Industry News
A fight between two French ski resorts is reaching bizarre heights culminating in one mayor comparing the the other to Hitler and stating publicly that he would seek counsel from Donald Trump on how to construct a wall. You could be forgiven for thinking you are in a Monty Python movie but this is the odd reality in Megève and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains. The mayors of the neighboring ski resorts in the Haute Savoie region have been at loggerheads over the operations of shared lift infrastructure in the interconnected ski area.
The recent fight does not represent a shocking fracture between friendly neighbors but rather another chapter in a century-old rivalry between Megève and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains. The shared location in the Haute-Savoie region at the foot of Mont Blanc has resulted in at times fierce competition for winter sport tourists. Part of the rivarly stems from their very different historical background. Megève was developed as a ski resort in the 1920s by the Rothschild family, who aimed to create a French alternative to the Swiss resort of St. Moritz and quickly gained popularity among the aristocracy and well-heeled. Meanwhile, Saint-Gervais-les-Bains had a long-standing history as a spa town and saw itself as more of a family resort by closely associating itself with the Mont-Blanc massif as a mecca for serious mountaineers. This division continues to this day, with Megève hosting events such as the Polo Masters and Jazz Festival, while Saint-Gervais hosts the Mont Blanc Country Festival and the Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc Ultra Trail.
Things came to a head between the two resorts when the syndicate between the three lift operating companies for the interconnected ski area fell apart. The ski area is split up between three municipalities: Megève, Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, and Demi-Quartier. The area where the ski area connects across municipalities was managed separately but the contract with the current operator, Société des Remontées Mécaniques de Megève (SRMM), was expiring on April 15, and a new contract was to be awarded. This is where things became contentuous between Jean-March Peillex, mayor of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and Catherine Jullien-Brèche, the mayor of Megève (Demi-Quartier wisely stayed out off the argument). Peillex accused Jullien-Brèche of not following procedure and disregarding the candidacy of the Saint-Gervais based operating company STBMA. Lawyers were involved, insults were hurled, accusations made, and tattling to mommy or rather in this case the Prefect of the Haute-Savoie region. This meant that instead of electing a new operator, the former joined operation of the Crêtes ski area now has fallen apart and each municipality will now run its own lifts.
However, this causes the new problem of agreeing on certain issues with regard to lifts that cross from one municipality into another. A new fight erupted between Peillex and Jullien-Brèche about the construction of a new lift that starts in Megève and terminates in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, with the parties disagreeing on just about everything down to the rate of depreciation. Peillex in particular has not held back with his insults, accusing Jullien-Brèche of trying to annex parts of Saint-Gervais-le-Bains and comparing her to Hitler. Just days later he doubled down, saying he would not surrender an inch of territory to Megève and suggesting to instead build a wall with advice sought from none other than former U.S. President Donald Trump, a “specialist in building walls.”
It’s not the first time Peillex has garnered publicity with outrageous statements. In 2022, the French mayor proposed to introduce a €15,000 “funeral deposit” for tourists hiking Mont-Blanc in a bid to deter poorly equipped foreign tourists from attempting to hike the famous French peak.
The competition between Megève and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains has driven both resorts to improve and diversify their offerings continuously. Until now, their rivalry has benefited the region, making it one of France’s premier destinations for winter sports and alpine tourism. However, this recent spat has turned into a war of roses that could put the ’24/’25 winter operations at risk. One can only hope that both parties see the bigger picture and return to the table for negotiations rather than exchanging insults via social media.
