Across the French Alps, abandoned ski resorts are becoming a new and unsettling landscape.
As rising temperatures push snowfall higher up the mountains, hundreds of slopes have closed for good.
The Céüze 2000 resort shut in 2018 after 85 years of operation.
Staff expected a temporary closure, leaving rotas and maps behind.
Six years later, the buildings remain frozen in time.
Céüze is now one of at least 186 French ski resorts that have permanently closed.
Unreliable snow made the resort financially impossible to run.
Opening costs reached €450,000 per season, far exceeding income.
Artificial snow was considered but dismissed as a short-term fix.
Local authorities chose closure to avoid long-term debt.
Across France, more than 100 abandoned ski lifts now stretch across protected mountain areas.
Environmental groups warn that decaying infrastructure pollutes soil and water.
Old pylons, cables, oils and asbestos are slowly breaking down.
Some sites already show changes in surrounding plant life.
Campaigners from Mountain Wilderness argue dismantling is essential.
They say mountains should return to nature once human use ends.
Others believe the resorts should remain as cultural memorials.
The debate reflects a wider question about how humans leave fragile landscapes behind.
