GOODBYE TO ALL THAT

To round off the season, the Pisteurs des Arcs have been busy posting some jolly end of season pictures and videos on their Facebook page.  It includes a stunning video of the now virgin snowfields of Arc 2000, as the final piste markings are removed.

Now on Twitter: @PisteursArcs

Meanwhile, the official @LesArcs Twitter page has posted this video of the season - starting with the Film Festival:

Less than a couple of months until the lifts start working again at the weekends for the MTB community in particular:

HARD TIMES: The ski season in figures

Le Dauphiné's Ski Chrono reports on this week's get together of French mountain bosses in Val d'Isere, where a series of depressing figures have been released.  The disappointing results raise the question as to whether France will lose its cherished No 1 title in terms of skier days to Austria.

The season in numbers:

-5%: the decline in revenues for the Domaines Skiable de France (DSF), with Savoie (-3%) and Haute Savoie (-2%) doing only slightly better

13: the percentage of French who go skiing each year

44: the percentage of French skiers who've been going for more than 20 years; raising questions about whether they are being sufficiently replenished/refreshed by skiers aged under 25

1/3: the number of pistes with artificial snow.  In Italy it's 2/3 and in Austria it's 8/10

47%: the number of visits that are "short stay", a number which continues to rise

4%: the ESF is apparently growing in Haute Savoie (and by a similar proportion in Savoie)

-1%: the decline in revenues in the ski shops

Up to 4% rise: in nights stayed in resorts above 1800 metres.  Below 1800 metres, it's -1 to -3%

Good times in Peisey Vallandr, where
the resort's marketing bosses have been busy with
a rebranding exercise this season

GOOD-BYE TO SPEED SKIING

One of the USPs of Les Arcs for many years has been the Kilometre Lancé speed skiing piste, on show every March and April below the Aiguille Rouge.

Speed skiing was briefly an Olympic sport

Les Arcs and Vars have traditionally been the two main French venues for this niche sport.  But it's been a number of years since the piste at Arc 2000 has been used, leaving the way clear for Vars, venue for this year's Coupe de Monde.  In the words of one ESF instructor I spoke to last month: "the resort has chosen to invest in other things - the ski de vitesse piste is just too expensive".

It still remains an important part of the resort's history - not least in the various posters you will see in local cafés and restaurants.

Les Arcs has not given up on being the host for competitions, however.  The coming years are likely to see more serious slalom races following the investments at the Arc 1600 Cachette piste: more on that here.