Ski resorts and climate change. How they survive and help to fight it

Ski resorts and climate change are becoming increasingly close topics.

In short, global warming leads to melting snow. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg, beneath which lurks a whole series of related questions and problems (but also innovations) that ski resorts face and have to deal with — on a regular basis as of late. Yes, getting rid of plastic is not the only way to be more environmentally friendly.

In this article, we'll break down in short how ski resorts are surviving climate change and how they are helping to combat it with five examples, although it's clear there are ten times as many.

1. Use snow generators

So climate change causes snow to melt faster. About 60 % of the world’s ski slopes do not have enough snow now for the whole winter season.

For example, in the Alps, snow depth during the winter is now roughly 40 % lower on average than it was in the period from 1909 to 1988. About 20 years ago, people could rely on snowfalls in November and December but now it is unpredictable, experts say.

Faster melting of snow makes ski resorts dependent on snow generators. In 2008, one of the most popular ski resorts in Europe, Zermatt, bought a 30-ton machine named "Snowmaker" capable of generating about 1,900 tonnes of snow per day. Since 2002, the company has invested about $130 million in snowmaking devices including snow guns and snow cannons, Wired writes.

2. Conduct studies on climate change

A recent survey of 947 ski resort structures built on permafrost in France found that 45 ski lifts, six shelters, and one tunnel were at high risk of “destabilization”.

Experts share an opinion that it will get even worse in the nearest future because they expect an average temperature rise of 4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. It is expected to get 8 degrees hotter in the Alps and that will lead to more ice glaciers and permafrost thawing. Snow cover is also expected to shrink.

But, of course, resorts don't want to close, and skiers and snowboarders — to give up their favorite sport. Both together t would mean the end of the entire ski (and indeed the winter recreation) industry.

3. Repair infrastructure

Now European ski resorts spent millions of dollars on reducing damage from climate change every year. "Melting and cracking ice under buildings and structures is putting them at risk, therefore resorts have to pay for rebuilding new foundations of mountain shelters and reinforcing cable car supports", The Telegraph writes.

For example, Chamonix spent £1.3 million ($1.68 million) on these purposes in 2019 alone. Les Deux Alpes and Val Thorens have also spent a lot on reinforcing structures, however, the exact numbers are not stated.

Almost all other resorts face the same problems and do the same investments. Of course, this does not mean that all resorts have money to fight climate change, it depends on the size of the resort. In the case of the medium-sized ones, we are talking about hundreds of thousands of euros, and with the small ones, tens or even thousands. Very small local resorts with little tourism, unfortunately, do not have extra money at all. But one thing is clear: they have to spend it and have no other choice.

Gudauri Ski Resort, Gudauri, Georgia. Alexey Ionov / Unsplash

4. Buy more expensive equipment

Going back to the lack of natural snow and snow generators, they solve the problem for now but the future of the technology is unclear.

Most of these machines can work properly only if it is cold enough. If it is warmer than 2.5 °C, water droplets produced and sprayed into the air by the machines will not be able to freeze and form pellet-like particles and descend as snow. So, companies have to pay for more expensive devices that could work in a warmer environment and replace old devices with newer ones.

Even more interesting is that some of these may not even have been invented yet and will only appear in the future to meet the needs of a changing climate.

5. Goes plastic-free

Little by little, ski resorts becoming plastic-free, that is to say, eco-friendly. For example, since January 2019, one of the Italian ski resorts, Pejo 3000 with 12 miles of ski slopes and seven ski lifts in Val di Sole that attracts more than 100,000 skiers a season has announced that it banned using plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic spoons, knives, and forks, plastic packages.

The resort also stopped covering its one-day ski passes with plastic. Guests were asked not to use their own single-use plastic and to limit the number of multi-use plastic things brought with them. Other steps will be taken later this season.

The decision was made after new research revealed that a nearby glacier, the Forni Glacier, contained 131–162 million plastic particles. Scientists think that most of these particles originated from skiers’ clothing and equipment and may have been taken there by the wind. Experts also suggest that other resorts have to ban plastic as well because “If plastic products reach the mountains, they will remain there for a long period of time, even decades”.

6. Become more eco-friendly

Going back to artificial snow, another related problem to it is that ski resorts need water to create snow — 900,000 liters of water will cover one acre of land. Acquiring and transporting this resource is very expensive. Energy is also needed. The new question is: what kind of energy is it?!

Like other organizations, ski resorts also try to leave fewer emissions in the atmosphere and the land, which is known by the term "carbon-free. Pejo 3000 is not the only one. Other resorts located in this area near the world-famous UNESCO Dolomites Alps also try to do the same.

One example of a solution to this problem: the using of hydroelectric plants to provide energy for the valley and heat buildings via a biomass plant.

This post was originally published on the Windy.app blog in 2019.

Text: Windy.app team

Cover photo: Hasmik Ghazaryan Olson / Unsplash