Aimé Sandona admits it: at 71 years old, this strong guy who runs the sports store created in 1969 by his parents at the foot of the Piquemiette slopes cried for several days. The cause: the decision of the Joint Union Mont-d’Or (SMMO) and the departmental council of Doubs to suspend the operation of the slopes this winter took professionals and athletes by surprise. Piquemiette is one of the three sectors that, together with Métabief and Super-Longevilles, form one of the most important ski areas in the Jura massif. Announced on Thursday, September 12, three months before the start of the season, this brutal amputation represents 30% of the available facilities, that is, all of Piquemiette’s five chairlifts and lifts. Although they say they are aware of the reality of global warming and the need to convert the mid-mountain station into a “four-season” activity, everyone thought that such a decision would come in 2030 or 2035, as they believe. It has always been affirmed in view of the studies carried out on the evolution of the snow cover.
Piquemiette traders feel even more confident because significant investments have been made in the sector, in particular the renovation of snow cannons six years ago. The elevators had certainly aged, but they were subject to periodic checks, compatible with their operation for several more years. Piquemiette hosted the only black slope in the Doubs, recently re-approved by the French Ski Federation.
Thus, a young business couple had just taken over the Franckie restaurant, and Jérôme Tyrode, owner of the Chalet des Pisteurs, had renovated his terrace, his dishwasher and bought a professional snowmobile. Sandona, for his part, had ordered material worth 25,000 euros for the season and runs the risk of reselling it at a loss. “Beyond the economic impasse, all this is sentimental, it is my entire reason for living that is destroyedadmits the septuagenarian. The slopes are closed, I’ll still be in the shop this winter, we’ll see. After… “
Knowing that the imminent season would be “suspended” – this is the official term – is even more unbearable for the economic actors of the station, as stated by Philippe Alpy, president of the SMMO and vice-president (Horizons) of the departmental council of Doubs. , to justify this measure, to a confidential audit to which they did not have access. TO “lack of transparency”, they denounce, but that could be corrected at the beginning of next week.
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