Since the launch of our campaign in February 2022, many of you have tagged the Grand Massif resorts of Flaine and Samoëns in our social media posts. It’s true that a heartbreaking incident on the slopes of Flaine inspired this campaign, alongside our own experiences on the slopes of the Portes du Soleil. Fortunately Emmanuel Laffitta, the marketing and sales director of the Grand Massif was paying attention.
Assembled around the conference table on a sweltering June morning were senior figures from the resorts of Samoëns and Flaine and representatives from the wider ski area. We’d been invited to present the objectives of the Piste X Code to those who had first hand experience in dealing with the tragic consequences of bad on-piste behaviour. We began our presentation by showing them our launch video and we bravely asked for their feedback as the credits rolled; fortunately they were as impressed as we’d hoped they would be. We also presented statistics on video views, social media activity and our launch activations alongside our preliminary plans for Winter 23. But why had they invited us here?
Jean Fontaine, the director of Flaine ski area, talked passionately about the risks skiers and snowboarders take on the slopes and the changes he’s seen over the years. He discussed measures taken in the resort to improve safety and we all agreed that there’s a lot of work to do ahead of the Winter 23 season. Their aim is joined up communication from all of the resorts in the ski domain to promote sensible on-piste behaviour and we hope the Piste X Code will be part of this project in the Grand Massif.
Mickaël Marquaille, in charge of digital communication for the Grand Massif, then presented the results of the extensive safety survey he’d undertaken with almost 13,500 visitors to the Grand Massif resorts last winter. This survey asked crucial questions and really does demonstrate how seriously these resorts are taking the issue of safety. Here’s one key take-away, which we’re sharing with permission.
Mickaël and his colleague Rémi Devidal, the head of piste safety in Flaine, then took us for a tour of the ski patrol HQ at the top of the Grand Massif Express lift in Samoëns. It was empty of course; but it was easy to imagine the organised hustle and bustle of this space during the busy winter season. We took advantage of the opportunity to talk with Rémi, benefiting from his expertise in the area of piste security. Including professionals such as Rémi in the development of our campaign will be essential for us.
This meeting with the Grand Massif came at a crucial time for the Piste X Code. To have our campaign recognised and appreciated by those who work on the pistes every day is a huge step forward for us. We’re excited to develop a partnership with the Grand Massif and we’re especially grateful for their support.
If you’re part of a lift operating company anywhere on the planet and you’d like to discuss our campaign, we’d love to hear from you so please get in touch!
