The white test mountain
What is the mountain in winter? From Jura to Dévoluy, via Haute-Savoie and Tarentaise, Liberation visited five resorts representative of the great diversity of reliefs, their inhabitants and tourist specificities. Roaming.
Les Fourgs: Monts-d'Or and Nordic domain
After Pontarlier, we climb towards the Haut-Jura, through fields and forests soon covered with a layer of snow that fell the day before and already melting: this beginning of January shows exceptionally mild temperatures. At the bend of a bend, a herd of not very shy chamois grazes... Soon we will see Les Fourgs, a quiet village-street: on either side of the road that leads to Switzerland, a historic axis, stretch two rows of houses massive. In one of them, the fruiterer. A young woman sells the Monts-d'Or produced here all winter long - 3,500 pieces a day - with milk from around fifteen farms. This creamy cheese, encased in spruce wood, goes to stock the shelves of a major supermarket chain. In summer, with the same milk, we make Comté cheese. At the tourist office, we insist: Les Fourgs, “Roof of Haut-Doubs”, is indeed a ski resort, but not only. 1,500 tourist beds, for a family clientele: snow or not, the people here know how to occupy their visitors: heritage, gastronomy, hiking, mountain biking...
Further down the road, in the hamlet of Les Rangs, there are four butt lifts, a few hundred meters long. On these pastures, generations of children have learned to ski. Cyril, aged 37, was one of them, and this is what prompted him to take over the resort this winter with two partners. It has not yet turned this year, and the first fall in January is not enough to open, but Cyril is not worried: “Last year, we had 3.5 meters of snow accumulated. The big cold is coming soon! We are itching to welcome customers, to see how we are doing. We are not "bling-bling", the main thing is that people can have fun.
He would like to increase his production of artificial snow because only two of the ten slopes are equipped with cannons. Delicate: on this karstic massif, without springs, water is a rare and precious commodity. Cyril could not bring himself to leave the station, built by his uncle Roland with his own hands, without a buyer: “Without the ski lifts, Les Fourgs is a dormitory village!” he believes.
Not so sure: the strength of Les Fourgs lies, in addition to its natural setting, in its Nordic area linked to neighboring sites and managed by the county council: area covered by 200 km of slopes. They are not drawn yet, it will take a more substantial layer, so we embark on foot in the snow across fields. The Fourgs disappear, we are in the middle of the Jura mountains, in the middle of nature, in an Olympian calm. Past the Crêt du Vourbey, at 1,246 meters, we descend to a remote inn to enjoy a sandwich with Morbier cheese and Morteau sausage before setting off again through a forest of monumental spruce trees. Soon, cross-country skiers will take up residence here, gliding noiselessly from one hamlet to another.
Megève: galleries and furs
We descend from the Jura by a steep road to the Swiss plateau and Lausanne. Via the shores of Lake Geneva then Geneva, the Upper Savoyard valley of the Arve leads to the foot of Mont Blanc from where you climb towards Megève. This prestigious resort, developed in the 1920s by the Rothschild family, is nestled on the heights of the Val d'Arly. In the historic, dense and pedestrian centre, renovated old buildings and giant chalets compete in elegance. Everywhere, beautiful shops; the major brands are well established. An art gallery displays its membership of a prestigious group: “New York, Champs-Elysées, Cannes-Croisette, Courchevel 1850, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Megève”. Passers-by breathe prosperity: state-of-the-art ski clothes rub shoulders with furs. We come across men smoking cigars… and a proportion far above the average of tall, slim and proud women.
