European Ski Resorts Need Snow
Ski trip to French Alps could be derailed by lack of powder
I had a ski trip of a lifetime arranged for the holidays: Two weeks at Courchevel, a swanky ski resort in the Alps. But lack of snow could make it a different trip.
Spending the holidays at a swanky French ski resort in the Alps seemed too good to be true. A couple months ago, a Russian friend of mine, Sasha, asked if I’d like to join her for a couple weeks at Courchevel, one of the ritziest ski areas in the world.
She was going to be working there, helping Russian tourists, so our accommodations would be taken care of. We’d be bringing food (it’s very expensive to eat there, apparently) and Internet access would be available for me to work.
Sounds perfect, I thought. Better than perfect. Skiing in the Alps. What skier could ask for more? Little did Sasha know she was asking the daughter of a former ski bum (my Dad spent his summers working on the family farm and his winters skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho) to hang out at a famous ski resort. I couldn’t wait to tell my Dad, who had taught my brothers and sister and I each to ski before we hit Kindergarten.
What could derail such a perfect plan? The weather. Yep. No snow at Courchevel. Of course, that could change in a day, but things aren’t looking good. I’ve read more stories than I care to count about the Alps being in trouble this winter because of lack of snow. Ski racing events were cancelled in Austria. Many of the resorts aren’t open at all. Those that have enough snow to open are overrun with skiers dying to hit the slopes before the end of the year. This is not what I had in mind.
Is it Global Warming? I don’t know. Maybe it’s just a natural Earth cycle. The reality is that, for me - and you, for that matter - if I want to ski in the Alps, I’d better do it sooner rather than later. From what I’ve read, we don’t really know how long this warming trend will last.
So, it’s a couple days before Christmas, and I’m doing a snow dance. Imagine, being at a famed French ski resort in the Alps for two weeks ... and not being able to ski. Ugh! The horror!
