Le Grand Puy
A Vallée de la Blanche station whose fate was put to the village in a referendum: on 6 October 2024 Seyne voted 71 per cent to stop skiing, and the snow cannons and drag lifts came down soon after.
- Region
- Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
- Country
- France
- Status
- closed
- Year opened
- 1959
- Year closed
- 2024
- Reason for closure
- Years of deficit and falling visits on a mountain where the snow no longer lasted. The commune of Seyne was putting around 350,000 euros a year into the lifts, which the administration judged unsustainable, and snowmaking could not hold a season together. Rather than decide alone the council put it to a referendum on 6 October 2024: on a turnout of 57.93 per cent, 537 people (71.31 per cent) voted to stop and 216 (28.69 per cent) to continue.
History
Le Grand Puy opened in 1959 above Seyne-les-Alpes, in the Vallée de la Blanche in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, and ran between 1,300 m and 1,850 m - 170 hectares, 14 pistes over about 22 km, five lifts and 500 m of vertical. It is the southern French Alps in miniature: snow arrives each season, lies a few days and is then washed off by rain, and by the 2020s even snowmaking could not string a winter together. The commune was covering roughly 350,000 euros a year. What makes Le Grand Puy distinctive is how the decision was taken. Instead of the council resolving it, Seyne held a referendum of its inhabitants on 6 October 2024, asking whether the commune should keep the ski activity going. On a 57.93 per cent turnout, 537 voted to stop and 216 to carry on - 71.31 per cent for closure. The lifts were shut permanently, the site was put up for sale from 1 November 2024, and 150,000 euros was set aside for diversification with the eventual use still undecided. Dismantling started with the snow cannons and moved on to the drag lifts, and the commune has talked about turning the hillside reservoirs into fishing lakes and developing electric mountain biking, a trail-running stadium and walking. Local shopkeepers have been openly worried about what the end of skiing does to the valley. Individual lift and piste names are not compiled in accessible sources.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed lift | Surface lift | One of five lifts serving the domain, all closed permanently after the October 2024 referendum. Dismantling began with the snow cannons and moved on to the drag lifts; individual names, types and build years are not compiled in accessible sources |
Sources and further reading
- https://france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/provence-alpes-cote-d-azur/alpes-de-haute-provence/le-grand-puy-il-va-etre-dans-nos-souvenirs-le-ski-alpin-c-est-fini-les-remontees-mecaniques-seront-demontees-3042778.html
- https://nosalpes.eu/fr/2024/10/09/alpes-de-haute-provence-la-station-de-ski-le-grand-puy-ferme/
- https://alpesdusud.alpes1.com/news/alpes-de-haute-provence/104865/les-remontees-mecaniques-du-grand-puy-c-est-fini
- https://france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/provence-alpes-cote-d-azur/alpes-de-haute-provence/victime-du-rechauffement-climatique-la-station-du-grand-puy-a-commence-le-demontage-du-teleski-3245917.html
- https://www.skipass.com/news/le-grand-puy-ski-fermeture0610.html
More in France
Location
44.3245, 6.3944