Skiing without lifts in France

THE MECHANICAL clatter of chairlifts and the bass beat of high-altitude bars are familiar soundtracks in an Alpine ski resort every winter. So the quiet of the mountains this season is startlingly strange. French ski resorts are instead alive to different sounds: children tobogganing, huskies pulling sledges, defiant enthusiasts trudging uphill on skis with skins. Late last year, when the French government decided to clamp down on covid-19 once more, it shut all uphill transport but kept resorts open. This means the French can still go skiing—but without lifts.Some solutions are punishing. Ski touring, or uphill skiing, involves struggling up the slopes on foot, with grips attached to the bottom of the skis. The Alpine village of Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, part of the Trois Vallées ski domain north-east of Grenoble, has opened a couple of runs for those with the stamina to reach the top. But skiers have become a minority. Husky-sledding is fully booked. Kit for trekking on (snow shoes) has sold out. “Everything we had has been pre-booked and rented,” says the owner of a ski-hire shop in Saint-Martin. At an altitude of 2,000 metres, hardy tourists can even go ice-diving through a hole in a frozen lake.