Ted Shepherd, a climate scientist at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, knows what it’s like to arrive at a ski resort and discover that it’s snowing elsewhere. For Christmas this year, he went to Switzerland with his wife and family. “She always loved to go skiing, but we really couldn’t,” he says, recalling one resort where it was possible to ski at higher altitudes — but people queued for 45 minutes to ride the cable car. up or downhill. again after they have finished their run. He said of the impact of climate change on skiing in Europe: “It is getting worse and worse.
Rob Stewart of Ski Press, a PR firm, says in the face of warm winters, it’s time for the ski tourism industry to take climate change seriously. “Irregular weather events like this seem to be happening more often,” he said, recalling how he climbed and walked on several glaciers 25 years ago, which were affected by the heat. high increase. “They don’t just melt, they just disappear,” he said.
And although he admits that the ski community has perhaps been “a bit confused” about climate change in the past, he argues that this has changed and resorts have few options. in addition to adapting to the changing world in which they operate. However, given the need for optimal snowmaking conditions—and the sizable cost—relying on a snowgun isn’t necessarily the way forward.
Shepherd pointed out that in addition to consuming a lot of energy, artificial snow also requires a significant amount of water, a resource is expected to become scarce. In addition, the cost of operating hundreds or even thousands of these machines is huge. Despite the recent spike in energy prices in Europe, Stewart said the ski spots he inquired about did not report financial difficulties related to snowmaking. Clopath adds that Laax has been protected from bill shocks thanks to a long-term contract with the resort’s supplier, which will set the energy tax rate through 2024. that when we have to buy in 2024, the price will go down,” he said.
However, other ski resorts are unable to call on Laax’s army of snow machines, and are therefore adapting in other ways. Pays de Gex, in the French Jura Mountains, has suffered at altitudes lower than 1,700 meters in recent weeks. Missing the white stuff, it instead offers tourists mountain biking, paragliding, horseback riding, and two new activities—tobogganing and giant ziplining.
“I think that is the future of this mountain,” said Bruno Bourdat, director of the tourism office, suggesting that the resort will have to get used to offering many alternatives when skiing is not possible. He notes that Pays de Gex has snow machines, but conditions are not always favorable for their use.
The other solution is simply skiing elsewhere. Although the Alps have been tested for about a month, there has been very good snowfall at ski sites in Norway, Japan and parts of North America, Stewart noted. In fact, some ski resorts that tend to be especially cold at this time of year could actually see more snow in the future, Shepherd argues. The ideal spot for snowfall is between -10 and -1 degrees Celsius and warming temperatures could move new areas around this time. “You can either move up the mountain for lower temperatures or you move north,” says Shepherd.
Signs that skiing is changing are everywhere, no matter where you look. Shepherd suggests that even frequent air travel and ostentatious consumption – rightly or wrongly – have become the stereotype of a pastime that can vanish as the industry struggles to maintain cultural acceptance. in the Anthropocene. It can mean a new look at nature and how we revel in it.
And ski resorts, no matter the depth of their pockets or the size of their snow cannons, can’t hold back the rising tide. As Shepherd put it: “I think trying to fight the weather will fail.”
