Once again the threat of a snowless winter. Alpine resorts cornered in the face of climate crisis

Brussels – With a global temperature increase of 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, more than 50 percent of European ski resorts are at “very high risk of snow shortages.” That’s according to a study published by the scientific Nature Climate Change journal, a scenario that, considering the first glimpses of the winter season, is now no longer far from today’s reality.

After one of the worst years in memory in the Alpine region, the lifts opened the season with some timid snowfall. But the far above-average temperatures extinguished the initial optimism and renewed the threat to an industry worth nearly 30 billion euros. Not least because climate change is acting faster on the Alps than elsewhere: according to the Alpine Convention and the European Environment Agency, temperatures in the Alps have already risen by nearly 2°C, twice as fast as the average for the northern hemisphere.

“If climate-damaging emissions are not reduced, the natural snowpack could shrink by up to 70 percent by the end of the century, and enough natural snow for profitable ski resorts will only be found above 2,500 metres,” the European Commission wrote down back in 2016, preparing the EU strategy for the Alpine region.

Emissions also need to be reduced at ski resorts: not only indirect emissions related to ski lift consumption but also tourist flights and travel by car as well as the energy used in accommodation facilities. The Alps attract about 120 million tourists each year and, according to the European Commission, 84 percent of vacation travel to the Alps is by car: mountains are bearing the brunt.

Also in the eye of it is the International Ski Federation (FIS), which has been accused of lacking commitment to ensure the survival of the sport and its environment. Back in February, 500 professional winter sports athletes signed a letter asking FIS for more climate action. Moving the competition calendar by at least a month to adapt to climate change, publishing their environmental impact with greater transparency, and reducing athletes’ air travel were some of the requests.

The point is that the future of winter sports increasingly depends on their ability to reduce their impact on the environment in the coming decades. Artificial snow cannot be a solution, because it keeps ski resorts below 1,800 to 2,000 metres afloat but it consumes many resources, first and foremost water. The study by Nature Climate Change claims that emissions from snowmaking are only 2 percent of the total emissions related to ski resorts, but points out that—taking the example of the French Alps—water consumption could increase ninefold by 2100 due to dependence on artificial snow.

Alpine skiing in the French Alps (Photo by JEFF PACHOUD /AFP)

If, at the same time, the decline of Alpine glaciers continues, the cocktail will be lethal. The most dramatic scenarios speak of a span of less than 100 years for the eastern and much of the western Alps to remain completely ice-free. And there are always those worse off: just think of Emilia-Romagna, which on Dec. 20 allocated more than 4 million euros in relief to companies and ski resorts “in crisis”, reads the Region’s statement, “due to the abnormal last winter’s weather.”

But “abnormal weather” is increasingly the norm, and there is a need to reinvent winter skiing sports with the least possible impact: such as the Homeland initiative, at Montespluga in Lombardy, where Europe’s first ski resort without lifts opened last winter.