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While the Beijing Olympics have just ended with 14 medals in total for France, a survey by the Ipsos institute reveals that one French citizen in three has never skied in his life. One in two (53%) say they never go there, and 34% say they have never put on a ski in their life.
The ski destination is not popular with a majority of French people. Only one in three people say they go there from time to time, and it is a tradition for only 13% of the population, who say they go there every year. Young people (22% of 16-24 year olds) and Parisians (19%) are the most likely to go to the mountains in winter.
24% of French people claim to ski from time to time
And even if 34% of French people occasionally go to the mountains in winter, it is not always to go skiing. 14% of French people say they ski often, a figure that rises to 21% among CSP+, and 17% among men, more numerous than women (11%). 24% of French people claim to ski from time to time, and 28% practice this sport more rarely. But skiing remains the prerogative of a minority of French people: 34% say they have never skied in their life. A figure that rises to 38% among retired or inactive French people.
Skiing has not really democratized over time. In a decade, winter holidays have only increased by 3%. Among skiers, the majority (42%) claim to have started on the slopes between the ages of 10 and 19. For a third of them, this initiation took place earlier, at less than 10 years (34%).
Some 250 ski resorts on six massifs in France
According to figures from French ski areas, there are 250 ski resorts on six massifs in France. This represents 30% of the European ski area. A structural advantage that we owe to the ambitious snow plan of the 1960s and 1970s, which provided France with ski areas, transport infrastructure and equipped resorts that might accommodate millions of skiers.
On French territory, foreign customers represent 26% of holidaymakers. Overall, visitors spend 10 billion euros in resorts over a season. There are 120,000 direct and indirect jobs. In Europe, the Alps remain largely dominant, totaling 43% of skier-days in the world, far ahead of North America.
Snow is rare in the middle mountains
In France, the Center for Snow Studies has shown that the average snow depth over the period 1990-2017 has fallen by 40 cm compared to the period 1960-1990. This jeopardizes mid-mountain resorts. The financial support massive and unconditional “at mid-mountain ski resorts during the Covid-19 crisis” paradoxically risk to delay their transition to an economic model adapted to global warming, the Court of Auditors recently estimated in its annual report.
The magistrates analyzed the case of two stations in New Aquitaine, managed by a public establishment. He benefited from a loan guaranteed by the State and aid from the department but ” without, however, asking for compensation in terms of the medium-term development of the activity and the economic prospects of the two resorts », yet threatened by a total absence of natural snow by the middle of the century.
In 2020, the ski resort of Mont-Dore, at 1,050 meters above sea level, in Puy-de-Dôme, had at its request been placed in receivership. The lack of snow in recent years had led to a 20% drop in the number of skier-days.