Nearby, a hotel catches the eye: the “M”. Five-star refurbished in 2013, it presents the typical architecture of today's luxury mountain hotels: reduced size, wood and stone, larch balconies. In the lobby, blocks of granite rub shoulders with large leather armchairs and raw wood furniture adorned with touches of contemporary metal art. The hotel has 42 rooms, half of which are suites, a spa area dug into the rock in the basement, a bar and a gourmet restaurant opening onto the street. Up to sixty employees, ladies and valets, cooks, drivers, concierge, bellboys, pamper customers from Great Britain, Italy or Switzerland, but also from Eastern Europe, Turkey or the Emirates. . A couple of Italians in their thirties and non-skiers say they are delighted with their stay, three nights in the royal suite for 7,500 euros. "It's an adorable city," smiles Nathalie. “We took advantage of our suite and the essential spa: we work a lot and really needed to relax,” concludes Ricardo.
Even outside school holidays and weekends, Megève benefits from a good filling of its 40,000 tourist beds. Most of these prime tourists ski; the area laid out in the forest is vast and neat, the views superb. The ultimate, included in the day pass: take advantage of free access to photo and video points on the slopes, in order to share your day as well as your speed and elevation readings on the networks. This viral marketing, in full development, works very well, welcomes the sales manager of the resort, Carole Lecomte: "Skiing in Megève is a mark of pride for our customers."
Arêches-Beaufort: night skiing and tarine cows
From Megève, you can reach the Savoyard Beaufortain massif without going back down to the valley, via Les Saisies. The hamlet of Arêches, located at an altitude of 1,080 meters above the town of Beaufort, is a village resort: just under 10,000 tourist beds. It remains marked by its traditional architecture and its rustic atmosphere, in a very alpine setting. Here, if downhill skiing is king, we strongly believe in ski touring: every year the resort hosts one of the most important ski mountaineering races in the Alps, the Pierra Menta.
Fabien Eymonerie, owner of the Mountain sports shop, organizes, with professionals and the operator of the ski area, a night initiation to ski touring. This evening, Jean-Bernard and Anne-Sophie, Lyonnais athletes, have registered. Fabien rents them the equipment, details the use of articulated bindings and skins glued under the skis. François Hivert, a young guide, accompanies them through the night. The ascent on skis is peaceful, the effort quiet, conducive to discussion. A few snowflakes twirl in the halo of the headlamps. Eight o'clock strikes from the bell tower of the village, below.
The time to take off the skins and adjust the shoes and bindings in the downhill position, the group dives down at a slow pace. The Lyonnais are won over: “We want more!” During the Christmas holidays, when there was very little snow, ski touring represented 20% of Fabien's turnover. “I believe in it,” adds François, who develops this practice in parallel with his main winter activity, off-piste. The multisports club of the town, organizer of the Pierra Menta, has also created, in collaboration with the resort and a brand of ski touring equipment, a marked course: "the Trace". A special package allows you to reach it by chairlift, then you go back up without worrying about orientation or safety, away from the slopes, to the top of the resort.
Before leaving Arêches, a visit to Rémy Gachet is a must. He is one of the sixty breeders of the commune. They all entrust their milk production to the Beaufort cooperative, which produces a thousand tons of this fine cheese a year. Rémy, 30 years old, a member of a Gaec (Joint Farming Association) with his parents, raises 60 Tarine dairy cows in a new, functional barn, built thanks to the flourishing health of Beaufort and European aid. In winter, after the morning milking, he is a ski instructor. In the evening, he shows his stable as a passionate teacher. Delighted, tourists watch the milking, caress the cows, feed the calves with a giant bottle, buy its products... In summer, these tarines graze on the ski slopes: “Here, agriculture and tourism are inseparable. It's our pride,” smiles Rémy.
Val d'Isère: Anglais and snow metro
Direction - via Albertville - the Savoyard valley of the Tarentaise, the largest concentration of giant resorts in the Alps, a temple of white gold. At the end of the valley, Val d'Isère, 33,500 beds. It is a city in the mountains, dense and compact, at 1,800 meters above sea level. In the center, where all the buildings are clad in wood and stone, there are the shops of the major sportswear brands. 65% of the clientele is foreign, it is one of the favorite stations of the British. To serve them, an army of seasonal workers works here.
