage on a rental basis for a period, while retaining the right to a few weeks of usage.
This gave birth to what is now a substantial business and household name in the French holiday rental sector, Pierre et Vacances, meaning property and holidays.
Bremond acquired land in other top Alpine locations such as Val D'Isere and Les Menuires, and branched out to the Mediterranean Riviera seaside, in Juan-les-Pins and Sainte-Maxime.
The company is one of the rare French tourism businesses to be in the same hands for 40 years. Bremond, at the head of a group now employing 8,400 people in seven countries in Europe, owns 50.2 percent of the stock and 66.6 percent of the voting rights.
A total of 6.6 million people book with Pierre et Vacances and its offshots such as Maeva each year, and about half of them are not French.
Ups and downs
In the last 40 years, snow sports have transformed once isolated and poor valleys of the French Alps, and have more than compensated for the decline of textile and light industry in many towns.
But there have been ups and downs. The rush to build resorts, bed capacity and ski lifts brought financial problems and even some operators to the verge of bankruptcy, and shortages of snow about 20 years ago made the industry aware of its reliance on foreign visitors and drove it to increase promotion abroad.
The opening up of eastern Europe, and now globalisation in general, have brought new business, and property prices in the top resorts, both in terms of prestige and altitude, have risen sharply in the last decade.
Most ski villages have worked hard to diversify their attractions for non-skiers in winter and to attract families in summer.
But some resorts are finding a need to re-balance their supply of rental accommodation since part of the demand is moving upmarket and is no longer satisfied with the standard small flats built in large numbers during the boom of the 1970s.
Avoriaz, for example, has set about renovating and enlarging flats, consequently shedding 1,200 beds since 2001. Now it is looking at expanding from 16,600 beds to 18,600 by 2009 to meet demand from skiers switching from other resorts where snow is thin.
The 40th anniversary celebrations contrast with an exceptionally poor winter for Alpine snow, following exceptionally good conditions last year, although the local tourist office says there is plenty of snow on the slopes here compared to the situation elsewhere.
For several years now, ski stations have invested heavily in snow cannon to renew thin patches with artificial snow but these were not intended as a continuous substitute for snowfall and in any case are a cause of concern to environmentalists, already critical of the impact of ski infrastructure on the landscape, flora and fauna.
Five weeks ago, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development warned that climate change posed "serious risks" to activities based on snow in the Alps.
The celebrations in the village here began under the rain and with a forum on global warming.
AFP
(China Daily 01/25/2007 page19)
