The fun of downhill skiing at the two Ticino ski resorts of Bosco Gurin and Carí is also set to be short-lived. In mid-February the cantonal government resolved to stop supporting the ski resorts financially. To date the federal government and the canton had kept both ski resorts alive to the tune of a total of CHF 30 million, i.e. around two thirds of overall investments. Hower a sound economic basis could not be established.
Abondance in the French département of Haute-Savoie is one of the first municipalities in the Alps to have completely closed down its ski resort already. As with the Ticino resorts that are now at risk, here too the slopes were at critical altitudes, and with only one gondola and six tow-lifts the resort was too small to be economically profitable. Although the municipality took over the ski-lift installations to preserve them from bankruptcy, the financial burden has proved simply too great. The ski resort was devouring up to 50% of the municipality's budget - in poor years even as much as 80%. And so the facilities have stood still since the start of this winter.
Sources: www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/schweiz/skigebiet_1 (de),
http://tages-anzeiger.ch/dyn/news/wirtschaft/844419 (de), F.A.Z., 14.02.2008