Standing among the Alps, it's easy to believe that they will last forever. They seem too big to fail, too old to change. This illusion of permanence has long entranced travelers who have visited to experience the intoxicating feeling of being daunted and dwarfed by a landscape's authority. But even mountains move: This past May an avalanche of ice and rock tore through the Lötschental Valley, erasing the village of Blatten in less than a minute.
New out of the French Alps broke on Tuesday that Compagnie des Alpes will continue running La Plagne, one of the world's largest ski resort, after local authorities selected its bid for a new 25-year operating contract. The decision, announced November 25, follows a competitive tender process overseen by the Syndicat Intercommunal de la Grande Plagne, the public entity that manages the resort. The agreement gives the company's subsidiary, Société d'Aménagement de La Plagne, responsibility for the ski area through 2052.