2011 Debriefing!
Last year’s season hasn’t left a a good memory, what with the constantly unreliable weather forecasts, and an overall weather pattern which seriously affected the balance sheet.
To recap, December opened on a knife-edge, then several mild periods finished us off ,resulting in a non-existent month of January, with a couple of days of snow which allowed us to be available for the February holidays,
Then a few slight falls of powder made it just possible to spin out the season till the end of March.
All pretty exhausting!
In perspective:
Our small area was not the only one to suffer from these minimalist conditions, from which the majority of the European Mountain regions suffered, some more than we did.
And how did we fare for visitor numbers?
As for the preceding year, what we lost in quantity we gained in quality which continues on the upgrade, and we were delighted to note that many “new good skiers” and even “new very good skiers” got used to coming up to Greo for our Nordic ski area..
However, guess what? Even that didn’t butter our parsnips, so that in financial terms the management of our cross-country ski slopes remains suicidal!
How good can it get?
In fact, the political outlook is serious concerning our activity in the Alpes Maritimes! so we are left to our own devices…something we have got used to! Its detractors say “In this department, cross-country ski-ing doesn’t make enough money to interest the politicans” – laying it on a bit thick!!
In fact, only the first part of the sentence is true!
As for the lack of interest from our politicians, nothing has changed, as one can judge from this simple example:
Our dear conseilleur general was elected in the first round during the last cantonal elections, in spite of an absence on the local scene close to denial of our existence!
And moreover, this good man and great visionary told me a few years ago before witnesses, “You are working in a sector(Cross-Country Ski-ing) which is on the way out” Edifying, isn’t it?
And it would seem that he’s not the only one to partake of that incredible logic. So, one shouldn’t be surprised at the catastrophic situation of our Nordic sector.
But cheer up, in spite of these inequalities we keep going, and thanks to you all, it works and will continue to do so for a long time. (Above all if the big Sachem who has already made a few mistakes, gets his act together….!)
Thank you all for your numerous encouragements, messages, e-mails,or just a sign of the hand as you take off on the slopes throughout the season , and see you again in this beautiful area.
The Last of the Mohicans still lives….!!
GRIZZLY
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