Alternative to snow for skiers

It’s amazing what kind of options trees offer to skiers. 

Starting for the wood that was used to make most of the skis and still in many cases, are used to make the core of modern boards, forest bring a natural environment of trees that I love skiing into, but there’s more to it. 

I had heard about Pine needle skiing that was introduced in the 1930s in the US and in France, not far from Bordeaux in the Arcachon region. in an attempt to make skiing a year-round activity. They were annual races including French Ski Team members, like Annie Famose or Isabelle Mir, and it survived through the 60s. 

What I had not seen, nor never heard of, was the possibility to ski on leaves (right, from fallen pine needles to leaves this was just a logical evolution!) I just stumbled on this video posted in November of 2016 that was shot at Le Lioran, a French ski resort located in the French volcanoes region smack in the middle of the country. 

Between pine needles and dead leaves, we seem to have found an alternative to snow if we ever need it in a near future. 

The resort that boast 2,260 ft of vertical has what appears to be some good tree skiing in the lower section of its slopes, and with it, plenty of dead leaves to allow for great autumn skiing as attested by this video, in which edge support seems to be fleeting, but where the name of the game remains tree-avoidance!