Ski touring and transition in the Queyras

It’s in the Queyras massif, in the Hautes-Alpes department, that guide Yann Borgnet has chosen to experiment with his itinerancy project. A terrain he knows well from his thesis at the Pacte social science laboratory of the University of Grenoble (UGA). ” We’re discovering its history, its economic, social, political and cultural logics… Because living in Queyras isn’t just about living in the mountains. It’s about living in a specific territory, a valley with only one point of access in winter, and which therefore lives as an island,” explains Yann Borgnet.

For five days, from January 31 to February 4, 2022, participants skied the massif from Arvieux to Abriès via the village of Aiguilles, meeting local players such as farmers, ski instructors, hoteliers, current and former elected representatives, a technician from the Regional Nature Park, and the director of the tourist office.

Accompanied by two social science researchers, Yann Borgnet and Mikaël Chambru – members of the Gresec laboratory at UGA and Labex ITTEM – they questioned the transition to tourism in the mountains. ” By putting social science research into dialogue with the territory, this ski raid questions the alternative future models to ‘all-skiing’ and ‘all-tourism’ taking shape in the Queyras “, explains Mikaël Chambru.

The first edition of this raid focuses on the role of agriculture in the transition to mountain tourism. In the Queyras, these two activities are closely linked. In the 1960s, agricultural development tools were used to finance the development of tourism. Today, the roles are reversed: agriculture has all but disappeared in favor of tourism… But a number of initiatives are emerging in the region, shaking up this intertwining.

The itinerary and stops are chosen for the aesthetics of the line traced on skis and the relevance of the encounters to the chosen theme.

The project, led by the Alpes Lines association, combines recreational roaming and scientific mediation in the mountains. It has given rise to a number of interviews and reports in the field, and will be the subject of a documentary, co-produced by Labex ITTEM, to be shown at mountain and scientific film festivals from autumn 2022.

Read more about the project in the Montagnes Magazine article.