Tuesday 5 July 2022 09:51 AM 'Eyesore' facilities litter the Swiss Alps after Covid and global warming ... trends now
In a remote, secluded valley in the Swiss Alps, a line of rusty ski lift masts scar the grassy hillside where cows lazily graze.
The lifts at the once bustling Super Saint Bernard ski resort in Switzerland's southern Wallis canton, near the Italian border, stopped running in 2010.
Since the local company that ran the small station folded, the infrastructure and facilities have been left as a disintegrating blemish on the Alpine landscape.
The Super Saint-Bernard ski resort above Bourg-Saint-Pierre, which has been abandoned since 2010 and with groups squabbling over whose job it is to remove it
The building that once housed the restaurant and ski lift departure station is now covered in graffiti and piles of broken glass
In a remote, secluded valley of the Swiss Alps, a line of rusty ski lift masts scar the grassy hillside as cows graze lazily below
Former resort director Claude Lattion poses in the ruins of the departure gondola lift station of Super Saint-Bernard ski resort above Bourg-Saint-Pierre on June 30
'Frankly, I would like to see them destroy it, raze it,' former resort director Claude Lattion acknowledged to AFP.
'You arrive from Italy over the Great Saint Bernard Pass and see this,' he said, nodding towards the graffiti-covered ruins and piles of broken glass that once housed the restaurant and ski lift departure station.
With its spectacular mountain landscapes and pristine slopes, Switzerland draws winter sports fans and tourists from around the world.
But in recent years, shortages of snow and especially of money have seen many of its smaller, local stations struggle to keep their ski lifts running.
In all, up to two million Swiss francs ($2.1 million) will be needed to dismantle the station, but the company that ran the resort went bankrupt
In recent years, shortages of snow and especially of money have seen many of Switzerland's smaller, local stations struggle to keep their lifts running
Swiss law requires resort owners to pay for the cost of dismantling abandoned ski lifts. But the situation is more complicated when resorts file for bankruptcy, as Super Saint Bernard has done
At least 14 out of 2,433 are currently out of order, according to the Federal Office of Transport.
Swiss law requires resort owners to pay for the cost of dismantling abandoned ski lifts.
But the situation is more complicated when resorts file for bankruptcy, as Super Saint Bernard has done.
Discussions about whether a buyer can be found, or if regional or local authorities should foot the bill, can drag on for years.
Discussions about whether a buyer can be found, or if regional or local authorities should foot the bill, can drag on for years
In the small neighbouring village of Bourg-Saint-Pierre, mayor Gilbert Tornare
