Les plans de pistes de ski : une saison hivernale fantasmée

Abstract

Since the creation of ski resorts, there has been a proliferation of piste maps for skiers. By analysing several French maps and a few foreign ones, we will look at the representations of the mountains, via the ski areas, that these maps convey. As climatological geographers, we will look at the skies and types of weather highlighted in the plans, which are almost always white with snow on the ground. We will show that the land is far from being so white at any altitude, in any mountain slopes and at any time of the ‘season’. We will look at the historical development of the imaginary created by these plans designed to attract skiers, focusing on a few resorts. Finally, we will look more specifically at how artificial snowmaking is represented, whether insistently or very discreetly. In this way, the article sets out to show how the image of snow in these maps is in part an illusion designed to attract tourists.

Keywords

• ski
• snow
• sky
• weather
• mountains