This year's winter in France has, so far, been the mildest in more than a century, and that's had a direct impact on the ski resort of Le Mourtis, in the Pyrenees mountains. The lack of snow has forced the resort to close down its ski runs in mid-season as local restaurateurs and hoteliers are counting the cost of fewer visitors. Those who do come settle with other pursuits, such as hiking.
The daytime temperature on Monday (February 10) was above 10 degrees Celsius. Several hikers removed their jackets and tied them round their waist as they picked their way across pastures dappled with patches of snow.
But it's more than just a bad year. With scientists predicting a long-term rise in global temperatures, people who earn a livelihood from winter sports in Mourtis are having to contemplate a future with much less snow.
"Skiing? No one today can guarantee it," said François Gillaizeau, manager of the Tuc de l'Etang, a hotel and restaurant with a shop that rents out leisure gear. "If the snow is not there, we have to sell something else."
The downhill scooters, for rent in Gillaizeau's shop, are a glimpse of the future. They come with skids for gliding on snow, but if the snow fails to come, they can be fitted with bicycle wheels instead.
Meanwhile, the rows of rental ski boots, skis and poles in Gillaizeau's shop are untouched. He said he had to reduce the hours of some staff and expected revenue across his businesses this season to be down between 10% and 15%.
"There's no snow," said holidaymaker Frederic Foltran, setting off for the piste this week with a two-wheeled scooter designed for whizzing down grassy pastures instead of a pair of skis.
The last time France experienced a December and January as mild as this year was in 1900, according to Christelle Robert, a forecaster with national weather service Meteo France.
Weather has always fluctuated year to year, but Robert said a clear pattern was emerging - of mild winters and less snow - that was in line with global warming.
If the trend continues, ski resorts around 1,600 metres above sea level will be so warm they cannot even spray artificial snow on their pistes - it will melt.
Some Pyrenees resorts are higher, had a decent snow covering this week and were open for business. The Mourtis resort sits at 1,350 metres, putting it in the melt zone.
"It's the second year in a row that we've had no snow," said Laurent Morel, a vacationer from the city of Toulouse who was taking a walk on the mountainside with his family. "We love the mountains so we come anyway."
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