Céüze 2000
A drag-lift-only ski area on the Céüze plateau above Gap in the French Alps, which closed in February 2020 after about 85 seasons and had all nine of its lifts helicoptered off the mountain in late 2025.
- Region
- Hautes-Alpes
- Country
- France
- Status
- closed
- Year opened
- 1937
- Year closed
- 2020
- Reason for closure
- Chronic lack of snow at 1,550-2,000 m combined with ageing lifts. The area could not open at all in two of its final three winters and managed only about six weeks in 2019-20; snowmaking was unaffordable and a further season was forecast to lose around 100,000 euros, so the lifts were shut for good on 3 February 2020.
History
Céüze 2000 sat on the north side of the Montagne de Céüse, about 20 km south-west of Gap in the Hautes-Alpes. Organised skiing began when the Fédération Provençale de Ski built a refuge there in 1932, and a first drag lift of roughly 185 m on wooden pylons was erected in 1937-38. The resort grew through the Poma era of the 1960s to the 1980s and at its peak offered 25 marked pistes (9 green, 8 blue and 8 red) plus a snowpark in the Corniche sector, served by nine drag lifts and no chairlifts at all - one of the largest all-surface-lift areas in France. Snow became unreliable from the 1990s. The resort failed to open in two of its last three winters, opened for only about six weeks in 2019-20, and the operating commune shut the lifts permanently on 3 February 2020 rather than absorb a projected 100,000 euro deficit; installing snowmaking was judged unaffordable. The Hotel Gaillard at the base had already closed in 2019. Dismantling began in November 2025, when the Buëch-Dévoluy communes had around 25 pylons from the eight remaining drag lines lifted out by helicopter, cut up and trucked away for recycling. Individual piste names are not recorded in the surviving documentation. The site is now used for ski touring, snowshoeing and sledging in winter, and Céüse remains one of the world's best known sport-climbing crags in summer.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petit teleski | Surface lift | First lift on the mountain, roughly 185 m long on wooden pylons, in service from the late 1930s until 1953 | |
| Gaby | Platter | Poma | 163 m; in service 1953 to 2018 |
| Miane | Platter | Poma | 417 m; Poma replacement installed 1986 on the line of an original 1940s drag lift; ran until 2018 |
| Marseillais I | Platter | Poma | 965 m; 1977 to 2018, replacing a 1951 drag lift of about 630 m |
| Marseillais II | Surface lift | About 800 m; installed in the 1960s and taken out of service in 2014 | |
| Sapie | Platter | Poma | 1,430 m, the longest lift on the mountain; 1962 to 2018 |
| Bamby | Platter | Poma | 117 m beginner lift; 1982 to 2018 |
| Torrent | Platter | Poma | 1,115 m; 1986 to 2018 |
| Corniche | Platter | Poma | 1,269 m; 1987 to 2018, serving the snowpark sector |
| Aiguebelle | Platter | Poma | 1,184 m; 1988 to 2018, the last major lift built at the resort |
Sources and further reading
- https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9%C3%BCze_2000
- https://stationsfantomes.wordpress.com/2022/03/25/ceuze-2000/
- https://www.france24.com/fr/info-en-continu/20251102-hautes-alpes-l-ex-station-de-ski-de-c%C3%A9%C3%BCze-rend-son-site-%C3%A0-la-nature
- https://reporterre.net/Face-au-manque-de-neige-et-de-recettes-cette-station-des-Alpes-demonte-ses-remontees-mecaniques
- https://snowbrains.com/a-symbolic-goodbye-to-an-old-ski-resort-as-lift-towers-are-dismantled-at-ceuze-2000-france/
More in France
Location
44.5183, 5.9367