France's Most Famous Ski Resort is Delayed Opening Due to a Lack of Sn

Val Thorens, a French ski resort at 2,300m above sea level, has been delayed in its reopening due to insufficient snow.

French skiers who wanted to experience early winter sports in France will be disappointed to learn that Val Thornes, a French Alps ski resort, has been delayed by one week. It was scheduled to open on Saturday, November 19th. People will have to stay in, playing NetBet Casino until then.

The resort, which boasts more than 600 kilometers and is Europe's tallest, announced via Twitter on Sunday that Saturday would be its new opening date.

According to Val Thorens' statement, the reason for the delay is that the snow cover at high altitudes is not satisfactory and does not permit a ski-in or ski-out.

The resort informed snowboarders and skiers that they were still eager to learn, adding that all the teams had already been on the ground to prepare the area for opening. It was expected to open for the High Test weekend of November 26-27.

Because of its high altitude, Val Thorens has been one of the first resorts to open in France for skiing every year.

Last year, during winter 2021-2022, the Alps saw a decrease in snowfall. Particularly the southern Alps recorded their lowest snow cover level in over 60 years.

Although the Northern Alps were less affected, experts have also noticed a decrease in snow coverage.

High Temperatures

The 2022 fall has seen temperatures remain high, even though the month of Oct was recorded as the "warmest ever recorded in Europe", according to the European climate monitoring agency Copernicus.

The agency also noted that the average temperature was "nearly 2C higher than the 1991-2020 period".

This announcement came after another one that listed September 2022, which was 1.34C warmer than normal, as the hottest date on record.

No other French ski resorts had announced plans to delay opening dates as of Monday. Val Thorens' new start time will be joined by other French resorts like Chamonix and Tignes which all open on the last weekend of November.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aleksandra Djurdjevic          

Senior Content Creator

Aleksandra Djurdjevic is a senior writer and editor, covering snowboarding, skiing and trends in outdoor winter activities. She has previously worked as ESL teacher for English Tochka. Aleksandra graduated from the Comparative Literature department at the Faculty of Philosophy in Serbia. Aleksandra’s love for the mountains, getting out in the snow on her board, season after season, seeking wild snow adventures across the globe helps her continue to be a top expert at CSG.