Skiing and Global Warming
What is going on?
From fresh mountain air, cozy chalets with fondue to bombardinos at après-ski, there is something magical about the ski season. As the season kicks off with the first snow, around 100 million winter sports enthusiasts travel to the mountains to visit their favourite slopes each year.
Unfortunately, our favourite winter sport is facing an existential threat as global warming caused by human activity leads to less snowfall. Does the possible extinction of skiing sound like a first-world problem? Yes, and no. In North America alone the ski industry is a $50 billion industry employing roughly the same amount of people as coal mining. For mountain regions winter season represent a key driver of local economies, which are exposed to changes in snowfall and melting of snowpacks due to global warming. Some regions lost over 34 skiing days since 1980 and 2016, with average snow levels dropping by 41%. Does the suspension of summer skiing in the likes of Zermatt, or Les 2 Alpes due to melting glaciers, signals the nearing end of skiing as we know it?
We could not help but wonder, can skiing survive global warming?
What is the future of skiing?
When you say après-ski, a world after skiing goes extinct is not exactly come to our mind. Skiing resorts are adapting to the new climate conditions as the days of predictable long ski seasons are over. During the first winter Olympics in 1924 in Chamonix, all activities took place outdoors, fully reliant on the cold weather and optimal snow conditions. Almost 100 years later in 2022, we held Winter Olympics in Beijing with 100% artificial snow and ice.
A ski-resort survival is increasingly dependent on artificial snow to allow it to hedge the lack of snowfall. However, the creation of artificial snow depends on favourable weather conditions (-2° Celsius) and a significant water reserve of cold temperatures. There is a legal battle to halt artificial snow production in the La Clusaz in French Alps, as the water reservoirs pose risk to biodiversity loss, deforestation, and droughts. But then the ski resort generates around 120 million for the local city, making it a vital part of its economy — so we are caught up between your usual social versus environmental aspects of the climate change battle. Another challenging aspect of artificial snow creation is the energy required for the process. Kitzbuhel in Austria announced that its energy cost will at least double this season, and customers should be expected to bear the change. Some resorts are harnessing sun and wind for energy creation to support their operations and Swiss resorts are aiming to be climate-neutral by 2050 in line with a country-wide directive.
As part of the diversification efforts, skiing resorts are focusing on creating all year season propositions with hiking, mountain biking, ziplines, and wellness retreats. In the winter, there is an increase in ski alp and cross country activities, which do not require ski lifts.
The survival of ski resorts will also depend on their altitude, with only the ones above 2500m meters likely to have enough snow to open from December to April. A recent study suggests that resorts located below 1200m (one quarter of Alps resorts) will have almost no continuous snow cover by 2100. However, the study by the European Geosciences Union also indicates that with rapid climate action, 83% of current snow days would be saved.
In the end, is it up to us to save the winter?
Final thoughts
The irony with skiing is that it is entangled in the perpetuation of worsening climate change. Most of us do not live in mountains and getting to a resort requires a flight or drive, meaning we burn fossil fuels — the very same thing that is killing our ski season…
Safe skiing!