As for the ski area, Val d'Isère and its neighbor Tignes offer an immense area, up to very high altitude, but the argument is no longer enough to attract customers. We must "offer the" maximum ski "experience for everyone, from quiet skiing at altitude to off-piste and freestyle, for which we have a big demand for equipment", explains Justine Mathé, marketing director of the resort. .
Who says “experience”, the key marketing word in the Alps, necessarily says “equipment”. The freestyle version is the snowpark, a sector of the resort reserved for lovers of big bumps, kicker, half-pipe... A dedicated team of specialists, trackers, shapers and snow groomer drivers pamper it with passion. Their easy circuits have never been so popular: “We have more and more people, it's becoming a must. Three-quarters of tourists only make a few rotations… The level is falling; fortunately, around a hundred enthusiasts, often seasonal workers, actually practice freestyle here,” point out Julien and Johny, the site's shaper and tracker respectively.
The entertainment version of the equipment is La Folie douce, a large open-air bar terrace in the middle of the slopes. It is crowded during the day: loud sound system, ultra-trendy bilingual host, central stage, singers and dancers, DJ on the balcony, alcohol required. The lift version is the Funival, a snow metro where you pile up to go back underground at full speed and spring dazzled at the top of the Bellevarde mountain, at 2,827 meters.
The après-ski equipment is the water park, a "must have" for a resort like Val d'Isère.
Laid out under the arrival snowshoe of the Bellevarde ski competition slope, it lines up a climbing room, gymnasium, squash, saunas, hammams, jacuzzis and, above all, a vast balneoludic pool, coupled with a real swimming pool. On the glazed floor above the pools, in the fitness room, we run at nightfall on treadmills, headphones required, view looking, beyond the glass facade of the center, on the factory station snow.
Lus-La-Jarjatte: schoolchildren and animal tracks
Let's flee the Tarentaise. After Albertville, Grenoble and the crossing of the superb Trièves, we sink, behind the Col de Lus-la-Croix-Haute, into the wild and classified valley of Jarjatte. At the bottom, at 1,190 meters, under the Drôme side of the Dévoluy massif, nestles the small resort of Lus-la-Jarjatte: a Nordic area, five ski lifts and six slopes. Downstream of the station, still closed at the beginning of January for insufficient snow, hides under the Scots pines the Color Nature holiday center, of the Federation of Secular Works of the Drôme.
A single class from a small Drôme village, some twenty children aged 5 to 10 and their teacher, took up residence there for ten days of discovery classes. The deputy director of the establishment labeled “sustainable environmental citizenship”, Cédric Dubief, specifies: “We do not sell activities at all costs. Our dual objective is to immerse children in this natural environment by making them discover our valley and teaching them to live together. It's not just skiing in the mountains... Fortunately, we would get bored!» The class present has a double project, theater in a foreign language and skiing.
This morning, the little ones, in overalls, rush out of the center and roll in the snow with delight, then run through the pines towards a large meadow where their snowman awaits them. He suffered from the ambient sweetness, the children embrace him: "We will save you, don't worry, Clovis." They enjoy themselves in the four corners of the meadow, tracking down animal tracks in the snow. Anna, on all fours, slices: "This one is heart-shaped, it's a deer." Bingo. Badger, fox, hare, they are unbeatable.
Quentin, the centre's nature animator, takes the opportunity to teach them about snow, weather, the water cycle, alpine vegetation... He drinks whey: "By fluttering, excluding consumption individual hobbies and the constant race for novelty, they will discover nature, develop their imagination, their curiosity, take initiatives and acquire knowledge…”
The little ones, cheeks red from the cold and the race, are enthusiastic. Like them, a thousand children, classes or colonies, spend each winter at Couleur nature. For many, from the working classes, sometimes from the suburbs of Marseille, it is a first discovery of the winter mountains: an unforgettable "experience", far from the big resorts.
