Tignes Delays Planned 18-19 Season Opening This Weekend Due to Warm Weather
Tignes ski area in France has decided not to open this Saturday 29th September as planned as warm weather through the summer has depleted the snow cover, according to a resort statement issued today.
“While last winter’s impressive snowfall foreshadowed a serene summer and autumn in terms of ski quality on the Grande Motte glacier, the record temperatures recorded in Europe this summer and in recent weeks have have not spared the altitude ski area of Tignes.”
Tignes, which back in the 1990s was open 365 days a year, still has the longest ski season France by some distance and is usually open in October and early November when no other French area is.
It still normally endeavours to open at least a few days in each month in May and June then August and September having had a winter season from September to May and a summer one from June to August in order to be able to claim it is open during every month of the year. But it looks like it will miss September 2018.
“At the end of September, we can only note a degraded snowpack, which does not allow to offer optimal training conditions for skiers, clubs and professionals of boardsports, who traditionally come in October,” the statement continues.
The Grande Motte Glacier will not open on Sept. 29 as planned, instead early-season skiing in Tignes has been postponed until further notice due to lack of snow. Fingers crossed it won’t be long!
The decision made jointly by the Société des Téléphériques de la Grande Motte, the Régie des Pistes and the Town Hall of Tignes is to postpone the opening of the Grande Motte ski area to a yet to be decided later date.
“All teams are ready to welcome the first skiers of the season as soon as the cold and precipitation conditions are met,” the statement concluded.
It’s a mixed picture elsewhere in the Alps with the Kauntertal glacier announcing it will open this Saturday but another Austrian resort, Molltal, which opened for an 11 month season back in June, closed the past eight days due to inadequate snow cover. Half a dozen other glacier ski areas in Austria, Italy and Switzerland are currently open.
There has been some fresh snow in the Alps over the past month and it has been getting cooler again in recent days but the glaciers posting the biggest snowfalls so far have largely been to the east of the French Alps.
(Please note images are library pics from past years!)
