Can Les Houches settle their differences?
You may or may not know that the Les Houches ski area is run by two different companies, namely SEPP with the Hottegindre family and LHSG with the Balmat family. The pre-season build up in 2007 was fraught with negotiations which had us skiers wondering what was going on in Les Houches. The situation calmed down for the winter season, but it seems the problem has not entirely gone away.
The main sticking point is the division of turnover between the two companies, not forgetting that 2/3rds of the ski area is actually on St Gervais land, even though Les Houches profits from the uplifts in the village. A reunion was held last week to try and clear up the situation.
LHSG who has principally the new Prarion lift, is keen to develop the Prarion side of the mountain with plans for a new chairlift 'Melezes' in the Plancert-Cha sector as well as nursery lifts south-west of Prarion. Despite having planning permission, concerns over the rights to run the concession may cause bureaucratci problems which means the developments may not happen. The same also goes for the proposed water retention and snow cannon project.
As for the aged-old legend that the ski area will be linked directly to St Gervais by a chairlift, it looks like it will remain a legend for at least another year as the company has to buy parcels of land and seek permission from land owners to proceed.
