Skiing in Austria and France: summer is "closing"

Today, ski resorts in Austria, which previously offered summer skiing are now in decay. One of the most famous ski resorts in Austria - Zolden - announced that since the current season it closes summer glacier skiing.

In Zolden in the early 90's were about 40 ski stations, which worked for tourists during summer months. Today there are less than half of the stations. Decrease in demand for alpine skiing in summer forced the administration of resort to close summer skiing. It is worth noting that Zolden is one of the resorts in Austria, which had worked all year round, not closing for the summer, as most European ski resorts do.

Skiing in Austria previously was available in many resorts due to the fact that in the Austrian Alps there is the largest number of non-melting glaciers in Europe. However, from a dozen of summer tracks for ski vacation all year round now survived only Hintertux resort in Tirol. Summer skiing in Austria is still available on such glaciers as Dachstein (Dachstein-West resort), Kitzsteinhorn (Kaprun resort) and Molltal.

A number of ski resorts in France, which were also known as regions for year-round skiing, announced closing of summer season on its tracks. Among them are such famous resorts as La-Plagne, Alp d'Juez and Val Thorens. It should be noted that schedule of the resorts in France, which decided to continue its work in summer, has also changed. So, the resort of Tignes, which previously was open throughout the spring and summer, during the summer season of 2010 offers skiing from mid-June to late August. May and September are now open for skiing in Tignes only for half a month each.