Abandoned ski resort remains frozen in time

At 1,500 meters altitude in Isère, rows of empty buildings continue to look at the peaks they were supposed to guide skiers to. Saint-Honoré 1500 will never fully emerge from the ground. Conceived to save a mining basin on the verge of collapse, the ski resort stopped mid-construction, leaving behind a landscape frozen for more than thirty years.

Project launched in 1977

Launched in 1977 to reconvert the mining basin, the Saint-Honoré 1500 project saw only two cable cars open in 1989 before the construction site was definitively halted in 1993. Despite a financial guarantee from the Isère general council, the operation turned into a financial disaster and the sports infrastructure definitively closed in 2003 without finding a buyer.

Economic shift drives the vision

To understand Saint-Honoré 1500, one must go back to the 1960s on the Matheysin plateau. In this part of Isère, mining activity sustains entire generations. When the mines close, an entire territory finds itself without an economic horizon. In Saint-Honoré, a commune with barely 800 inhabitants, local officials are then looking for an exit.

A modest opening in 1989

1989, the half-hearted opening: two cable cars for an XXL ambition. Launched in 1977, the construction progresses in stages, with the usual delays of such mountain projects. It is not until 1989 that the first mechanical lifts begin to operate, only two cable cars. A modest number compared to the initial ambition, which foresaw a complete ski area.

Abandonment and closure

Faced with these difficulties, the promoters eventually abandon the project. In 1993, the construction site stops abruptly, mid-development, leaving the existing infrastructure unfinished and frozen for many years. Empty apartment blocks: the brutal heritage of a failed bet. After the halt of the construction site, the resort tries to survive for a few more years.

Legacy as an artistic space

Since then, the site has been left to decay. The empty apartment blocks, with their gaping windows, still dominate the Matheysin plateau. They now attract a very different audience from the one imagined in 1977: photographers seeking unusual settings, graffiti artists and urban explorers come to wander these corridors frozen in time. The place even found a second cultural life in 2019, serving as a set for the performance La Chaud Vive.

Neighboring resort finds new life

This fate strangely echoes recent developments in the sector. The neighboring resort of Alpe du Grand Serre has finally officially announced that it will reopen for the winter of 2026-2027, thanks to a 30-year public service concession signed with SATA Group. About 200 direct and indirect jobs are involved, after a reprieve obtained through nearly 400,000 euros raised from donors.

A cautionary tale

Saint-Honoré 1500 thus remains a case study in the history of alpine tourism. A reminder that the mountain, generous as it is with landscapes, does not forgive economic projects built on too fragile foundations. Between concrete remnants and memories of pickaxes, the Matheysin plateau continues to bear the traces of two failed reconversions, a few decades apart.