Hi,
 
This is bad news for the American ski industry, i am not so sure the French ski industry would take a hit like this, as skiing is a major part of the french economy any losses would be backed /picked up by the government i would think.
 
Mind you in saying that though nothing is 100% certain ,if a resort did go under,we would have to resort to the old ways of getting to the top of the mountain to ski down…hard work though

Yes, I’d recently read about Tamarack’s plight too (next up for a slot in our news, I think…) The resort has recently invested in developing its base area too - the Village Plaza - which is due for completion next year. Not much good if the lifts stop turning… How awful.
 
Smaller European resorts could well suffer - particularly if a poor snow season resulted in bigger losses too - remember Abondance?
 
W

Humber Valley Resort in Canada is another one in trouble, though I’m not sure if there is skiing there, but a sign of the times nonetheless

USA resorts are financed and set up very differently from most European ones. IIRC the normal model in the USA is that one company owns everything from the land, to the lifts, to the accommodation and even to the restaurants (which is why many are dire ? they have a monopoly). In France the common model is that commune owns the land, the accommodation is privately owned and a separate company owns (or has rights to operate) the lifts and the skiing infrastructure. Restaurants are privately owned and in competition with each other. It is therefore not possible for the resort as such to go broke only for sections of it to fail (the situation in Briancon looks pretty dire). Of course when dealing with such complex entities as ski resorts it is not really as simple as that with cross contracts and ownerships you need to be a lawyer to understand just what relationships the entities have with each other
 
It is not unknown for the lift company to go bankrupt, or for other legal issues to stop the lift company operating. It appears that the Les Houches lifts will not be running this season due to a dispute between the two families that own the land and the lifts (see http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/0853-les-houches-to-be-closed-08-09-season/).
To most of us the lift infrastructure defines the ski resort and it is not uncommon for lift operators to go bust. Last year Transmontagne who ran the lifts in fairly well known French ski resorts such as Charmrousse and Valfrejus (both big enough to be considered major resorts in North America) went under. The assets were taken over by another company and they continue to run as ski resorts. Though I cannot find the reference at the moment the original lift company in Les Arcs went bust in either the late 1970s or early 80s and was taken over by SMA who were subsequently acquired by CdA. Abondance have abandoned lift based skiing altogether, but still survives as a resort.
 
Not all ski resort ventures have been successful ? just consider Saint-Honoré for example http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Isere-Drome/Saint-Honore. Personally I hold out little hope for the resorts in the Chartreuse ? the improvement in the French motorway system and roads means that the residents of Grenoble, and Chambery now go to the big resorts just down the road and ignore the beautiful little resorts in their own back yard. I would caution sinking your redundancy payment into buying one of these resorts.
 
Of course financial crises are not all the risks that affect ski resorts; we have the prospects of: global warming, pressure on water resources and energy, the risks of over development (consider the rise in the number of beds in St. Anton, Val d?Isere) and the normal perils of building in the hostile environment of the high mountains.
 
John