The permanent closure of the Alpe du Grand Serre ski resort, announced ahead of the 2024-2025 ski season, marks a turning point for low-altitude resorts across the European Alps. As climate change accelerates, warmer winters and diminished snowfall are shrinking ski seasons and threatening the very survival of resorts that have long been economic lifelines for mountain communities. The story of Alpe du Grand Serre is not an isolated case; rather, it highlights a broader crisis affecting numerous ski destinations across Europe.
The Closure of Alpe du Grand Serre
Nestled in the Isère region of southeastern France, Alpe du Grand Serre had been a key winter destination for 85 years. The resort boasted 55 kilometers of slopes served by a mix of chairlifts and drag lifts, providing jobs for 200 locals and drawing visitors from nearby regions. However, in recent years, the resort has faced the mounting impacts of climate change. Snowfall has become unreliable, with seasons starting later and ending earlier, leading to fewer ski days. The local council attempted to adapt, investing nearly €3 million since 2021 into projects aimed at diversifying the resort’s offerings, including the development of hiking and biking trails to transform it into a year-round destination.
Despite these efforts, the financial burden proved too great. In October 2024, local councilors voted to cease operations, citing an inability to continue funding improvements and maintain the resort. “With no state support and climate conditions worsening, we couldn’t sustain the resort any longer,” said Coraline Saurat, president of the local authority. The decision leaves 200 jobs in jeopardy and has devastated the local community. “Our lives have been ruined. Who will pay our loans?” asked a local grocery store owner in the nearby village of La Morte.
A Growing List of Resort Closures
Alpe du Grand Serre is far from the only casualty of climate change in the European Alps. Numerous ski resorts across the region have faced similar fates, with some permanently closing due to warmer winters and declining snowfall. In 2023, the French resort La Sambuy, located near Mont Blanc, dismantled its ski lifts after experiencing only a few weeks of snow during the previous winter. Stones and rocks had begun to appear on the slopes, making conditions unsuitable even during the brief snow-covered periods. The resort’s mayor, Jacques Dalex, reflected on the drastic changes in weather patterns, noting that snow used to last from December through March. With just four weeks of skiing left, La Sambuy was no longer financially viable, leading the town to shift its focus toward summer activities such as hiking and mountain biking.
Several other resorts across the Alps have followed suit, highlighting the broader crisis affecting low-altitude ski destinations. In Switzerland, the small Skilift Schratten Flühli in the canton of Lucerne permanently shut down in 2024, with operators citing both financial difficulties and drastically reduced snowfall. Similarly, Le Grand Puy in the French Alpes-de-Haute-Provence closed in 2024 after residents voted to dismantle the ski lifts due to unsustainable losses. In 2007 Abondance, the ski resort in the Haute-Savoie region, closed due to a lack of snow and the high costs associated with running ski lifts. The town later reopened part of the resort with a smaller operation, but it never fully returned to its former status. These closures reflect a growing trend in the Alps, where many low- and mid-altitude resorts are struggling to survive amidst the worsening effects of climate change.
A report from Pierre-Alexandre Metral, a geographer at Grenoble University, estimates that around 180 small French ski resorts have shut down since the 1970s, unable to compete with larger, higher-altitude destinations. Many of these closures are directly linked to warming temperatures and the increasingly unsustainable costs of maintaining ski infrastructure, especially in areas where snow is no longer guaranteed.
The Vulnerability of Low-Altitude Resorts
Low- and medium-altitude ski resorts, typically those below 1,800 meters, are particularly vulnerable to climate change. These resorts depend on consistent snowfall to stay open throughout the winter season. However, rising temperatures are pushing the snowline higher each year, reducing the natural snowfall that these resorts rely on. A 2022 study published in Nature Climate Change surveyed 2,234 European ski resorts and found that between 53% and 98% of them could face severe snow shortages without artificial snowmaking, depending on the level of global warming.
The study further revealed that even with snowmaking, up to 71% of resorts may struggle to maintain a viable snow cover. While artificial snow can extend the ski season, it comes with significant environmental and financial costs. Snowmaking requires vast amounts of water and electricity, adding to the resorts’ carbon footprints and placing further pressure on natural resources, especially in regions where water scarcity is already a concern. For many resorts, especially smaller ones, the costs of snowmaking are simply too high.
The Shift Towards Year-Round Tourism
In an effort to survive, many ski resorts are diversifying their offerings to include year-round activities like hiking, mountain biking, and wellness tourism. High-altitude destinations like Val Thorens, France’s highest ski resort, are better positioned to adapt. However, even Val Thorens had to delay its opening in recent years due to insufficient snow cover. The Grande-Motte glacier near Tignes, another high-altitude resort, was forced to close temporarily last year due to melting snow. This shows that even the best-prepared resorts are not immune to the impacts of climate change.
Resorts are increasingly marketing themselves as destinations for all seasons. Alpe du Grand Serre’s ill-fated €3 million investment in summer trails was part of this broader trend. The resort’s closure underscores the difficulty of transitioning from a winter-reliant economy to a year-round model, particularly for smaller, financially vulnerable resorts. Other ski towns, like La Sambuy, have embraced mountain biking and hiking as alternatives to skiing, but success in these areas depends heavily on location, infrastructure, and marketing.
What Lies Ahead for Low-Altitude Resorts?
The future of low-altitude ski resorts in the Alps looks increasingly uncertain. With climate change continuing to shorten ski seasons and make natural snowfall unpredictable, more resorts will face the difficult decision of whether to invest heavily in artificial snow and summer infrastructure or close altogether. The European Union has been called upon to provide financial aid to struggling resorts, but long-term solutions remain elusive.
Some local authorities are turning to alternative models of tourism. Seyne-les-Alpes, another French resort, recently closed its ski lifts after 71% of residents voted in favor of dismantling them. The municipality plans to shift its focus to eco-tourism and environmentally friendly sports, such as hiking and wildlife tours. This mirrors trends in other mountain areas, where the emphasis is increasingly on sustainability and nature-based activities, rather than skiing.
However, these changes are not without challenges. While some tourists are eager to embrace outdoor activities year-round, others still flock to the Alps for the traditional experience of winter sports. Maintaining a balance between sustainable tourism and economic viability will be crucial for the survival of these mountain communities.
The closure of Alpe du Grand Serre serves as a stark reminder of the fragility of low-altitude ski resorts in the face of climate change. As winters become shorter and snowfall less reliable, resorts across Europe are being forced to rethink their business models or shut down altogether. For many, the transition to year-round tourism is fraught with financial risks, and the increasing reliance on artificial snow poses its own environmental challenges.
As the climate continues to warm, the future of skiing in Europe’s lower-altitude regions is uncertain. The Alps, long seen as the heart of European winter tourism, may have to redefine what it means to be a mountain destination in the years to come. With more closures likely on the horizon, the question remains: how many of these iconic ski resorts will survive the next few decades of climate change?