Industry News
A new study by the University of Bayreuth, Germany, reveals the dramatic impact climate change is expected to have on ski resorts. Globally, the study forecasts that 13% of global ski areas will lose all snow cover by 2100, while the number of snow days will be dramatically reduced for other resorts. The paper suggests that a further 20% will see a reduction in snow days of more than 50% by 2071-2100.
The study investigates seven global skiing regions:
- European Alps
- Andes
- Appalachian Mountains
- Rocky Mountains
- Japanese Alps
- Australian Alps
- Southern Alps
The paper ran three scenarios: low emission, high emission, and very high emission. In the very high emission scenario, snow cover days will decrease substantially by 2071-2100, with the Australian Alps fairing worst, seeing 78% less snow cover days, and the Rocky Mountains fairing the best with 23% less snow cover days. On average, Rocky Mountain ski areas are expected to lose 56.4 snow cover days by the end of this century, however, snow cover will remain reliable, with on average 202 snow cover days. The Appalachian Mountains are forecast to lose 57.3 snow cover days, leaving only an average 116 days where natural snow should cover resorts in the East or a decline of 37%.
In North America, it is anticipated that annual snow cover days will affect ski areas in the southern and coastal mountain areas more than those in continental and northern regions. The coastal and southern ski areas will be more affected by climate change and snow cover in those ski areas will decrease by 50%-100%. The images below illustrate the ski areas in North America most at risk, with purple meaning a loss of snow cover days of 75-100%, dark green a loss of between 50-75%, light green 25-50%, and yellow 0-25%.
Furthermore, the study suggests that future skiable areas will concentrate in less populated areas, towards continental regions and inner parts of the mountain ranges. As skiable areas will be located at greater distances to highly populated areas, this could have a dramatic impact on the biodiversity of alpine areas, as more infrastructure and interference will be required to access those more remote ski areas. Artificial snow making may mitigate some of these effects but this could mean a dramatic shift in how people participate in snowsports in the future.
