French Alpine Village Dismantles 50-Year Old Ski Lift, Since It No Longer Snows There

[hatrack]

After several squeaks, the rusty wheel was finally wrenched from the tarnished white pole that once stood proudly on the mountainside. Watching from the sidelines, roughly a hundred people gathered in the small French Alpine village of Saint-Firmin to bid farewell to their ski lift as a small team worked to dismantle it late last month.

The reason? It hasn't been in use for years -- because there was no more snow. "Global warming happened, and that's what changed our view of this site," Didier Beauzon, 63, a life-long resident of Saint Firmin and an elected official serving the village, told CNN. "Well, we had to give it back to nature," he added.

EDIT

It took the team of roughly 20 workers two days to finish dismantling the entire ski lift system -- the group has already dismantled around 10 similar ski lift systems in France, according to Bustillo. The cost of the entire Saint-Firmin lift dismantlement is around 20,000 euros ($20,691), financed mainly by the local government with help from charities. The recovered metal was collected by a company specializing in scrap metal and will be recycled, Bustillo said.

It's unlikely to be the last lift dismantled. This year saw a record-breaking heatwave sweep through France and most of western Europe, pushing temperatures close to or above 40° C (104° F) for a sustained period during summer. Wildfires burned through the southern and western parts of the country. Currently 62% of France's population is exposed to either "significant" or "very significant" climate risks, according to data from the French Environment Ministry.

EDIT

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/french-ski-resort-dismantled-ski-lift-scn/index.html

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. Likely just a matter of time before the big resorts in the Western US suffer similar fates

How depressing

[nitpicked]

2. This reminds me of a former ski resort in Ohio

When I first went there in the 80's, there was snow and a chairlift up to the top.

By the mid-90's, the snow was all gone, so was the chairlift and the resort had pivoted to hosting a golf course.

Some 20 years later, the lodge had closed.