How skiing changed the Alps

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Fifi
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Post by Fifi »

It is sad to see, but I suppose you could call it progress of a sort. Those farmers' descendants probably own the bars/restaurants in the resorts, and will profit in other ways from tourism.

I find it hard to deal with the rubbish/mess left by humans. Perhaps the local council of the resort(s) should provide more bins and generally be tougher about the environment with both visitors and businesses alike. A 1000 euro fine for dropping litter would concentrate the mind nicely!

What I find more upsetting is visiting ski resorts in summer and seeing the damage done to the mountains themselves in order create runs. Without the snow, a wide river of rubble going down the side of the mountain is a sad sight.

Fi
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Martha
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Post by Martha »

Thanks for posting that Ros! Interesting but very very biased. You can still see all that rural idyll here in summer, though of course there's less farming than there might be - and life was very hard in winter. I feel that you could make a comparison the other way quite easily.

Also life is still very quiet outside the big ski areas! Those photos don't really bear much relation to my winter experience, I have never seen that much rubbish.

There's a big cleanup if the mountain at the end of every season and the amount of stuff that gets dropped is awful but I am sure a lot of it isn't deliberate.

I agree with Fifi - the scarring of the mountains is a much bigger issue to me and one that I would really like to see more work done on.
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Beanie
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Post by Beanie »

What a load of sensationalist twaddle. Anything to flog a book of photos.

What ski resorts have all this going on ?? Somewhere in Western Austria presumably if they're referring to the Tyrol.

If so, then a shame to broad brush-stroke the entire 'ski industry'. Another unbalanced article - and this time not even from the Mail.

We've been to resorts where they've been ski contests and have never seen anything like the 'bottle farm' or the 'keg mountain'. Which resorts do the Chippendales or lap dancers hang out at ? It certainly isn't Villars or any of the other many Alpine ski resorts I've visited over the past 20 or so years - which do include the hipper ones which are far more 'happening' than dear old Villars - in fact, Villars still looks more like the B&W photos :D

Many traditions and folklore events are still upheld here, with the Great Descent of the cows having recently taken place, as they were all led down the pastures to their winter mazots, and the 'prettiest cow competition'. On Saturday there's the Roasted Chestnut Festival and from next week, all the Pumpkin Festivals kick off.

The closest we've got to the Chippendales around here are the gardeners taking off their shirts to mow the lawn (not that I've clocked that, of course ... )

As for the rubble - there are a considerable number of 'rubble rivers' which are formed by rock fall and fast-moving mountain rivers, nothing more sinister. The pistes are pastures and meadowland.

Just makes me relieved that we chose to buy where we did in the Alps if this is more commonplace than not and I'm just being naive.

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Martha
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Post by Martha »

Lower down, the pistes are meadows - but in the higher places, there are areas that have never recovered from being blasted for runs. Some of the glacier resorts are a bit of a mess in the summer - tignes springs to mind.

But mostly, I agree - doesn't look like any alpine holiday I've ever had! The old photos are closer. :)
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Fifi
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Post by Fifi »

I think I am intelligent enough to see the difference between a natural "rock river" caused by slippage or a river, and a dead straight, 30m wide river of identical sized stones :D

Skiing is a great sport, but I don't think anyone can deny it does have an impact on the environment. Have never visited Villars - so can't comment, but in many of the French resorts, especially the purpose-built ones, e.g. Tignes, La Plagne etc, you would have to be wearing a blindfold to miss the damage done. I am aware that there is a more restrained attitude nowadays, but still the building of appartments, new lifts & runs, and the associated infrastructure to service them, goes on.

Who can forget all those pictures of the damage and loss of life caused by avalanches as a result of deforestation?

I think some of the more sensational photos of rubbish and beer barrels must have been taken after a big event (world cup or something similar). But nonetheless there are problems with rubbish etc, which should be addressed.

(A ski instructor I knew said when he was a kid, as soon as the snow melted the locals made a fortune from money/jewellery etc which had been dropped from the chairlift!)

For sure the photos were sensationalist, but to discount every comment about the more negative effects of the winter-sports industry does seem rather simplistic, and dare I say, naive.

Fi
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Beanie
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Post by Beanie »

Fifi, I'm not denying there have certainly been resorts that have but completely subsumed by the commercialism of skiing - and not in a good way and that there are clearly impacts on the environment. I was not discounting the more negative issues, but saying that these aren't the case everywhere within the Alps. God forbid if they become more of the norm.

There are also many positives such as business being bought to small farming communities and alpine refuges; families being able to remain and earn and living in areas they've lived in for generations; their crafts and industries being recognised, appreciated and having longevity despite the introduction of modern techniques that could easily have replaced them etc etc, but none of that is mentioned or included in the photography.

My annoyance is at the broad-brush-stroking of articles such as these which infer that skiing as a whole is having a negative impact everywhere throughout the Alps. The title alone reinforces my point - "How Skiing Changed the Alps" - which is pretty generalistic, IMHO.

The whole negative and sensationalist slant from this photographer and his publishers makes it apparent they aren't interested in that angle, as it won't sell their book of depressing photos.

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Post by Hells Bells »

There is a big clean up weekend in Serre Chevalier too. I can confirm that it is beautiful in Summer too. There is a book by Emilie Carle called A wild herb soup (Soupe aux Herbes Sauvages) which is based in the adjoining valley of Clarée. It details life in the Southern Alps prior to the skiing arriving. She teaches in some of the villages I visit regularly, and gives you some idea of the hardships faced in the bitter cold winters.
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