French ski resort plans indoor slope
A French ski resort is planning to build a snow dome so that it can offer year-round skiing.
Officials in Tignes, part of the vast Espace Killy ski area, have unveiled designs for a 400 metre indoor slope that will be covered in real snow during the winter and artificial snow in the summer.
The €62 million (£53million) complex will include a surf pool and shopping centre, and there are plans to build a 1,000-bed hotel nearby. It is hoped it will open as early as 2018.
However critics have blasted the plan, saying it was like bringing ‘Disneyland’ to the Alps.
A spokesman from the Rhone-Alps federation for the protection of nature, told The Times: ‘The Ski Line is a kind of Disneyland theme park.
"A line has been crossed. It does not respect the mountain."
High-altitude Tignes, which is linked to Val d’Isere, already opens during the summer when it offers limited skiing on the Grande Motte glacier at 3,700 metres.
However, it is concerned that the glacier, which has already shrunk 30%, will be further hit by global warming.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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