Le Lioran is a small

mountain resort A mountain resort is a place to holiday or vacation located in an elevated and typically at least relatively isolated area. The term resort implies integral hotel or inn accommodations, restaurants, and either or both sports facilities or scen ...

in the heart of continental

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It consists of the original

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building * Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...

of Le Lioran in the

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

bottom as well as the settlements of Prairie de Sagnes, Font d'Alagon, Font de Cère, and Prat du Bouc, all of which are geared towards the mountain

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

market. The largest of these is the Prairie de Sagnes, now known as Super-Lioran; most facilities and accommodation are concentrated there. One of the few remaining resorts in central

, it has grown to become one of the biggest and most advanced resorts in the

Massif Central The (; oc, Massís Central, ; literally ''"Central Massif"'') is a highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France. Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,00 ...

. There is a wide range of

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

ing and

leisure Leisure has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, work, job hunting, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. Leisure ...

activities on offer in addition to the more traditional

winter sports Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold area ...

and the wealth of

lodging Lodging refers to the use of a short-term dwelling, usually by renting the living space or sometimes through some other arrangement. People who travel and stay away from home for more than a day need lodging for sleep, rest, food, safety, shel ...

and other services available. There is a heavy emphasis on the all year round nature of the resort, although, inevitably, the resort is busiest in the

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...

season.

Geography

Within

it is administratively located in the ''

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

'' of Laveissière, the '' canton'' of

Murat Murat may refer to: Places Australia * Murat Bay, a bay in South Australia * Murat Marine Park, a marine protected area France * Murat, Allier, a commune in the department of Allier * Murat, Cantal, a commune in the department of Cantal Elsewhe ...

, the ''

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...

'' of

Saint-Flour Saint-Flour (; Auvergnat: ''Sant Flor'') is a commune in the Cantal department in the Auvergne region in south-central France, around 100 km south of Clermont-Ferrand. Its inhabitants are called ''Sanflorains''. Geography The upper cit ...

, the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' of

Cantal Cantal (; oc, Cantal or ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour, Cantal, Saint ...

, and the ''

région France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collect ...

'' of

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...

. However, the village of Prat du Bouc is located in the ''

'' of Albepierre-Bredons, but shares the same upwards administrative chain as the other settlements.

History

The resort is among the newest within the

, with skiing appearing in the area around the beginning of the 20th century, although the area became forgotten during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Afterwards interest in the sport in the area resurfaced, possibly owing to the influence of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

. The first lift to be constructed at the resort was the Téléski Débrayable de Massebœuf, a single place detachable

button lift A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher- ...

built by one of the residents in 1947. This lift continued to operate until 1984 when it was replaced by a three place fixed

chair lift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...

. The next lift to be built was the Téléski Débrayable de la Gare, built in 1965, to provide a link between the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in the

bottom and Prairie de Sagnes further up the

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

, it is still running today. As the end of the 1950s approached, Hector Peschaud, the ''sénateur'' and ''président'' of the ''conseil général'' at the time proposed the idea of constructing a resort on the site of Prairie de Sagnes. The ''

'' of

put out a tender for

architects An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and mountain developers to build a resort on the site. This prompted a major contributor to the development of the resort with the construction of the Téléphérique du Plomb du Cantal, an eighty place cable car, completed in 1967 with the aid of, and inaugurated by, locally born

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 196 ...

who would shortly succeed

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...

. From then on, development at the resort snowballed.

References

http://www.lelioran.com/http://www.ign.fr/

External links

Resort website
{{Authority control Sports venues in Cantal Ski stations in France Skiing in the Massif Central