Aimé Sandona admits: at 71 years old, this sturdy guy who operates the sports store created in 1969 by his parents at the foot of the Piquemiette slopes cried for several days. The cause: the decision of the Mont-d’Or Mixed Union (SMMO) and the Doubs departmental council to suspend the operation of the slopes this winter took professionals and athletes by surprise. Piquemiette is one of the three sectors which, with Métabief and Super-Longevilles, make up one of the most important ski areas in the Jura massif. Announced Thursday, September 12, three months before the opening of the season, this brutal amputation represents 30% of the available facilities, or all of the five Piquemiette chairlifts and ski lifts. Even if they say they are aware of the reality of global warming, and of the need to reconvert the mid-mountain resort into a “four-season” activity, they all thought that such a decision would come in 2030 or 2035, as they had always done. been affirmed in view of the studies carried out on the evolution of snow cover.
Piquemiette merchants were all the more confident as heavy investments had been made in the sector, in particular the renewal of snow cannons six years ago. The lifts had certainly aged, but were subject to regular monitoring, compatible with operation for several more years. Piquemiette hosted the only black slope in Doubs, recently re-approved by the French Ski Federation.
Thus, a couple of young entrepreneurs had just taken over the Franckie restaurant, and Jérôme Tyrode, owner of the Chalet des pisteurs, had redone his terrace, his dishwasher and bought a professional snowmobile. As for Mr. Sandona, he had ordered equipment worth 25,000 euros for the season, which he risks reselling at a loss. “Beyond the economic impasse, all this is sentimental, it is my entire reason for living which is destroyedadmits the septuagenarian. The slopes are closed, I will still be at the store this winter, we will see. After… “
Learning that the imminent season would be “suspended” – this is the official term – is all the more unbearable for the economic players of the resort as Philippe Alpy, president of the SMMO and vice-president (Horizons) of the Doubs departmental council refers , to justify this measure, to a confidential audit to which they did not have access. A “lack of transparency”, they denounce, but which could be corrected at the beginning of next week.
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