In autumn 2024, Alpe du Grand Serre looked doomed. Two years later the Isère resort has a thirty-year future and reopens on 19 December.
Two seasons saved at the last minute
Repeated deficits and increasingly unreliable snow at mid altitude had made the case look hopeless. For two winters running the resort opened only thanks to last-minute agreements, with SATA accepting the risk of a deficit in 2025-2026 — a season that turned out to be the best the resort had ever recorded.
A signature on 30 September
The municipalities of La Morte and Villard-Saint-Christophe took back responsibility for the resort in spring 2026 and launched a tender. SATA Group was the only bidder. On 30 September the two municipalities signed a thirty-year public service delegation with it. The operator already runs Alpe d’Huez and Les 2 Alpes.
14 to 17 million announced
SATA plans to invest between 14 and 17 million euros: two chairlifts replaced by a telemix, and a new base area at 1,850 metres by 2030. La Morte contributes 5.2 million. Reopening runs from 19 December 2026 to 7 March 2027, snow permitting.
What it says about mid-altitude resorts
SATA’s managing director said his group is there to help develop a mountain territory, not to make an economic return. In a sector where profitability usually drives decisions, that is a deliberate stance — and it says a great deal about the state of mid-altitude resorts. More detail at Altitude News.
Photo : Jean-Michel Deborde / Adobe Stock
