Do
we care? Well... If it helps keep remote mountain areas populated (as well as
just make money for airlines & bad hotels), ski-ing might have some use, so
it’s instructive to look at its problems this winter.
)
In many ski areas people
are still sitting around in the bars waiting for there to be enough snow to get
out into. Austria has had the mildest autumn since records began and many resorts
have delayed the season's start. Snow cannons idle beside green slopes that would
usually be pistes. In Ischgl, which
relies heavily on nightlife, only 25 percent of pistes are open and bars are
crowded. Soelden had to cancel the first ski race of the World Cup season in
October; St. Moritz (Switzerland) had to cancel events too, and Val d'Isere
(France) postpone and combine high-profile races. A women's World Cup skiing
slalom scheduled for Dec. 20 in Megeve (France) has also been called off
because of a lack of snow - and a look on the sports pages would doubtless find you more.
"The start in the
skiing season was certainly not a success," said Daniela Baer, spokeswoman
for Switzerland Tourism. "But on the other hand we had an extremely strong
September and October. The summer season was just extended."
Come the second week of December, Verbier, in the Valais, Fance, some high-altitude pistes
were open. Nearby Villars plans to open on Dec. 23 and has used the recent dip
in temperature to make artificial snow.
Hiking and other
activities not requiring substantial snow are being promoted in Austria, where
fake snow production is also being increased for the Christmas holiday. "A
lot of fake snow is being produced right now," said a spokeswoman for
Austria's cable car association, estimating that more than half of the
country's ski hills could be covered with fake snow if temperatures were low
enough.
Even in Scandinavia some
resorts have yet to open and others have far less snow than normal. The
Norwegian resort of Trysil opened on Nov. 4, but much of the snow melted in
late November. Hafjell, which hosted slalom events in the 1994 Winter Olympics,
has no snow at the bottom of the mountain and temperatures are still too high
to make artificial snow. The Swedish ski resort operator Skistar has given
notice to 250 employees at its downhill skiing resort in Salen, near the
Norwegian border, because of lack of snow.
Global warming could devastate the ski resorts of
Europe within decades, especially in lower-lying areas, the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned. Of the countries
studied, Germany was most at risk. Austria and Italy were next, followed by
France and then Switzerland. French resorts in the Alpes Maritimes were also at
high risk. In finance-savvy Switzerland banks are already refusing to lend
money to ski resorts below an altitude of 1500 metres, said Shardul Agrawala, a
OECD official. "Some of the smaller operations are already closing
up."
Alpine resorts are
experiencing the warmest weather in 1,300 years, according to one
climatologist. The OECD survey was the first full study of the Alpine region. About
90 percent of the 666 slopes used to have enough snow cover for 100 days or
more a year. A one-degree C rise in temperature would reduce that number to 500,
likely to occur by 2020-2025, according to best estimates, said Agrawala. A
two-degree rise would trim the number of viable slopes to 400, something that
could occur by 2050, and a four-degree rise, which is on the cards for the end
of the century, could cut the number to just 200.
"Tourism in the
Alps is a key contributor to the economy of Alpine countries," the OECD
said in a statement. "There are 60-80 million tourists and some 160
million `skier days' in France, Austria, Switzerland and Germany each
year." Tourism
Industry companies are reporting fluctuations in demand, but bookings are not
yet seriously down overall.
In the long term, the
OECD said, making artificial snow was environmentally damaging, and anyway
useless above a certain temperature. In France alone, the number of ski
stations using fake snow has risen from 10 to 180 since the start of the 1980s.
Some Alpine ski spots
are trying to diversify, said Agrawala, by offering subsidies or marketing to
promote tourism on a year-round basis and, in some cases, an end to skiing.
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