For a week, a handful of environmental activists from Earth Uprisings occupied the summit of the La Grave ski resort in the Hautes-Alpes. They denounce the installation of a cable car at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters wanted by the municipality.
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On the glacier of the Girosehas 3,400 meters above sea level, Earth Uprising activists set up a camp on October 8 to oppose the plan to install a cable car. The group has already carry out actions in the mountains, such as the occupation of a wood in the resort of La Clusaz in 2022, but to if high altitudes, this is a first, explains Rosa, member of the Earth Uprisings: “HAS 3,004 meters above sea level, we can say that this is a first experience for us and it is a whole system of artificialization of the mountain and mass tourism that we want to denounce. It’s also a bit of a testing phase to be able to come back in the spring if the project is not abandoned by then.“
The La Grave ski resort is an unusual site since there is only one ski lift. The slopes are not groomed and skiers descend the mountain among fir trees or rocks. Six years ago, the operation of the rustic resort passed into the hands of the tourist activity development company (SATA)which already manages Les Deux Alpes and Alpe d’Huez.
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The new operator’s project threatens this harmony, explains Thierry Fabre, member of the La Grave differently collective, which aims to protect the resort’s territory: “SATA, this are people who are in an economy linked only to skiing and who are there to make a big business. La Grave will completely lose its identity, its particular character in the Alps, to ultimately resemble a resort like all the others.“
Modernize without losing identity
SATA wants to build a cable car that will allow skiers to go from 3,002 to 3,500 meters to the summit of the glacier.
For the mayor of La Grave, Jean-Pierre Pic, it is a way to modernize and diversify without betraying the identity of the site: “We are a small village of 300 inhabitants so we have to live. We need to do renovations in the village, but we are not going to do buildings or billionaires’ chalets. What we want is to stay with our feet on the ground and be able to live properly in La Grave.”
Etienne Monin’s report in the La Grave station