The European country with the most ‘ghost’ ski resorts in the Alps | World | News

The winter ski season is approaching in full swing and many Brits will be jetting off to the Alps for some fun on the slopes in the New Year. The European Alps attract visitors from around the world by offering some of the world’s best skiing.

Latest data shows that 55 million skiers took to the slopes last year in Europe alone. But as snow lines rise higher in the mountains, global warming is beginning to pose a serious existential threat to the industry. Already many low-lying resorts have been forced to close because they cannot ensure there is enough snow to keep their runs and lifts open for the season.

As a result, there are now literally hundreds of reports of so-called ghost skiing dotted around the Alps.

France has some of the most abandoned ski resorts, with an eye-watering 186 at last count.

Only Japan has more, with more than 200 ski resorts closed following the economic collapse of the 1990s.

Many of these closed resorts still have their infrastructure, such as ski lifts, buildings and huts.

One of these is the Céüze 2000 ski resort in the Southern French Alps, which was open for 85 years until it was forced to close in 2018.

The resort began to face difficulties in the 1990s when snowfall became unreliable. To ensure stability, the ski lifts had to be operational for at least three months during the winter.

But in its final season, the facility was only open half that time, and in the previous two seasons it hadn’t even been open.

It costs the local government up to 450,000 Euros (£390,000) to open the facility each season.

As the season shortened the numbers no longer increased. The decision to close was taken to prevent the debt spiral.

The facility is finally being dismantled and a demolition team begins its work on November 4.

Some memories of those glory years still survive: a cabin for chairlift operators, piste maps stacked next to a stapler and a staff route fixed to the wall.