French ski resort closes permanently because there’s not enough snow

CNN — Winter is coming. UK snow report website On The Snow calls it “an idyllic place to visit, with exceptional panoramic views and everything you need in a friendly resort.” This summer, as crunch time came for planning the winter season, the decision was taken by La Sambuy’s town council to close the resort which it has run since 2016. Dalex said that the resort, which also markets itself as a summer hiking and outdoors destination, will instead become a place for “discovering and protecting nature, going on walks, doing sports, if possible.” La Sambuy’s website now carries a message saying that the ski resort “closed definitively” on September 10, following the town council’s decision. According to a report published in August by the scientific journal Nature Climate Change, 53% of 2,234 ski resorts surveyed in Europe are likely to experience “a very high snow supply risk” at 2 degrees Celsius of global warming above pre-industrial levels, without use of artificial snow. La Sambuy’s Dalex said that “all winter sports resorts in France are impacted by global warming,” particularly those at a medium mountain altitude between 1,000 and 1,500 meters.